• Fri 14.11.
  • 7.30 p.m.
  • Bremen
    ·Die Glocke
  • Please note that concerts will now start at 7:30 p.m.

Fascinating choral melodies

3rd Hansa I subscription concert

Works by Kodály and Lindberg

After the last planned concert with the RIAS Kammerchor in 2020 was unfortunately cancelled due to the pandemic, we are now finally able to welcome these much-anticipated guests and their Chief Conductor Justin Doyle, whose wide-ranging interests also extend to contemporary music. Zoltán Kodály, like Béla Bartók, collected folk songs from his homeland. In 1927, Marosszék in Transylvania, now part of Romania, still belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Kodály draws on folk melodies that he believes were originally sung and are significantly older than the Hungarian dances referenced by Brahms. His poignant Missa Brevis was composed at the end of the Second World War, after Budapest had been largely destroyed in the fighting that had taken place. ›Graffiti‹, a work by the acclaimed Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg, presents a unique form of secular oratorio by setting to music the wall drawings discovered in the ruins of Pompeii.

Programme

    • Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967)
    • Marosszéki Táncok (Marosszéker Tänze)
    • Magnus Lindberg (*1958)
    • Graffiti
    • Zoltán Kodály
    • Missa Brevis

Conductor

Justin Doyle

Justin Doyle is Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the RIAS Chamber Choir in Berlin. This season he is currently leading the ensemble with a broad repertoire of concerts across Germany and Europe. His first two CD recordings – Britten’s ›Hymn to St Cecilia‹ and Haydn’s ›Missa Cellensis‹ – were both met with great enthusiasm from critics and audiences alike.

Further engagements this season are taking him to work with ensembles such as the Bavarian Radio Choir, the MDR Radio Choir, the Swedish Radio Choir, the São Paulo Symphony Choir and the BBC Singers. Last season, he regularly worked with orchestras such as the Opera North Orchestra, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and the Finnish Baroque Orchestra.

Justin Doyle is also in great demand as an opera conductor, in particular for works by Mozart, Haydn and Britten. In previous seasons, he has given concerts at Opera North, at Buxton Festival as well as at Garsington Opera Festival.

Justin Doyle is a passionate advocate of music from other cultures, as well as of Music Education. Since 2018, this British-born musician has been Guest Professor for Choir Conducting at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin. He is also Guest Professor at the Finnish Sibelius Academy.

RIAS Kammerchor

The RIAS Chamber Choir Berlin counts as one of the world’s leading professional choirs and sets the benchmark in almost all areas of music culture – from historically informed performances of Renaissance and Baroque Music, to Romantic works through to challenging premieres. Founded over 70 years ago, the choir acts as a cultural ambassador to Germany and, with its guest performances in some of the world’s most significant musical centres, is leading the legacy of German choir culture into the 21st century.

The RIAS Chamber Choir has been declared by the British journal »Gramophone« as one of the ten best choirs in the world. Since the 2017-18 season, Justin Doyle has been Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the choir. Their joint Japanese debut in autumn 2018 was given to great public acclaim. Numerous awards document the choir’s international reputation. Ongoing collaborations link the choir to the Academy of Ancient Music Berlin, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, the Ensemble Resonanz and the Capella de la Torre. In addition, the Ensemble has worked together with conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Rene Jacobs, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Ivan Fischer and Rinaldo Alessandrini.

The RIAS Chamber Choir Berlin is part of the Radio Orchestras and Choirs GmbH (ROC). Partners include Deutschland Radio, the Federal Republic of Germany, the State of Berlin and Radio Berlin-Brandenburg.

Conductor

Justin Doyle

Justin Doyle is Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the RIAS Chamber Choir in Berlin. This season he is currently leading the ensemble with a broad repertoire of concerts across Germany and Europe. His first two CD recordings – Britten’s ›Hymn to St Cecilia‹ and Haydn’s ›Missa Cellensis‹ – were both met with great enthusiasm from critics and audiences alike.

Further engagements this season are taking him to work with ensembles such as the Bavarian Radio Choir, the MDR Radio Choir, the Swedish Radio Choir, the São Paulo Symphony Choir and the BBC Singers. Last season, he regularly worked with orchestras such as the Opera North Orchestra, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and the Finnish Baroque Orchestra.

Justin Doyle is also in great demand as an opera conductor, in particular for works by Mozart, Haydn and Britten. In previous seasons, he has given concerts at Opera North, at Buxton Festival as well as at Garsington Opera Festival.

Justin Doyle is a passionate advocate of music from other cultures, as well as of Music Education. Since 2018, this British-born musician has been Guest Professor for Choir Conducting at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin. He is also Guest Professor at the Finnish Sibelius Academy.