The Dunedin Consort is a Baroque ensemble based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has won major recording awards and in 2010 was ranked 11th among the world’s choirs by an international jury assembled by Gramophone magazine. It was founded in 1995 by Susan Hamilton and Ben Parry, and named after Din Eidyn castle in Edinburgh. In 2003, after Parry’s departure, the group chose John Butt as its conductor. Under Butt’s musical direction, it has become known for performing and recording Baroque vocal music. Butt shared the title of co-artistic director of the Dunedin Consort until August 2012, when his title was changed to music director.
The Dunedin Consort has commissioned and performed works by composers including Sally Beamish, Harvey Brough, Corrina Hewat, Peter Nelson, William Sweeney, and Errollyn Wallen, as well as a number of others who contributed to “The People’s Mass” (see Recordings and awards). The group broadcasts frequently on the BBC and performs at many locations in the United Kingdom. It appears regularly at the Lammermuir Festival. It has also appeared at the Edinburgh International Festival and at music festivals in Canada, England (including the Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music), France (La Chaise-Dieu Festival), Germany (Thuringer Bachwoche and Handel Festival, Halle), Ireland, Israel, Italy and Spain.
The consort has made 17 recordings; 12 are on Linn Records. Other labels have included Delphian for …in Chains of Gold and The People’s Mass, Tob Records for Silhouettes and Crimson Productions for A Celtic Christmas.