About
The La Cetra vocal ensemble was founded in 2012 on the initiative of Andrea Marcon and Johannes Keller and is directed by Carlos Federico Sepúlveda. The core of the choir consists of graduates of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis.
The La Cetra vocal ensemble is on the one hand the La Cetra Baroque orchestra to the side, which opens up attractive opportunities for repertoire supplementation and extension. On the other hand, the vocal ensemble also realizes its own projects. Due to the high musical and stylistic competence of the participating singers, the vocal ensemble is extremely versatile. The repertoire ranges from the Gregorian Choral Schola to soloistic chamber formations to large-scale operas and oratorios.
Internationally, the vocal ensemble performed together with the La Cetra Baroque Orchestra in Dortmund, Madrid, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Schwetzingen and Halle; in scenic performances at the Theater Basel it was in the season 2014/15 u.a. to see and hear in Charpentier's opera Medée and Vivaldi's Juditha Triumphans. In 2015/16, the vocal ensemble in Handel's Messiah in Basel was heard with the orchestra and as a guest ensemble with the Biel Solothurn Symphony Orchestra.
In addition, the vocal ensemble in Basel has its own focus in the concert series "La Cetra in Basel" with performances by Handel's Parnasso in Festa, Monteverdi's Vespro di Natale and Juditha Triumphan by Antonio Vivaldi. Other joint performances in recent years included Telemann's The Day of the Tribunal, at the sing-along concert by Handel's Messiah, J.S. Bach's Mass in B minor and the St. John's Passion, as well as the Swiss premiere of Caldara's La concordia de 'pianeti.
Maestro del Coro
Carlos Federico Sepúlveda was born in 1976 in Medellín (Colombia). He graduated in 2001 with a degree in choral conducting and orchestral conducting with honors in Vienna and in 2005 a postgraduate studies in Theory of Early Music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Since then he is a lecturer for theory subjects and program director at the SCB. Since the autumn semester 2016/17 he is deputy director of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. He is also artistic director of the training project Música Antigua para Nuestro Tiempo, Colombia Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, guest conductor of various ensembles and director of the La Cetra vocal ensemble in Basel.