Pro Cantione Antiqua

Pro Cantione Antiqua of London (PCA) is a British choral group which was founded in 1968 by tenor James Griffett, counter-tenor Paul Esswood, and conductor and producer Mark Brown. Their first concert was at St Bartholomew's, Smithfield with Brian Brockless conducting but, from an early stage, they were closely associated with conductor and musicologist Bruno Turner. Arguably, they were the leading British performers of a cappella music, especially early music, prior to the founding of the Tallis Scholars. Singers have included: countertenors: Paul Esswood, Tom Sutcliffe, Geoffrey Mitchell, James Bowman, Timothy Penrose, Kevin Smith, Michael Chance, Ashley Stafford, Richard Hill and Charles Brett. tenors: James Griffett, James Lewington, Ian Partridge, Ian Thompson and Andrew Carwood. basses: David Beavan, Ian Caddy, Brian Etheridge, Michael George, Christopher Keyte, Christopher Underwood, Stephen Roberts, David Thomas and Adrian Peacock. Though principally an all-male group it has been supplemented with female voices where appropriate (e.g. for the 1978 recordings OUP 151/2 under Philip Ledger, to accompany The Oxford Book of English Madrigals)