Harry McDoggus
November 10, 2016
Beloved Vienna Boys Choir to Tour the U.S.

The Vienna Boys Choir, renowned as one of the finest vocal ensembles in the world for over 5 centuries, will perform in 28 American cities from 12 November through 20 December 2016. Starting at the Edmunds Center for the Arts in Washington state, the group will do 17 concerts on the west coast, 10 concerts on the northeast corridor of the U.S. - including their much anticipated annual return to Carnegie Hall - then pivot to Symphony Hall in Chicago for their final appearance on the tour.

The enormously popular chorus is actually comprised of four separate ensembles of 23 - 26 boys each, totaling 100 choristers at the Vienna Boys Choir's school at any given time - all of them between the ages of 10 and 14. The four choirs are of equal standing, and the Vienna Boys Choir's tours, concerts in Vienna and audio and video recording projects are shared among them. Each choir has a choirmaster and two tutors who travel with the boys. The choir visiting the U.S. this Fall, led by its conductor Jimmy Chiang, will present two distinct concert programs. The first program includes works by J.S. Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Dvorak, and Schumann, as well as some lighter fare by Josef Lanner and the Strauss family, two madrigals, and Frederick Loewe's Broadway hit "On the Street where You Live". It will be offered from 12-22 November; after Thanksgiving the group will switch to a holiday program.

The Vienna Boys Choir can trace its history as far back as the 13th century but it was formally established at Vienna's Imperial Chapel in 1498 by Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. The many incarnations of the group have been performing continuously ever since. The modern Vienna Boys Choir represents quite a departure from the composition of the original medieval choir of six boys. Today's Vienna Boys Choir is comprised of talented young singers from all over the world who are admitted by audition. During the school year, all choristers reside in the choir's boarding house in Vienna, where they receive not only traditional schooling but also their musical training - both academic and music lessons are tailored to the boys' individual needs. Approximately eleven weeks of the school year are devoted to touring; each choir member sings about 80 concerts a year. Once they reach ninth grade, the choristers graduate to the next phase of their education. Choir members have gone on to careers in all walks of life, with about 25% turning to professional careers in music. Many of the boys have siblings, fathers, uncles and even grandfathers who have also been members of the choir.

The conductor of the Vienna Boys Choir on this tour is Jimmy Chiang, who was born in Hong Kong and educated at Trinity College of Music in London, Baylor University in the U.S. and the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, with Seiji Ozawa among his teachers. Jimmy Chiang has served as principal conductor of the Hong Kong Pan Asia Symphony, as assistant music director of Wagner's Ring cycle at Theater Lübeck and as Kapellmeister at Theater Freiburg, Germany. He has appeared as guest conductor with the Komische Oper Berlin, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Zagreb Philharmonic, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. In 2013 Maestro Chiang assumed the position of choirmaster of the Vienna Boys Choir.

Since their first audio recording in 1907, the Vienna Boys Choir has recorded over 300 singles, LPs, and CDs, the most recent of which is a successful holiday album: Merry Christmas from Vienna (Deutsche Grammophon). Three pieces of the repertoire on the programs the Choir is bringing to the U.S. this year are featured on DVD and CD: Haydn's motet Insanae et vanae curae is sung in a historical scene in Curt Faudon's movie Silk Road, while Lanner's waltz Die Schönbrunner has been performed for the 2013 documentary Bridging the Gap - the Power of Singing. Josef Strauss's polka Auf Ferienreisen (On Holiday) was performed with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Mariss Jansons at the orchestra's traditional New Year's Day Concert in 2016, and is available on CD and DVD.

In February 2017, the choir will conduct another U.S. Tour, presenting their brand-new program "Smile" under the baton of choirmaster Oliver Stech.

*     *     *     *     *

See Related:
Related Link
Back to List
Back to Top