Bella Voce is a Chicago-based chamber chorus specializing in classical a cappella music. It has been called "Chicago's premier professional chamber choir." The group was founded in 1982 by countertenor Richard Childress as His Majestie's Clerkes. In 1990, His Majestie's Clerkes was awarded National Public Radio's Lucien Wulsin Award for best small ensemble. The group was renamed in 2001. The group's performances are usually of early and contemporary European music. Originally performing music of the English Tudor period, the name Bella Voce was chosen as the performances of His Majestie's Clerkes took on broader interests. Noted guest conductors of the group have included Sir David Willcocks, Paul Hillier, Simon Preston and Alice Parker. In 1990, HMC was awarded NPR's Lucien Wulsin Award for best small ensemble. Bella Voce won the Alice Parker-ASCAP-Chorus America Award for adventurous programming in 2004. The group has released many CDs of choral music. It has been described as "an innovative and superbly polished a cappella ensemble." From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bella_V...) under Creative Commons Attribution CC-BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)