Vienna Boys Choir
They may be 10 to 14 years old, but the gifted, impeccably trained young singers of the famed Vienna Boys Choir sustain a musical tradition that dates back to the 15th century, an unbroken chain of artistry that resonates with current audiences as it has for centuries. “Their voices soared and sparkled…[and] delivered their musical message of peace: music unites; it does not divide” (Colorado Springs Gazette).
About Vienna Boys Choir:
The Vienna Boys Choir is one of the most famous choirs in the world, and one of its oldest, boys have been singing at Vienna's Imperial Chapel at least since 1296. Two hundred years later, on July 7, 1498, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I. established a Court Chapel in Vienna. He gave specific instructions that there were to be boys among the singers, thus laying the foundation for the Vienna Boys Choir. Like their modern successors, the Early modern boys spent much time on the road, following their imperial employer to sing at the Holy Roman Empire’s parliamentary meetings, imperial coronations, weddings, state processions, and feasts.
Over the centuries, the Viennese court attracted musical geniuses like Heinrich Isaac, Johann Joseph Fux, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Composers Joseph Haydn, Michael Haydn, and Franz Schubert sang as boys with the choir; Anton Bruckner gave them singing and piano lessons.
Today, the former imperial ensemble has grown into an entire campus; the modern Vienna Boys Choir is a private, non-profit organization which funds itself chiefly through income generated from concerts and touring, as well as donations and sponsorship deals. The Vienna Boys Choir maintains a primary school and a grammar school whose syllabuses focus on choral music and singing. 330 boys and girls between the ages of six and nineteen attend the schools on campus. All students have individual voice lessons, and all sing in one of the choirs. In addition to the four famous boys’ choirs, there is a female counterpart—the Vienna Girls Choir (Wiener Chormädchen) for girls aged 10 to 14, as well as the Chorus Primus, a mixed children’s chorus comprised of all boys and girls enrolled in the 4th grade of the choir’s primary school, and the Chorus Juventus, the mixed youth choir of the Senior High School. The Vienna Boys Choir’s education, listed by UNESCO as cultural heritage, is open to all, regardless of origin, gender, nationality, or religion.
Event Links
Tickets: https://go.evvnt.com/2725562-0
Instagram: https://go.evvnt.com/2725562-2
