Cantores minores
| Cantores Minores | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Helsinki, Finland |
| Genres | Classical music |
| Years active | 1952 - Present |
| Website | [1] |
Cantores Minores is a choir of the Helsinki Cathedral, and Finland's oldest and most successful boys' choir. The patron of the choir is the President of Finland. The choir currently consists of about three hundred 4- to 25-year-old boys and young men.
The choir was founded in 1952 by Tarmo Nuotio and Ruth Ester Hillilä. Since then the choir has also established several smaller groups. The choir's long-term conductors include the Austrian Peter Lacovich who acted as choir's leader in 1954-1958 and 1960–1962, and German Heinz Hofmann who directed the choir in 1962 - 1987.
In 1987-2004 the choir, and since 1990 also the newly established Cantores Minores Musical Institute, were led by the German professor Christian Hauschild. During his time the repertoire of the choir expanded and its reputation abroad grew due to long concert tours around the globe. The choral repertoire is well represented by the performances in 2004, when the major pieces included Bach's St John Passion, St Matthew Passion, Christmas Oratorio (cantatas 1-3), Mozart's Requiem and Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem.
Hannu Norjanen has been the choir's artistic leader since 2005. He already sung in Cantores Minores as a boy. He graduated as conductor from the Sibelius Academy.
The performing choir comprises ca. 140 8-to-25-year-old boys and men. The assembly of the choir is SSAATTBB (1 and 2 soprano, 1 and 2 alto, 1 and 2 tenor, 1 and 2 bass). After mutation of voices, boys proceed from boy voices to male voices. Each voice have its own prefect. The prefect is the position of trust appointed by conductor of the choir. The Prefect is "leader" of his voice and is responsible for keeping order. The choir is actively practicing several times in a week and give concerts both at home and abroad.
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