La Cetra Vokalensemble was founded in 2012 on the initiative of Andrea Marcon and Johannes Keller. The core of the choir is made up of graduates of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis.
On the one hand, La Cetra Vokalensemble assists the La Cetra Barockorchester, which opens up attractive possibilities for supplementing and expanding the repertoire. On the other hand, the vocal ensemble also realises its own projects. Due to the high musical and stylistic competence of the participating singers, the vocal ensemble is exceptionally versatile. The repertoire ranges from Gregorian chorale schola and chamber ensembles with soloists to large-scale operas and oratorios.
In staged performances at the Theater Basel, it has appeared in Charpentier’s opera Médée and Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans, among others. In the concert series “La Cetra in Basel” and under the artistic direction of Andrea Marcon, the vocal ensemble sets its own focus with performances of Handel’s Parnasso in festa, Monteverdi’s Vespro di Natale, Telemann’s Der Tag des Gerichts, Handel’s Messiah, J. S. Bach’s Mass in B minor and the St. John Passion. In November 2020, the La Cetra Vocal Ensemble will be heard for the first time “a cappella” with the Missa “Mille regretz” by Morales in the series “La Cetra in Basel”.
Carlos Federico Sepúlveda Maestro del coro
Was born in 1976 in Medellín (Colombia). He completed his studies in choral conducting and orchestral conducting with distinction in Vienna in 2001 and postgraduate studies in early music theory at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in 2005. Since then, he has been a lecturer for theory subjects and head of the programme at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, and has been deputy director of the Schola since the 2016/17 autumn semester. He is also artistic director of the educational project Música Antigua para Nuestro Tiempo, Colombia Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, guest conductor with various ensembles and director of the La Cetra Vokalensemble.
