Jan Vering
Jan Vering (* 1954 in Münster ) is a German gospel singer , former newspaper editor and former dramaturge at the Apollo Theater in Siegen .
Life
Jan Vering was born in Münster and grew up in Vechta in Northern Germany . His interest in gospel music was aroused at the age of six by a spiritual record by Odetta . This was followed by formative records by Mahalia Jackson , which he saw in concert as a 12-year-old, as well as John Littleton (with whom he met in the early 80s during a recording for the French broadcaster Antenne 1 ) and the Golden Gate Quartet (which he he 2007 for the Apollo Theater Siegen). His fondness for gospel music deepened when he found accommodation with the gospel singer Miriam Culman, who lived with her family in the middle of a ghetto on a trip to New Orleans after he was robbed.
Four music cassettes, published by Fritz Blanke in the small Krelinger Kassettenverlag, were made between 1973 and 1976, as well as a live recording of a concert in Bordeaux. First concert tours - accompanied by the guitarists Wolfgang Schoenke and Wilfried Grenz and / or the pianist Roland Nötzelmann - gradually led to all corners of the Federal Republic of Germany, and soon beyond.
Vering's programs at that time contained spirituals, gospel songs and Ellington songs, but also songs like Brecht / Weill's “Seeräuberjenny”. He combined his mixture, which was remarkable in the literal sense, through moderations, which at the time were perceived as unusual, often comedic, but always triggering discussions. He was invited by Protestant, Catholic or free church communities as well as by cultural offices, jazz clubs, youth centers and church conventions.
In 1978 Vering released his “real” German debut, the record Shout For Joy , a live album recorded in Marburg with the Wetzlar Youth Choir under the direction of Margret Birkenfeld and produced by Johannes Nitsch . In collaboration with Margret Birkenfeld and the Wetzlar Children's Choir , the children's record Big and Thin Songs and People followed in 1981 , which mainly contained chansons by the French Dominican Pere Cocagnac, with whom Vering appeared in a television program two years later in Paris. In 1981 Jan Vering and the singer Pat Garcia gave their first Christmas concerts together under the motto Black And White together .
In 1983, lyricist Christian A. Schwarz and composer Siegfried Fietz won the singer for their concept I have a dream about Martin Luther King . The program became Vering's best-known release - as did the annual concert tours with the King program. The record was listed on the German “best list”. In 2009 Vering brought these songs back to the stage in a two and a half hour scenic concept evening in the Siegener Apollo Theater, together with the vocal ensemble TonArt and a four-member band. To the surprise of everyone involved, two planned theater performances turned into 40 sold-out performances - the most successful in-house production of the young Siegen theater to date. On October 31, 2017, production came back to the Apollo schedule.
Vering's favorite LP was his jazzy album How It Feels To Be Free , which was released in 1984. In 1985 the singer went on tour through ten German university cities for the Student Mission Germany , including Mainz, Bonn and Munich. Back then he toured regularly in the GDR.
In addition to being a musician, Jan Vering was also engaged in journalistic, cultural and social activities - for many years he was the leader of a community of young people with a criminal background or alcohol and drug problems. Together with the painter Margret Knoop-Schellbach, he designed the “Church of the Beatitudes” in Lobenhausen (near Körle) and the Margret-Knoop-Schellbach Museum in the Körler Town Hall. After 18 years and over 2,500 concerts across Europe, Vering withdrew from the concert scene at the beginning of 1989 - surprisingly for many. He then worked for 18 years as a cultural editor at the Westfälische Rundschau and since 2007 as a dramaturge for music and media at the Apollo Theater in Siegen. The interpreter is also in demand in the classical orchestral field, for example as the voice of the survivor in Arnold Schönberg's “A Survivor from Warshaw”, with Camille Saint-Saens “Carnival of the Animals”, Beethoven's Goethe setting of “Egmont”, Sergei Prokofiev's “ Peter and the Wolf ”or as a spokesman for the symphonic poem“ Ahab! ”. The music dramaturge acted as moderator at the German Choir Festival Bremen, five “Sing & Swing” festivals, the International German Barbershop Festival, etc.
Vering has been retired since January 1st, 2018.
Works
Books
- Witness to the matter. Hänssler, Holzgerlingen 1981
- A reader. Oncken, Kassel 1988
- Siegfried Fietz - Of good powers and turbulent times. Gerth Medien, Asslar 2011, ISBN 978-3-86591-582-5 .
- Dare to leave: sculptures, pictures. Art brochure. Abacus Music Barbara Fietz, Greifenstein 2012
Audio books
- Song description. ERF-Verlag , Wetzlar 1988
- Witness to the matter. ERF-Verlag, Wetzlar 1988
- Biography of Siegfried Fietz: About good powers and turbulent times. Abacus Music, Greifenstein 2017
Discography (solo albums)
| year | title | Contributors | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Shout for Joy | Wetzlaer Jugendchor , Johannes Nitsch | Lord Records |
| 1980 | Thick and thin songs and people | Wetzla Children's Choir , Johannes Nitsch | Kitty |
| 1982 | Live again | Jürgen Werth , Hartmut Nitsch , Deirdre Boysen , Aufwind , Heike Barth , Wilfried Grenz , Johannes Nitsch | Blue rose |
| 1982 | Martin Luther King - I have a dream | Coretta Scott King , Eberhard Weber , Curt Cress , Johannes Nitsch | abacus |
| 1984 | How It Feels To Be Free | Pat Garcia , Eberhard Weber, Werner Hucks , Dieter Falk | abacus |
| 1986 | Old friends, new songs | Cae Gauntt , Werner Hucks, Dieter Falk | Pila Music |
| 1987 | And the sky began to sing | Cae Gauntt, Pat Garcia, Deidre Boysen , Han An Liu | Hänssler Music |
| 1988 | Like God to me, so I to you | Dieter Falk, David Plüss , Dick LeMair , Maja van de Poll | Pila Music |
| 1992 | Quietness | Michael Blume, Siegerland Vocal Ensemble , Hartmut Sperl , Mario Mammone | RM music |
| 2010 | Christmas at the Apollo | Dieter Falk, Sohei Takahata , Susanne Weinhöppel , Mario Mammone, Siegfried Fietz , vocal ensemble TonArt , Mohamed El-Chartouni | abacus |
| 2014 | The unsung Claudius | Siegfried Fietz , TonArt vocal ensemble , Eva Lind , Dorian Rudnytsky, Dieter Falk | abacus |
Individual evidence
- ↑ In love with another. ( Memento from March 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Daniel Scheufler: On the development of popular sacred music in Germany between 1980 and 2000 ( Memento from January 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file, 10.8 MB), diploma thesis. P. 91. evangelisation.biz
- ^ Jan Vering - short text from Gerth Medien, accessed on March 27, 2014
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Vering, Jan |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German gospel singer, newspaper editor and dramaturge |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1954 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Muenster |