Belcanto youth choir
| Belcanto youth choir | |
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| Seat: | Braunschweig - Germany |
| Founding: | 1977 |
| Genus: | Youth choir |
| Founder: | Margit Cherkeh |
| Head : | Mike Garling |
| Voices : | SSAB |
| Website : | belcanto-bs.de |
The youth choir Belcanto is a mixed children and youth choir from Braunschweig . It also forms the children's choir of the Braunschweig State Theater .
history
At the end of 1977, the music teacher Margit Cherkeh founded a children's choir at what was then the Friesenstraße elementary school. B. helped shape the nearby St. Aegidien Church . The parish provided rehearsal rooms and in 1983 the association “Kinder- und Jugendchor St. Aegidien e. V. “founded. The association was so successful that the school choir soon became a children's group “Piepmätze” (3–7 years), a children's choir “Aegidienspatzen” (6–11 years) and the youth choir “Belcanto” (from 12 years).
From the beginning, the vocal repertoire comprised secular and sacred compositions from several centuries, contemporary music, folklore, as well as pop and musicals. Worldwide concert tours and successful competitions followed in the next decades. The highlights were in 1986 an appearance at a Pope audience on St. Peter's Square in Rome in front of 80,000 believers and in 2001 the world premiere of the musical "The Selfish Giant" commissioned by the Polish composer Marek Jasiński based on a fairy tale by Oscar Wilde .
In 2002 the children's and youth choir became independent, as a church music-oriented choir was set up in St. Aegidien. The choirs, henceforth called “Belcanto Spatzen” or “Belcanto Choir”, found a new home in the Braunschweig Men's Choir , which also acts as a sponsor.
Margit Cherkeh led both choirs until a professional reorientation in 2010. After that, Agnes Kauer followed her until mid-2012 and Stefan PD Runge until autumn 2013 as choir director. After a vacancy, Mike Garling from the Braunschweig State Theater took over the choir, now known as the “Belcanto Youth Choir”. The choir currently has around 55 people.
The choir has also been a children's choir at the Braunschweig State Theater since the 1990s . Numerous children's soloists have emerged from its ranks.
Appearances
Radio and television
In 1985 the choir appeared in the ZDF children's choir competition. In 1991 there were several television appearances, among others in the program "Laudate" and in the Christmas program "Alles singt unter dem Tannenbaum". In 1996 the bel canto choir sang in the ZDF Sunday concert. In 2015 the choir took part in the Sturmhöhe opera of the Braunschweig State Theater, which was broadcast live as a European premiere on Deutschlandradio Kultur .
Music theater and concerts
The choir members appeared regularly in operas or musicals as a children's choir and as a soloist, especially in seldom performed or rediscovered pieces, e.g. B. 2014 in Anna Karenina ( Jenő Hubay ) or Der Prophet ( Giacomo Meyerbeer ) and 2015 Sturmhöhe ( Bernard Herrmann ) or Ragtime , but also classics like 2016 Tosca ( Giacomo Puccini ) or 2017 in Pagliacci ( Ruggero Leoncavallo ). Also at symphony concerts of the Braunschweig State Orchestra , such as B. Mahler's Symphonies No. 3 or No. 8, the choir has already participated.
In December, the choir organized an annual Advent singing with Christmas carols, also for singing along, in the small house of the Braunschweig State Theater. Since 2016, festive Advent concerts have been held instead with the Braunschweig State Orchestra and the State Theater choir. The choir also provides musical support to the Young State Theater's play club.
Concert tours
Extensive concert tours have taken the choir to many parts of the world, e.g. B. Egypt (1982), Australia (1995), Belgium (1985, 1987), England (1990), France (1993), Italy (1986), Malta (1998), Austria (1988), Poland (1987), Russia (1991), Sweden (1994), Spain (1989, 1992) or Hungary (1988).
Current programs
The youth choir Belcanto has a wide-ranging vocal repertoire, from church music to symphonic or film music to a cappella, pop and musical, as also selected programs from recent years show: In 2014 the choir held a benefit concert in the monastery church Riddagshausen for the benefit of Herzkind e. V. through. At the film concert “ Alice in Wonderland ” at the Braunschweig Film Festival 2014, he appeared at the German premiere of Danny Elfman's film music in the Volkswagenhalle . 2015 the choir took part in a performance of Carmina Burana with the choir of the Technical University of Braunschweig in the Stadthalle Braunschweig with and sang in a workshop concert with Voces8 . At the “Eurotreff '15”, the choir took part in a workshop led by Sanna Valvanne . The choir can also be heard regularly at the “Braunschweig Culture Night”.
Awards
The choir has won numerous prizes at national and international competitions. Particularly noteworthy are the national victory in the children's choir competition in 1985 and in “Germany, your choirs” in 1998 (both ZDF ).
In 1996, Margit Cherkeh was awarded the City of Braunschweig's Citizens' Medal for her commitment .
Sound carrier
- 1995: Merry Christmas. (Head of Margit Cherkeh), PPM Records, OCLC 725234406 (CD, MC)
- 1999: Christmas Everywhere. (Head of Margit Cherkeh), RAM Production Company , OCLC 725278964 (CD)
- 2011: Kodály motet (Direction Margit Cherkeh), on: French choral music from St. Aegidien (CD)
- 2012: Belcanto Youth Choir. (Direction Agnes Kauer, CD)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Margit Cherkeh . Private homepage. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
- ^ Enchanting fairy tale , review, Braunschweiger Zeitung, November 12, 2001
- ↑ Catalog raisonné Marek Jasiński , accessed on June 11, 2015
- ^ Church music St. Aegidien Braunschweig. Website of the parish of St. Aegidien, Braunschweig. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
- ↑ Braunschweig men's choir. Website. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
- ↑ Mike Garling. Website of the State Theater Braunschweig. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
- ^ Children's and youth choir St. Aegidien e. V. Brochure, March 1996.
- ^ Wuthering Heights by Bernhard Herrmann from Braunschweig. Deutschlandradio Kultur website . Retrieved May 15, 2015.
- ↑ Anna Karenina . Website of the State Theater Braunschweig. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
- ↑ Storm height . Website of the State Theater Braunschweig. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
- ↑ Ragtime . Website of the State Theater Braunschweig. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
- ^ Staatstheater Braunschweig: Tosca , program booklet, 2016.
- ↑ every year ... . Website of the Braunschweig State Theater. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
- ^ Staatstheater Braunschweig: In dulci jubilo - Festive Advent and Christmas Concert, program booklet, 2016
- Jump up ↑ Playing Clubs Part 1: In the Land of Afar . Website of the Braunschweig State Theater. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
- ↑ Program booklet for the musical "Der Eigenensüchtige Riese", Braunschweig, 2001
- ↑ benefit concert for Herzkind e. V. . Website BraunschweigToday . Retrieved May 15, 2015.
- ↑ Film festival opens with a film concert Alice in Wonderland. Website of the Braunschweig Film Festival. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
- ^ The British guide through music history , Wolfenbütteler Zeitung. May 27, 2015.
- ↑ Sounds of the City , Eurotreff '15 program, Music in the Youth Working Group , Wolfenbüttel, 2015.
- ↑ Braunschweig Cultural Night program. Website of the city of Braunschweig. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
- ↑ Advent Singing 2008. Program booklet, Staatstheater Braunschweig, 2008.
- ^ French cathedral music from St. Aegidien . Website of the parish of St. Aegidien, Braunschweig. Retrieved May 15, 2015.