Boys' Choir Our Dear Women Bremen
| Boys' Choir Our Dear Women Bremen | |
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| Seat: |
 Bremen
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| Carrier: | Congregation Our Dear Women Bremen |
| Founding: | 1945 |
| Genus: | Boys' choir |
| Founder: | Harald Wolff |
| Head : | Ulrich Kaiser |
| Voices : | SSAATTBB |
| Website : | https://knabenchor-bremen.de/ |
The boys 'choir Unser Lieben Frauen Bremen is a Protestant boys' choir based in the Bremen church of the same name and the only ensemble of its kind in its hometown. He works in the liturgical service, in choral vespers and organizes large oratorio concerts. Maintaining vocal music from different centuries at a high artistic level is part of his self- image. The sponsor of the boys' choir is the parish of Our Dear Women Bremen . Nevertheless, it is also open to boys without religious affiliation.
history
The name of the ensemble goes back to the nickname of Mary , to whom the Church of Our Lady is consecrated as the first parish church outside the cathedral district and the second oldest church in the Hanseatic city. Under the church is the St. Vitus Chapel, the oldest accessible cellar vault in Bremen, where a boys' choir tradition was established as early as the 11th century with the maintenance of the Gregorian chant. Today's boys' choir, Unser Lieben Frauen, is committed to this thousand-year-old tradition and has been led by four choir directors in its almost 75-year history: The choir in its current form was founded in September 1945 by Harald Wolff. He was followed by cantor Chris Vandré in 1972 and in 1993 Ansgar Müller-Nanninga took over the management. Ulrich Kaiser has been responsible for the choir's fate since summer 2018 . In addition to maintaining tradition, the focus of his work is a modern combination of high artistic and educational standards.
Choir structure
The entire boys 'choir school consists of six different groups with currently 140 boys' and men's voices who have been accepted into the choir after an individual audition.
Concert choir
Participation in the concert choir is possible from the age of nine and, for many singers, continues beyond the Abitur. The music played is mainly sacred songs , which are performed in various programs in church services, vespers and concerts. The boys' choir rehearses two to three times a week for this purpose.
The male choir also develops its own programs.
Carolers
Before being accepted into the concert choir, the boys usually go through extensive training in the students . In order to find and train suitable offspring for the boys' choir, choir membership often begins at the age of three: In Kurrende III the boys sing children's and folk songs in a 45-minute rehearsal, from the age of five they then learn simple spiritual and secular songs in Kurrende II know.
Immediately before joining the concert choir, intensive training takes place in Kurrende I. In order to be able to compose the demanding choral literature convincingly, the boys rehearse here twice a week for 1.5 to 2 hours and learn how to sing two-part choral music, sheet music, Interval and rhythm theory as well as leaf singing prepared for later participation in the concert choir.
Men's choir
Even when the voice breaks, the choir members are given voice training and introduced to their new vocal range in the male choir. The knowledge of music theory and sight-seeing is deepened.
Young talent search
In order to ensure the continued existence of the choir in the long term, the choir director regularly visits the elementary schools in the Hanseatic city in order to discover singing talents in trial rehearsals and to make their parents aware of the musical training opportunities. An expansion of the search for young people to include the city's kindergartens is planned.
In addition, there are various ways to get to know the choir and the choir school: In addition to regular days of the open boys' choir doors, individual audition dates and observations at a choir rehearsal can be arranged at any time.
repertoire
The extensive repertoire of the choir is comprised of mainly sacred choral music from ten centuries of the Church was organized in 1020 to the present: Gregorian , works of the baroque and romantic a cappella - motets among others, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy , Anton Bruckner and Max Reger .
From the field of oratorio , the most recent performances were the Johannes Passion and the Christmas Oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach , the Messiah by Georg Friedrich Handel , the Requiem settings by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Gabriel Fauré, and the Chichester Psalms by Leonard Bernstein . Since 2018, the boys' choir has been regularly participating in the Bach cantata services on the second Sunday of each month in the Church of Our Lady .
Choir life
The aim of the choir work in the boys' choir is to continue the own musical tradition and culture in the Church of Our Dear Women by taking over the liturgical service and maintaining the concert choral music. The boys' togetherness in the choir is also cultivated outside of the music: the singers experience and develop team spirit on choir weekends and concert tours as well as at leisure events and by taking responsibility for the younger ones. The choir director is supported in his work by the “Council of Five” and the Prefect from among the ranks of the choir.
to travel
Concert tours have taken the choir past and present throughout Germany and other European countries, including Italy, France, Denmark, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Norway. Every year two to three choir trips and longer trips are undertaken.
Promotion and support
The Bremen Boys Choir is one of the few Protestant boys' choirs that is supported by its own community. In addition, he receives financial and non-material support from the Bremen Evangelical Church , the Diakonie Unser Lieben Frauen and the Friends of the Boys' Choir.
Cantors
- 1945–1972: Harald Wolff
- 1972-1992: Chris Vandré
- 1993–2018: Ansgar Müller-Nanninga
- since 2018: Ulrich Kaiser
Web links
Individual evidence
- Jump up ↑ Church of Our Lady. Retrieved November 10, 2019 .
- ↑ St. Vitus Chapel. In: Church of Our Dear Women Bremen. Retrieved November 10, 2019 .
- ↑ Harald Wolff. In: Bremen Boys Choir. Retrieved November 10, 2019 .
- ↑ Chris Vandré. In: Bremen Boys Choir. Retrieved November 10, 2019 .
- ↑ Ansgar Müller-Nanninga. In: Bremen Boys Choir. Retrieved November 10, 2019 .
- ↑ Ulrich Kaiser. In: Bremen Boys Choir. Retrieved November 10, 2019 .
- ↑ Friends of the Boys Choir. In: Bremen Boys Choir. Retrieved November 10, 2019 .