Gächinger Kantorei
| Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart | |
|---|---|
| Choir | |
| Founded | 1954 |
| Founder | Helmuth Rilling |
| Genre | Mixed concert choir |
| Members | 200 |
| Chief conductor |
|
| Headquarters | Stuttgart |
| Affiliation | Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart |
| Website | www |
Gächinger Kantorei (Gächingen Chorale) is an internationally known German mixed choir, founded by Helmuth Rilling in 1954 in Gächingen (part of St. Johann close to Reutlingen) and conducted by him until 2013, succeeded by Hans-Christoph Rademann.
A "Kantorei" is a choir of high standard dedicated mostly, but not exclusively, to sacred music. The ensemble operates in Stuttgart now and is therefore officially named Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart. The choir has up to 200 voices, called together for projects from Germany and Switzerland, most of them singers with a degree in music. Since 1965 they have performed music with orchestra as Gächinger Kantorei and Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, including several first performances.
Initially the choir was dedicated to a cappella music of the 16th, 17th and 20th century, later adding works from the period of Romanticism. In 1965 Rilling founded the orchestra Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, and both groups started performing choral music with orchestra.
The first international tours were conducted in the 1960s to the (then) DDR, CSSR and Hungary, the first tour to the United States followed in 1968. In 1976 the choir sang with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra the first performance in Israel of Brahms's A German Requiem. Tours of the 1980s took the group to Poland and Moscow.
Gächinger Kantorei and Bach-Collegium Stuttgart have performed at festivals such as the "Musikfest Stuttgart" of the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, Salzburg Festival, Lucerne Festival or the Prague Spring. In 2004 they celebrated their 50th year by performing Bach's Mass in B minor at the Oregon Bach Festival. They have appeared at the Rheingau Musik Festival and recorded Mozart's Great Mass in C Minor in 2006.
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Wikipedia