VoNo
VoNo is a professional vocal ensemble whose goal is to develop and renew vocal performing arts in a way that affects the listener on an emotional and personal level. The twelve singers and artistic director Lone Larsen have their musical core in the classical choral repertoire and work with improvisation and creative co-creation as a method for creating a unique musical experience. Courage, playfulness and individual dependability in combination with carefully crafted polyphonic choral music provide variety and a strong interaction with the audience. VoNo's performances, concerts and films focus on culture, society and sustainability.
”VoNo points the way to a new, vibrant, humane, and personal re-creation of the choral art”
/André de Quadros, former chairman of the International Federation for Choral Music
The ensemble is based in Stockholm and tour actively, mostly in Scandinavia and Europe. VoNo was founded in 1999 under the name Voces Nordicae.
VoNo’s Method
Improvisation, Trust, and Musical Precision
For twenty years, Lone Larsen and VoNo have developed a method centered around creative co-creation.
– We work from two different perspectives. The notated choral repertoire represents the approach of "knowing first – doing later”; we study and refine the music with the utmost respect for the composer’s intentions. Group improvisation, on the other hand, is based on embracing impulses, saying YES, spontaneity, and interaction: "doing first – knowing later.” We play our way toward something we didn’t know existed, something that only exists in that very moment.
A great and exciting challenge is to switch between these approaches within the same concert. But we also work on allowing them to influence each other—to create a seamless symbiosis between mind and body in everything we do.
Working with these two mindsets, along with a strong artistic responsibility for each individual, has shaped a tightly knit ensemble with empathy, humor, and a powerful shared musical expression.
“I never cease to be amazed by the beauty and precision of Lone´s performances from a technical point of view. I am keenly aware of the amount of individual creativity that she encourages in her singers – particularly in terms of the excellence they have achieved in the art of choral improvisation. Lone´s approach as an artistic director comes across as very life affirming and joyful – it is abundant clear that the singers love working with her and give their absolute best.”
— James A. John
Professor of Music, Director of Choral Activities
Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens, New York
“Her work with us conducting participants was transformative—creative, encouraging, and getting us to expand our conducting, musical, and interpersonal boundaries.
I have been a professional choral conductor for over thirty years. I hold three degrees in music, and I have attended hundreds of workshops and conventions in my field. The work of VoNo and their conductor, Lone Larsen, was the top educational/professional development experience I have ever seen. They and she are revealing new vistas, inventing new methods, and creating new paths for our profession, while still maintaining the highest quality of the beloved choral tradition.”
— Dr. David L. Mennicke
Director of Choral Studies
Concordia University, St Paul
