The Sixteen are an internationally acclaimed choir and period instrument orchestra; founded by Harry Christophers in 1979.

The group's special reputation for performing early English polyphony, masterpieces of the Renaissance, bringing fresh insights into Baroque and early Classical music and a diversity of twentieth-century music, is drawn from the passions of conductor and founder, Harry Christophers.

At home in the United Kingdom, The Sixteen are "The Voices of Classic FM", TV media partner with Sky Arts and associate artists of the Southbank Centre in London and Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. The group promotes an annual series at the Queen Elizabeth Hall as well as The Choral Pilgrimage, a tour of Britain's finest cathedrals: bringing music back to the buildings for which it was written. The Sixteen featured in the highly successful BBC Four television series, Sacred Music, presented by actor Simon Russell Beale. A second series was broadcast on BBC Four in 2010.

The Sixteen tour throughout Europe, Japan, Australia and the Americas and have given regular performances at major concert halls and festivals worldwide, including the Barbican Centre - London, Bridgewater Hall - Manchester, Concertgebouw - Amsterdam, the Sydney Opera House, Tokyo Opera City and Vienna Musikverein and also at the BBC Proms, the festivals of Granada, Lucerne, Istanbul, Prague and Salzburg.

In addition, The Sixteen’s period orchestra have taken part in highly acclaimed semi-staged performances of Purcell’s Fairy Queen in Tel Aviv and London, a fully-staged production of Purcell’s King Arthur in Lisbon’s Belem Centre, followed by new productions of Claudio Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria at Lisbon Opera House and The Coronation of Poppea at English National Opera. Over ninety recordings reflect The Sixteen’s quality in a range of work spanning the music of five hundred years, winning many awards including Grand Prix du Disque, numerous Schallplattenkritik, the Gramophone Award for Early Music, the Classical Brit Award in 2005 for Renaissance and IKON which was nominated for a Grammy Award and two Classical Brits. These latter two discs were recorded as part of the group's contract with Universal Classics and Jazz.

Since 2001 The Sixteen have been building their own record label, CORO, which has released over 75 titles to date. Recent recordings include Handel’s oratorio, Messiah, with an all-star soloist line-up: Carolyn Sampson, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Mark Padmore and Christopher Purves (winner of a MIDEM Classical Award 2009), Dixit Dominus featuring Handel's eponymous early work and Steffani's Stabat Mater and Ceremony and Devotion - Music for the Tudors which accompanies the 2010 Choral Pilgrimage.

The Sixteen also have an increasingly busy education programme and recent projects include a series of school matinees for hundreds of primary school children in Bury St Edmunds, Liverpool and Southwell under the national Sing Up initiative. The Sixteen also have close ties with the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Trinity College of Music, offering opportunities for young people about to embark on careers as professional musicians.