Stockholm Mass Choir

Stockholm Mass Choir

Stockholm’s most swinging large choir – with 500 singers – presents a gospel concert at Konserthuset Stockholm for the first time. This massive ensemble is led by Cedwin Sandanam, the choir director behind Tensta Gospel Choir. Experience the magnificent sensation of so many voices performing swinging gospel songs, both traditional and modern.Also behind Sthlm Mass Choir is Sabina Valois, producer and assistant choir director; Sara Brannäs, assistant choir director; and Jonathan Waldenfrid, conductor. All three have leadership roles with Tensta Gospel Choir. The concept behind this choir was to create a space for beginners and experienced singers alike to participate in the feel, rhythm and swing that made Tensta Gospel Choir the most popular gospel choir in Sweden.Founded in January 2023, Sthlm Mass Choir has already given acclaimed concerts at Berwaldhallen and Filadelfia Convention Center. The choir now comes to Konserthuset Stockholm to perform two concerts filled with swing, rhythm and emotion.

Mass in b minor

Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B minor is one of the truly great masterpieces in music history. Compiled from music he had composed for various occasions over a period of 25 years. Here we find both the magnificent Sanctus, which he composed for Christmas in 1724 when he was new to the job as cantor in Leipzig, and the Osanna written in 1749 by an elderly, almost blind Bach. The Mass in B minor is something of a culmination of Bach's fantastic work.We hear the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir together with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra conducted by Fredrik Malmberg. Soloists include soprano Anna Zander, who has a special focus on early music, and Kathrin Lorenzen, who won the prestigious Soloist Prize earlier this year.The Eric Ericson Chamber Choir was founded in 1945 by the then 27-year-old Eric Ericson and has since then held a central place in Swedish and international music life. The choir belongs to the absolute top tier of professional ensembles internationally, and since 2003, Eric Ericson's Chamber Choir has had a close collaboration with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra at the Concert Hall.Please note: The concert includes an intermission.

Popup Choir: Oasis

Kearsney College Choir

South Africa celebrates 30 years of democracy in 2024 - and Hamburg celebrates with it! The Kearsney College Choir from Durban (South Africa) will take the Elbphilharmonie by storm! It has been an example of lively, swinging one-off performances and perfect productions for 103 years now. The young choristers have a large following worldwide and have already performed with great success in the USA, Austria, Switzerland, China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and of course Germany. With great pride, the Kearsney College Choir believes in the legacy of Nelson Mandela, who became South Africa’s first democratically elected black president 30 years ago in 1994: »Music is a great gift. It has the power to uplift and liberate us. It enables us human beings to dream. Music unites us to sing with one voice.«

Soweto Gospel Choir

The Soweto Gospel Choir is one of the world’s most famous gospel choirs. It has won three Grammys and performed with U2, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. But when the South African singers step onto the stage and unleash their powerful voices, all that becomes trivial. Because in those moments, the choir is focused only on its mission, one that has remained constant ever since its founding in 2003: »Spreading joy«. And it usually takes only a few bars for the audience to feel the effect. The choir was formed 20 years ago in Soweto, the South West Townships of Johannesburg in which Nelson Mandela lived, and from which he inspired the South African freedom movement. Since 2003, the Soweto Gospel Choir has performed at historic ceremonies in democratic South Africa, including Nelson Mandela’s state funeral in 2013. Today, the choir tours the world giving concerts and as ambassadors of Mandela’s foundation. As part of the »André Heller Reflektor«, the choir is now coming to the Elbphilharmonie Grand Hall to perform familiar hits by Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye and Otis Redding, as well as gospel songs written by pop legends such as Bob Dylan, Whitney Houston and Prince. One of the things that make the choir’s concerts so special is their translations of songs into some of South Africa’s twelve official languages. Leonard Cohen’s famous »Hallelujah« is just as powerful when sung in Sotho and Zulu – as anyone who has heard the Soweto Gospel Choir’s version will attest.

Amsterdams Gemengd Koor: Mozart's Great Mass

The Concertgebouw’s famous Main Hall is one of the best concert halls in the world, well-known for its exceptional acoustics and special atmosphere. In the Main Hall, you will feel history. Here, Gustav Mahler conducted his own compositions, as did Richard Strauss and Igor Stravinsky. Sergei Rachmaninoff played his own piano concertos in the Main Hall. This is also where musicians such as Leonard Bernstein, Vladimir Horowitz and Yehudi Menuhin gave legendary performances. Right up to now, the Main Hall offers a stage to the world’s best orchestras and musicians. Buy your tickets now and experience the magic of the Main Hall for yourself!

Popup Choir: Aretha Franklin

Choir Concert: Figure humaine

The 2024 Hamburg International Music Festival is dedicated to Sofia Gubaidulina, one of the leading composers of the modern age. She was awarded the Praemium Imperiale art prize in 1998, and the Polar Music Prize in 2002. The work of the Russian-Tatar composer, who has been living near Hamburg for decades, is almost always inspired by poetry. She draws on a diverse range of sources, from the ancient Egyptians to contemporary poets. In 1997, Gubaidulina set one of the earliest pieces of Italian literature – Saint Francis of Assisi’s 13th century »Canticle of the Sun«, a song of praise for the creation – to music, for the unusual combination of cello, choir and percussion. Chorwerk Ruhr, one of Germany’s best choirs, is coming to Hamburg to perform the piece, and the solo part is played by the French star cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras. Francis Poulenc’s 1943 choral work »Figure humaine« follows in the second half of the concert. The polyphonic cantata, which is based on a poem by Paul Éluard, is pervaded by human tragedies of violence and hate, and opens into an ode to freedom.

Vladimir Jurowski conducts Bach’s Mass in B Minor

The concert will be broadcast live on rbbKultur.Due to construction work, access to the Konzerthaus is currently restricted. Please note the following information:

Mozart: Great Mass in C minor / Jordi Savall

It is considered one of the great unfinished works in the history of music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s »Great Mass« in C minor. He probably composed it following his wedding to singer Constanze Weber; unlike with his Requiem, at least Mozart’s death did not prevent the completion of the mass. Although remaining fragmentary, this outstanding mass setting is touching to this day due to its direct expressive power. With his Le Concert des Nations established in 1989, Catalan gambist, music researcher and conductor Jordi Savall had already often been a guest in Hamburg. As an expert in early music and historical performance practice, he consistently gives the audience new listening experiences – in particular with frequently played works. Because Savall is not only interested in music from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, but he also elicits new aspects from the seemingly well-known classics. The ensemble and its conductor recently demonstrated this in 2021, for instance, with their Beethoven cycle; now, they tackle Mozart’s »Great Mass«.