Amarcord CD Reviews
  • Ensemble Amarcord has swept both classical categories in the 2006 Contemporary A cappella Recording Awards (CARA), winning both Best Classical Album and Best Classical Song.
    In addition, Ensemble Amarcord also won the runner up CARA in both categories for 2006.
    Nominations for the 2006 CARAs were made by an international panel of 57 and the awards were decided by a separate panel of 56 international music professionals.
  • Best Classical Album was "Nun Komm Der Heiden Heiland", and the runner up was "Incessament," both by Ensemble Amarcord.
  • Best Classical Song was "Sanctus Incessament" and the runner up was "Sic Deus Dilexit," both from the CD "Incessament" by Ensemble Amarcord.
  • Ensemble amarcord has won a number of top international prizes in the field, including the Grand Prix Choir Competition in Spain (1995), the International Mendelssohn Competition (1999), the German Music Competition (2000), the International Choir Competition in Finland (1999), and the first Choir Olympiad in Austria (2000). In 2002 the ensemble took top honors in the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb. They have performed throughout Europe and Asia as well as in North America. At home in Leipzig, they recently performed their tenth anniversary concert in the famous Gewandhaus, and two months later performed there twice with the Gewandhaus Orchestra.
  • [And So It Goes] "All the qualities expected from this fine group are here in abundance: superlative blend, musicality and energy." (Choir and Organ)

  • "The five members of Germany's Ensemble Amarcord sing like angels and look like the Backstreet Boys. Well, a little more clean cut. (But) don't be fooled by Ensemble Amarcord's pretty faces. All of them trained in the prestigious St. Thomas Boys Choir [Leipzig], and their intonation and blend is near perfect." (Brock Harris, Recorded A Cappella Review Board)

  • "'Hear the Voice' is crisp, clean, and exact. Ensemble Amarcord and their fans should be very proud." (Jonathan Sears, Recorded A Cappella Review Board)

  • "These guys can do anything. Every single track is a highlight; its own complete universe and a trip to the ends of existence." (Leipziger Volkszeitung)

  • "This beautiful sound is unbeatable. The vocal culture and balance is admirable. A must for friends of the art of subtle and finely-tuned vocal chamber music."
    (Sächsische Zeitung)

  • "The five alumni of Leipzig's St. Thomas Boys Choir (as in, the one Bach used to direct) sing together about as well as anybody I've ever heard. There's not a track on this CD ["Hear the Voice"] that isn't world-class. If you're looking for classical a cappella, it just doesn't get much better than this." (Hanna Stotland, Recorded A Cappella Review Board)

  • "The voices weave in and out of one another like the plaited strands of a particularly sturdy rope. Debts to other male vocal groups, in particular the Hilliard Ensemble and the King's Singers, are acknowledged and can be heard, but Amarcord's shared heritage gives its sound a homogeneity that even such distinguished forerunners would fine it hard to beat....the singing is beyond criticism." (Choir & Organ, England)