YORK community choir Prima Vocal Ensemble are to present the European premiere of Christopher Tin's The Drop That Contained The Sea this summer.

The double Grammy Award-winning American composer, noted for his fusion of classical and world music, will conduct the 7.30pm concert, at which Prima Vocal Ensemble will be joined by the Angel City Chorale from Los Angeles and The Mowbray Orchestra.

This will be the first of three British performances of Tin's choral and orchestral suite and will see the two choirs re-united for the first time since the since the work's world premiere at New York's Carnegie Hall in 2014.

"When we were in America, we made a connection with Sue Fink, Angel City Chorale's founder and artistic director, so they're coming here on July 15 for rehearsals and we're then doing the joint English tour with them," says Ewa Salecka, Prima Vocal Ensemble's Polish-born director. "We're thrilled Christopher Tin will be conducting. He's an exciting composer with two Grammy awards already and two wonderful albums. His music is fabulous.

York Press:

American composer Christopher Tin

"After the European premiere at the Barbican, the next day the two choirs are going to the Harrogate International Festival to do the same piece at Harrogate Royal Hall, conducted again by the composer, and we all finish at the Cadogan Hall in London on July 19."

On this occasion, in the celebrated hall in Sloane Terrace, Chelsea, Tin and the choirs will be accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, no less.

"We liaised with Sue Fink in Los Angeles and Christopher to secure the performance with the Royal Philharmonic. It's all taken a year of preparation after we decided in 2014 that we would do something together in 2016," says Ewa. "The thing is, we love Christopher's work and I want people in the UK to become familiar with this fabulous composer, and hopefully either BBC Radio 3 or Classic FM might be interested in broadcasting one of the concerts."

Ewa and piano-playing partner Greg Birch are looking forward to another very busy year for Prima Choral Artists, their umbrella name for their musical portfolio of Prima Vocal Ensemble, Prima Vox and Prima Cantica.

Prima Vox was formed last February as a mixed-voice chamber choir to sing a cappella works up to 12-part harmonies; the female choir Prima Cantica followed in July. "When you've run choirs, you notice that there's usually more interest among women, and so we're developing repertoire for the upper vocal register," says Ewa.

"There are now more opportunities with the three choirs and up to 30 people now sing in two out of the three – and some would like to be involved in all three!"

The Prima Choral Artists' year will begin with Prima Vox's participation in the Manchester Amateur Choral Competition at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, on February 28; Prima Cantica will give their debut concert at York Guildhall on April 16, when they will combine contemporary classical music with modern jazz, gospel and world music stretching from Spain, Africa and ancient Japan to the Gaelic tradition and beyond.

Prima Vocal Ensemble will be supporting "The People's Tenor", Russell Watson, again this year at York Barbican, this time in his Songs From The Heart concert on May 21. A further supporting role will follow, for Prima Vox, at flamenco guitarist Eduardo Niebla's International Guitar Festival appearance with his trio at The Junction, Goole, on June 17. Prima Vox's Summer Concert will conclude the first half of the Prima year on July 2 at York Guildhall.

St Margaret Clitherow Church, in Holly Tree Lane, Haxby, has hosted an annual charity concert with Ewa and Greg for several years now, and the latest will be held on September 30, when Prima Vocal Ensemble will present the best of their 2016 repertoire.

In the past two years, Prima Vocal Ensemble have performed in Italy, Budapest, Barcelona, New York and most recently in Poland, where they won the bronze award in the Krakow Christmas Choral Festival.

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Primal Choral Artists' Ewa Salecka and Greg Birch

"We worked very hard through 2015 to create yet further unique and truly memorable experiences for York communities with the constant aim of promoting our city and its vibrant cultural heritage far beyond our own city walls," says Ewa. "We reached new heights last year, when we had such highlights as performing Karl Jenkins's The Armed Man with the York Railway Institute Band in October and the award at Krakow.

"It's a good experience to go abroad and mix with other choirs on 'singing holidays' and invite them to York too, as we're very proud of this city. We like to go on our travels and this year we'll be going to Ireland from October 20 to 23, when Prima Vox will take part in the City of Derry International Choral Festival. It's international, so there'll be a little bit of pressure there!"

Ewa and Greg are promising to "a few surprises for the second half of the year". Make sure you keep an eye on the primachoralartists.com website for updates. What's more, anyone keen to join the Prima ranks in any of the three choirs should visit the Become A Member section.

"I believe you need to refine yourself every day; January is a new beginning, so why not start singing with us," says Ewa.

"As artists and musicians we're part of the York community and it's just exciting to work with the community and offer these singing experiences," says Greg. "On top of that, Ewa is great at thinking outside the box and coming up with all these fantastic, really creative ideas."