Saint Ephraim Male Choir is a unique sounding acapella group from Budapest, Hungary.
The multi award-winning vocal ensemble has toured all over Europe from London to Bucharest and also in Africa, India, South-America. They collaborated with renowned soloists and groups like Abeer Nehme, Victor Solomon or the King’s Singers while releasing 16 albums since 2002.
Their repertoire spans genres and styles, ranging from byzantine chants and classical music through the gems of acapella pop. Hungary’s most popular chamber vocal ensemble was established in 2002 by Tamás Bubnó, Hungarian Artist of Merit and Liszt Award laureate.
The choir’s name comes from Saint Ephraim the Syrian (306-373), who was a celebrated hymn composer, aptly nicknamed “harp of the Holy Spirit’ by his contemporaries. In the beginning, the choir specialised in performing the abundant musical heritage of Byzantine Christian music, which had also paved the group’s initial success within and across borders. The curiosity towards Hungary’s male choir heritage had also been a strong vein, inspired by the Greek Catholic Priest, János Boksay’s male choral liturgy. Once heading down this track, came the raking up of Franz Liszt’s forgotten male choir pieces followed by Béla Bartók’s sensational compositions. Thus, alongside maintaining the Byzantine musical heritage, the 2nd main pillar of the choir’s profile grew to nurture the male choral music of Hungary’s grand masters. Having performed in various prestigious local as well as international festivals and concert venues, Saint Ephraim Male Choir’s unique sound became familiar to numerous contemporary composers, some of whom have written pieces specifically for the group. It has become their mission to perform contemporary music at all their concerts.
The permanent group of 8 singers perform regularly in Hungary and internationally as well as hosting an annual concert series named Orientale Lumen, where internationally renowned guests are also invited to contribute. They released 16 albums. Some of the members are aspiring composers themselves, often composing and rearranging pieces to expand the choir’s unique repertoire.