Spiritual Concerts
Our own cycle — a contemporary form of the old Concerts Spirituels. Each evening carries its own intention.
See the path of the concerts →De nobis · About
It began with longing.
VoctEnsemble — a Kraków vocal ensemble and the resident ensemble of the VoctFoundation. We begin with three questions: where we came from, what we do, and what we sing.
Read the letter Initium · Founder's letter
Where did we come from?
The founder's answer — four paragraphs, from longing to fragility.
I · Out of longing
Out of longing, inspiration and a dream. Like anchorites, in seclusion, far from the clamour and from music, a longing for music was born. A vision of music as a breath of the spirit that transforms the world with its polyphony, enfolding a person and reaching into their depths — resonating and finding a place in the soul like a living organism.
II · In silence
In silence, music is born. In silence, one contemplates. Music is the soul's contemplation in time. So Voct came to be — out of silence and contemplation.
III · Exchange
The exchange of thought, and the attempt to immerse oneself in another person's reading, kindled musical invention and opened new paths of interpretation. Interpretation rests on an exchange of human skills and intuitions that weave together, dynamically, to uncover the depths hidden within a work.
IV · Fragility
We would not feel ourselves singing music that did not embrace the whole person, touch their depths, and try to enthral them with beauty in spite of their complexity and fragility.
Florent de Bazelaire
Voces · The ensemble
A Kraków vocal ensemble led as a chamber community.
On stage there are usually twelve voices — professional and pre-professional musicians for whom precision is the starting point.
The line-up is alive: around a stable core, the roster changes from project to project — we choose voices to fit the programme, the space and the intention, just as one chooses repertoire.
Under the direction of Florent de Bazelaire we build a sound in which discipline and tenderness hold together. The name joins voces (voices), octo (eight) and ensemble — a promise of voices that listen to one another, bound as much by music as by human ties.
Collaboration
On stage and in production we work with, among others, lighting director Ada Bystrzycka, sound engineer Jakub Garbacz (Ars Sonora Studio), Sebastian Kuźma (visual animation) and violinist Radu Ropotan; and, institutionally, with the Carpe Diem Foundation and the Norwid Cultural Centre in Kraków's Mistrzejowice district.
Above all, we share. VoctEnsemble
Operatio · What we do
Spiritual concerts, liturgy, occasions that matter.
Our main current is the Spiritual Concerts — a contemporary form of the old Concerts Spirituels. Beyond them, we sing wherever liturgy and celebration ask for a voice.
Liturgy and celebrations
Music for Mass and church feasts. Most recently — the liturgy for the feast of St Andrew Bobola in Warsaw, marking the centenary of the Polish Jesuit provinces: Mass presided over by Archbishop Adrian Galbas, homily by Fr Arturo Sosa SJ.
A dialogue of traditions
We sang during the 28th Day of Judaism in the Catholic Church, in Kraków's Chapel of St Dorothy, and performed at the Tempel Synagogue — music as a meeting place.
Weddings and sacraments
We have provided music for wedding liturgies at St Anne's Collegiate Church in Kraków and at the Benedictine Abbey in Tyniec. We are available for such occasions.
Cantus · What we sing
Music as a reflection of the soul of the word.
We share song and carefully considered narratives — woven from works in which music and word are each other's mirror image.
The world interests us: the visible one — nature and all creation — and the immaterial one we seek and try to understand. Sacred music is a good companion on that journey.
It draws on human genius, on the Bible and on the wisdom of our forebears — to which composers still reach in order to express, in a wholly personal way, what they live through and what touches them most.
Seven centuries of repertoire — from the Llibre Vermell to the present day →
Via · What has sounded
A short road, but already marked by places and intentions.
- 2024
Sacred Heart Basilica · KrakówContemplation of the Incarnation
The debut of the Spiritual Concerts cycle: Renaissance, Baroque and the present day arranged around the mystery of the Nativity and the Incarnation.
- 2024
Dworek Gościnny · SzczawnicaThe Call of the Mountains
A concert for twelve voices and violin with Radu Ropotan: sacred music, nature and songs rooted in the landscape of the Pieniny mountains.
- 2024
Rybnik · Łódź · KrakówNine Leaves from the Book of Psalms
A programme built from the psalms: from penitence and thanksgiving to the joy of praise, with music by Allegri, Bach, Rossi, Bruckner and Stanford.
- 2025
St Mary's Basilica · KrakówHymn for the Fallen
A spiritual concert in tribute to those who gave their lives in defence of freedom, and a prayer for peace — for Ukraine and for the generations to come.
- 2025
Mistrzejowice · NiedzicaAeternam — Epitaph for Gaza
A programme of memory and compassion before the suffering of civilians: Vivancos, Zieleński, Pärt, Havrylets, Gjeilo, Lotti and Tavener leading from lament toward prayer.
- 2026
Sanktuarium Narodowe św. Andrzeja Boboli · WarszawaUroczystość św. Andrzeja Boboli
Oprawa liturgii w dniu 100-lecia polskich prowincji jezuickich, podczas Mszy św. celebrowanej przez abp. Adriana Galbasa z homilią o. Artura Sosy SJ.
Fundatio · The foundation
A form that lets music endure.
The VoctFoundation is the legal and organisational backbone of the artistic work. It is what lets the ensemble think not only about the next concert, but about an archive, education, production and the long life of the repertoire.
By its statute, the Foundation works in the field of culture, the arts, and the protection of cultural goods and national heritage. It may run artistic and interdisciplinary projects, make recordings, support young artists, and act through a permanent artistic ensemble in a resident-ensemble arrangement.
- 01 Musical creation: production, co-production, organisation and presentation of projects at home and abroad.
- 02 Heritage: documenting, archiving and sharing music and performance practice.
- 03 Education and access: fostering culture and supporting participation in it.
- 04 Young artists: development, promotion, mentoring, residencies and performance projects.
- 05 Collaboration: working with artists, cultural institutions, universities, media and civil-society organisations.
KRS0001237252
NIP6762718992
REGON544621525
The Foundation's income is devoted entirely to its statutory purposes. It is not distributed among the founder, the members of its bodies, or persons connected with the Foundation; any economic activity, if conducted, remains ancillary to the statutory mission.
Fundacja VoctFoundation · ul. Św. Filipa 23/3, 31-150 Kraków Foundation statute ↗
Consilium · The board
Responsibility scored for three voices.
The Foundation has one task: to hold quality — artistic, organisational and digital — so that projects can mature, return, and leave something behind.
Florent de Bazelaire
Artistic direction · conductor
Responsible for the artistic profile, the repertoire, the work on sound and the ensemble's long line of development.
Anna Marcisz
Production · relations · communication
Leads the organisation of projects, contact with partners, the ensemble's image and the rhythm of work off stage.
Krystian Bugalski
Digital · technology · stability
Responsible for the digital presence, the tools, publication, security and the stability of the foundation's infrastructure.
Invite us into a space that needs a voice.
A spiritual concert, music for a liturgy, an important celebration, patronage or an artistic collaboration. We look forward to hearing from you.