photographer: Kristen Loken

Volti’s professional singers, under the direction of founder and Artistic Director Robert Geary, are dedicated to the discovery, creation, and performance of new vocal music. The ensemble’s mission — to foster and showcase contemporary American music and composers, and to introduce contemporary vocal music from around the world to local audiences — has led to performances of a vast amount of new music  and to the commissioning of nearly 100 new works, by emerging as well as established composers.

Hailed by San Francisco Classical Voice as “undoubtedly the finest collection of new music singers we have,” Volti has completed 38 seasons of exploration and innovation. Nationally recognized as a pioneer in new vocal music, Volti has won the prestigious ASCAP/Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music six times, a testament to the fresh perspective and new voices the group brings to life.

Art is redefined in every generation by the best and the brightest, artists who are paying attention to the world around them.  Volti works with composers who explore timely issues. Found texts from an array of sources and poetry freshly composed give voice to and  illuminate a broad spectrum of the human experience, and express spirituality in ways that push the boundaries of traditional sacred and classical sources. Through the exploration of the nexus between poetry and sound, Volti joins the creative process of a composer compelled to express this thing, at this time, in this way. At its best, this process can produce the aural equivalent of a sunspot — an explosion of energy, a flash of brilliance, maybe even a glimpse of some profound truth seen in a new and breathtaking way.

Attending a Volti concert is like visiting a contemporary art gallery, stimulating the mind, the imagination and the heart.