Diversity of Voices II
Sun, 22 September – Sun, 17 November 2024
| Humboldt Forum |
Eight very different Berlin choirs will come together on the weekend of November 16 and 17, 2024 for over 40 short concerts in the Humboldt Forum and make the place sing and resound. In 2024, the Diversity of Voices choir festival will revolve around the annual theme Blown Away: The Palace of the Republic. You will hear pop hits, chorales, pop songs, hymns, folk songs, ballads and fugues at various locations in the Forum: in exhibitions, stairwells and in the large foyer. As a highlight, all the choirs – around 200 voices – will gather twice a day in the galleries of the large foyer to sing together from all sides. Admission is free.
For Diversity of Voices II, the choirs have focused on the Humboldt Forum and specifically on the 2024 annual theme Blown Away: The Palace of the Republic. This has resulted in short programs that creatively combine the respective choir repertoire with the building and the current special exhibition. During their joint performances in the large foyer, the eight choirs will sing three new songs specially arranged for the occasion, which approach the Palace of the Republic from different perspectives: Albatros by Karat, Paradiesvögel by Silly and Sonderzug nach Pankow by Udo Lindenberg. On both days, you, the visitors, are invited to take part in spontaneous workshops on the topics of circle singing and body percussion.
“Choral singing evokes immediate emotions when you listen to it. With this in mind, we invited all choirs to devote themselves to the complex themes of German-German history discussed in the current special exhibition on the Palace of the Republic and to reflect on them in their concerts,” says Anna-Lena Bolz, artistic director of the second Vielstimmig edition. Dramaturge Kaspar von Erffa adds: “The diversity of the selected approaches surprised and inspired us. And despite all the differences, there is ultimately always one level on which all the choirs very quickly come together: the joy of singing together!”
Musical direction: Anna Bolz
Dramaturgy: Kaspar von Erffa
The choirs
The Chinese Academic Choir was founded in 1995 and consists of Chinese-speaking choir lovers who live, study and/or work in Berlin. The choir’s repertoire focuses on Chinese folk, art and pop songs, but also includes works from other genres and in other languages. The Chinese Academic Choir performs regularly in Berlin and the surrounding region. Particular highlights have been its concerts in the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church and the Martin Luther Memorial Church or the concert of the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra in the Great Hall of the Philharmonie Berlin. The Chinese Academic Choir is also a welcome guest at choral festivals, for example at the intercultural concert ‘Gesang ist bunt’ in Leipzig, at the New Year’s concert of the Lower Silesian Philharmonic Oberlausitz or at the ‘Festival of Diversity’ at Berlin’s Charité hospital. The choir also performs at many festive events organised by the Chinese community in Berlin.
Song of the Hakka
Alamuhan
The crescent moon climbs upwards
On the wings of song
canta:re was founded in Berlin in 2002 by gay and lesbian fans of classical choral music. The choir now has around 45 members who are as queer and diverse as the city itself. canta:re sings almost exclusively classical repertoire – from Italian madrigals and folk songs to concert projects such as Carmina Burana and modern pieces. To make the repertoire even more inclusive, the choir also enjoys singing works by lesser-known contemporary composers. canta:re regularly takes part in queer choir festivals in Germany and abroad. In 2023, the choir was awarded the Geschwister Mendelssohn Medal by the Chorverband Berlin. Particular highlights in 2024 were the participation in Mahler’s 2nd Symphony in the Philharmonie Berlin in February and the participation in the choir festival ‘Thüringer CHORschätze’ in June with concerts in Gotha and Sondershausen. Since the end of 2023, the choir has been conducted by Canadian musician Ben Cruchley.
Videos
The vocal ensemble Àgua na Boca has set itself the goal of bringing the diversity and richness of Brazil’s musical heritage to Berlin. The choir was founded in 2018 by Brazilian singer and choir director Edy Godinho and consists of a group of women who are passionate about Brazilian popular music. Brazil’s musical culture consists of much more than samba and bossa nova. Not only because of the size of the country, there are numerous regional styles, rhythms and instruments in Brazil. Indigenous cultures, the colonial era, slavery and waves of immigration from Europe have also left deep traces in the country’s music. The repertoire of Àgua da Boca therefore also includes many rhythms and melodies that are less well-known in this country, from danceable to soft and dreamy: from samba from Rio de Janeiro to forró from the north-east of Brazil, maracatu and côco from the north of the country to choro from the Brazilian south.
The mixed choir (L)OSTsongs is still a young choir that was only founded in 2023 and currently consists of twelve members aged between 28 and 68. The choir focusses on pieces that were popular in the GDR and are rarely heard today. Through its work, the choir aims to rescue the most worthwhile melodies from this bygone era from oblivion and bring them back to life in polyphony and without instruments. The repertoire of (L)OSTsongs includes popular chansons, pop songs and rock ballads as well as children’s and youth songs, hits by East German songwriters, from FDJ singing clubs or the hootenanny and folk movement. The choir also sings well-known works from the international singer-songwriter scene as well as folk and world music, which were frequently performed in the GDR. The revival of this repertoire reflects the choir’s desire to commemorate works that musically characterised an entire generation in the GDR.
QuerChorallen is a gay and lesbian choir that was founded in 2005 and now comprises around 40 singers. The choir is led by the singer and choir director Andrea Eckhardt and the Australian composer Jaret Choolun, who are constantly developing the choir musically together. Whether Orlando di Lasso, Mikis Theodorakis, Fanny Hensel or Sinéad O’Connor, whether Abba or Queen, whether folklore or contemporary music: the QuerChorallen always sing a cappella with all their heart and conviction. The choir usually sings in four voices, occasionally also in eight voices, from a capital D to a two-note g, in German and English or in Romance, Slavic or other languages. The QuerChorallen sing with passion about spring, the Northern Lights, music, silence and, of course, love in all its facets. The choir sings regularly during Advent, at choir festivals, town festivals and occasionally at self-organised concerts.
The Liedertafel Bianca Castafiore is a four-part a cappella ensemble under the direction of Eddi Kroll. It is named after the busty diva of the same name from the comic series ‘Tintin and Snowy’ by Belgian illustrator Hergé. The choir sings songs that are first selected in a grassroots democratic selection process and then arranged by the choirmaster. Under his direction, the choir has become so emancipated that it is no longer conducted and no longer needs sheet music. The choir now sings its songs itself. Liedertafel Bianca Castafiore loves ‘fluffy’, exciting harmonies, lively rhythms, catchy choreography and colourful costumes in the style of the 1960s. With a broad, always German repertoire of 1970s hits, songs by ‘Wir sind Helden’, Peter Fox, Manfred Krug, Roland Kaiser and Dionne Warwick, the Liedertafel cultivates the beauty and deeper layers of popular songs.
Founded in 2009 by Franziska Günther, the vocal ensemble Fugatonale is dedicated to challenging choral literature and usually performs without a conductor. Fugatonale’s repertoire includes works from many eras as well as world premieres. The choir develops conceptual programmes for its performances in order to make unusual contexts audible to the audience. This is also the explicit aim of the programme that the choir is preparing for its performance at the Humboldt Forum. Early music is a particular focus of the choir’s work. A cappella fuga music-making in the sense of old and new polyphonic music plays just as much a role as the organisation of homophonic music from different centuries or contemporary atonal music, which is also reflected in the name of the ensemble. The choir’s repertoire includes a wide range of international music, which also reflects the choir’s multinational identity.
The FröSi intergenerational choir was founded in Berlin-Lichtenberg in 2016 and initially consisted of just three participants. Today, the choir is part of the leisure activities offered by the ‘RoBertO’ meeting centre run by RBO-Inmitten gGmbH and brings together around 40 people aged between 9 and 85 with and without disabilities to sing together. They sing a colourful mix of German-language hits and international classics translated into German. Neither origin nor age or singing ability are important for participation in the FröSi intergenerational choir. What counts is the joy of singing together. Led with great commitment by Sebastian Sellheim with the support of Jörg Hempel, the FröSi generation choir puts a smile on the faces of audiences, now on ever larger stages. The FröSi generation choir wants to set a musical example for inclusion and cultural participation in Berlin-Lichtenberg and beyond.
A co-operation with the Chorverband Berlin
The Chorverband Berlin e.V. is the largest amateur music organization in the capital and the most important forum for Berlin’s amateur choir scene.
With its diverse activities as a professional association, organizer and sponsor, it provides intensive basic, popular and youth work and creates the necessary conditions for top performances from its own ranks.
