{
  "id": 11025606,
  "title": "Tallis Scholars bring five decades of Renaissance polyphony to Bogotá",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/tallis-scholars-bring-five-decades-of-renaissance-polyphony-to-bogota",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-30T19:47:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The City Paper Bogotá",
    "slug": "the-city-paper-bogota",
    "url": "https://thecitypaperbogota.com/culture/tallis-scholars-bring-five-decades-of-renaissance-polyphony-to-bogota/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The 15th International Festival of Sacred Music in Bogotá is concluding its final week with a diverse program featuring Renaissance polyphony, Latin American sacred traditions, and a performance by The Tallis Scholars—a British vocal ensemble known for its distinctive approach to 16th-century choral music. Founded and directed by Peter Phillips for over five decades, The Tallis Scholars bring their signature sound to San Ignacio Church on October 1 at 6:30 p.m.\n\nPhillips, who initiated the ensemble in 1973, has steadfastly adhered to a singular vision of Renaissance music, emphasizing exact intonation, vocal purity, and clarity without ornamentation. Unburdened by recreating an imagined authentic sound of the past, the ensemble focuses on making Renaissance polyphony audible to contemporary audiences. This dedication has yielded a remarkably consistent sound, even across generations of singers.\n\nPhillips asserts that The Tallis Scholars are not a part of the Early Music movement but rather a distinct entity that centers on the choral voice as the primary instrument. He also distinguishes their approach from efforts to incorporate modern or culturally diverse elements into their repertoire, opting instead for a focused exploration of Renaissance polyphony alongside contemporary sacred works.\n\nThe final week of the festival includes performances by The Coro Nacional del Perú, the Bogotá Philharmonic Choir, the Women’s Philharmonic Orchestra, and The Tallis Scholars. These events showcase a range of sacred music from diverse traditions, culminating in Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 1 and the Requiem in D minor, K. 626, with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, marking the Colombian premiere of Robert Levin’s revised version.",
  "summary": "The 15th International Festival of Sacred Music of Bogotá enters its final week with a programme that brings together Renaissance polyphony, Latin American sacred traditions, and a grand adieu with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Among the week’s principal events is the Bogotá debut of The Tallis Scholars, the British vocal ensemble founded and directed by Peter […]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The City Paper Bogotá",
        "title": "Tallis Scholars bring five decades of Renaissance polyphony to Bogotá",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/tallis-scholars-bring-five-decades-of-renaissance-polyphony-to-bogota-11025672",
        "published": "2026-09-30T19:47:03.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}