Musicon / Notes / Vienna Boys Choir – Professionalism in tradition and innovation
-Vienna Boys Choir – Professionalism in tradition and innovation
For more than half a millennium, these 10- to 14-year-olds have been singing an eclectic range of music, from Medieval to classical performances. But they’ve come a long way from belting choruses in Austrian’s imperial court. In fact, Vienna Boys Choir have gone global.
Gerald Wirth, who took over as artistic director for the Vienna Boys Choir in 2001, said that of the four touring choirs, his group is the only one to travel the world. They’ve gone from Beijing, South Korea to, most recently this year, Italy. Thursday the group is kicking off their United States tour in Knoxville at the Bijou Theatre.
But this jet-setting choir also plans to reinvent tradition. Their repertoire in Knoxville will include a “mix of tradition” that will include “contemporary aspects and more international aspects,” said Wirth. He said the choir will also incorporate experimental music along with their more traditional performances of Mozart, Verdi or Strauss. Some of the international arrangements to be performed at Knoxville include “If I Were a Rich Man,” from the musical “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Let the Sunshine In,” from the rock musical “Hair.”
Today, there are around 100 choristers, divided into four touring choirs, according to a press release from the choir. They give around 300 concerts and performances each year in front of almost half a million people. Also, each group spends nine to 11 weeks of the school year on tour.
The popularity of the choir is partly due to the musical selections and the boys’ maturity, according to Wirth. “I think (the appeal) is the young boys doing the music in a very professional way,” said Wirth. He added that the show appeals to audiences interested in “light classics,” who don’t want to hear pure classical music.
Under Wirth’s direction, the choir is taking on more unique projects like Children’s Opera, where the boys perform classic operas or even new shows by Wirth. The choristers also sing popular music and have contributed to a number of major motion picture soundtracks worldwide. But they still remain grounded in tradition. The choir still provides music for the Sunday Mass in Vienna’s Imperial Chapel, as they’ve done since 1498.
By Stephen Woodward, Knoxnews; excerpts, edited by MUSICON