Vox Medicea is a professional male-voice ensemble dedicated to the performance, recording and revival of rare and forgotten works of sacred music from Florence during the time of the Medici.
Bringing together leading specialists from Italy and across Europe, the choir combines historical scholarship with exceptional artistry to bring masterpieces of the Florentine Renaissance back to life. Featured on international stages, Vox Medicea presents concerts ranging from intimate a cappella programmes to grand polychoral works with period instruments, offering audiences a unique opportunity to experience this breathtaking musical heritage.
Singers are selected to achieve the precise blend, vocality and colour required for this repertoire.
Functioning simultaneously as both choristers and soloists, our artists combine intuitive ensemble singing with an expressive independence of line, fundamental to Italian singing.
Florence of the 15th and 16th centuries is renowned for its humanistic and artistic achievements.
The artists of this city read like a roll call of some of the greatest artists in history, however unlike its rivals Rome and Venice, the musical heritage of Florence’s sacred composers remain comparatively overlooked.
Since its inception in 2018, our research has examined and transcribed over one hundred motets, alongside numerous mass settings, Magnificats, psalms, cantatas and laude, many of which have likely remained unheard for centuries.
To date we have investigated and mapped musical manuscripts held in archives including the Archivio di Stato di Firenze, the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, the Opera del Duomo Museum, and other collections across Italy and Europe, preparing these works for modern performance through transcription and historical contextualisation.
Director
Mark Spyropoulos read Music at Trinity College Dublin and trained as a singer in London at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama under Laura Sarti, and the young singers programme English National Opera.
Period Instruments
The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble is a virtuoso period instrument group with a host of distinguished recordings to its name.
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The Ensemble
Vox Medicea is a male voice ensemble dedicated to the music of Medici era Florence and wider Renaissance Italy. Based in Florence it is comprised of outstanding specialist singers drawn from Italy and across Europe.
The research
2018
The Sacred Music Programme begins as a research initiative launched in 2018 by Mark Spyropoulos in collaboration with musicologist Dr Giordano Mastrocola at the Medici Archive Project in Florence, in order to explore and examine primary source material housed in the vast archival collections in Florence and across Europe.
The ensemble
February 2020
Vox Medicea is founded as a professional male-voice ensemble in order to trial newly rediscovered and transcribed sixteenth century Florentine sacred works, giving its first performance in London with a private showcase of five motets.
The broadcast
April 2021
Vox Medicea is featured in a special presentation for CBS Sunday Morning, recorded in September 2020 and broadcast on Easter Sunday 2021.
Palazzo vecchio
2022
Inaugural public performance - Vox Medicea is selected by the Comune di Firenze to perform a special concert in the historic Salone dei Cinquecento, Palazzo Vecchio, to mark the 500th anniversary of the birth of Eleonora di Toledo.
The festival
2023–Present
Vox Medicea establishes the annual Sacred Masterpieces of the Medici Gala weekend. A three day weekend featuring concerts, tours, receptions, lectures, Masterclasses, a Gala concert and sung ‘Medici Mass’, to promote and celebrate the sacred music of Florence.
Palazzo pitti
December 2023
Sacred Masterpieces of the Medici 2023 — Vox Medicea and the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble present rediscovered Florentine sacred works from the Medici era, including pieces unheard for centuries, with performances at the Palazzo Pitti and Santi Michele e Gaetano, alongside a masterclass with Dame Emma Kirkby.
Santo spirito
November 2024
Sacred Masterpieces of the Medici 2024 — Vox Medicea and the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble present rediscovered Florentine sacred works from the Medici era, including music unheard for centuries, with performances in the Sacresty of the Basilica di Santo Spirito, Palazzo Pitti, and a Medici Mass at Santi Michele e Gaetano, alongside a masterclass with Dame Emma Kirkby.
Fiesole
June 2025
Vox Medicea performs at the Convento di San Francesco di Fiesole, as part of the New Generation Festival, along with a ‘Medici Mass’ at Fiesole Cathedral.
Rome
June 2025
Vox Medicea headlines the Rome Chamber Music Festival at the Auditorium Conciliazione, Rome.
Choral scholarships
October 2025
Vox Medicea establishes the Coro di Santo Spirito, an educational initiative providing choral scholarships for young singers based in Florence, to sing monthly services at the Basilica di Santo Spirito.
Santa felicita
November 2025
Sacred Masterpieces of the Medici 2025 — Vox Medicea and the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble present rediscovered Florentine sacred works from the Medici era at the Medici Church of Santa Felicita, including the world premiere of O Adoranda Trinitas, specially commissioned from Nico Muhly, inspired by a rediscovered 16th-century Florentine work, alongside a masterclass with Dame Emma Kirkby and a ‘Medici Mass’ at Santi Michele e Gaetano.
Ávila
December 2025
Vox Medicea performs at the Tomás Luis da Victoria Festival in Ávila, Spain.
Santo spirito
November 21st 2026
Members of Vox Medicea and the Coro di Santo Spirito join forces at the Basilica di Santo Spirito for L’arte della polifonia, an exploration of polyphony and the art of sacred expression.
Florence
December 4th-6th 2026
A Christmas Celebration! Vox Medicea in collaboration with artists of Mascarade Opera will present a weekend of events on the theme of Christmas, including a Gala concert featuring oratorio arias, a liturgical performance of Haydn’s St. Nicholas Mass and works from our upcoming album.
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2018 · The research
Since our first concert in 2022, Vox Medicea has performed in some of the most spectacular and historic venues in Florence and beyond. Select a venue for a photograph and a note on the performance.
Florence
10 venues
Fiesole
1 venue
Rome
2 venues
Ávila
1 venue