Chorwelten - a new series at the Kronberg Academy Foundation is live for season 26/27 and I am super happy about this. What started as a conversation with Kronberg Academy director Raimund Trenkler about the amazing acoustics of the Casals Forum (the chamber music hall in my hometown Kronberg and brainchild of the Academy) turned into the idea of creating a series solely built around voices, and for those acoustics, and I ran with it:
In its first season, the focus is on Great Britain, where a strong choral tradition and a contemporary approach often stunningly intertwine and unfold with particular richness - from luminous transparency to bold new colours.
We have invited three ensembles to exemplify this wide spectrum: Solomon's Knot (Baroque collective, historically informed approach, performing off score), ORA Singers (visionary commissioner of contemporary choral music, often performed alongside Renaissance masterpieces), and the young Echo Vocal Ensemble (fearless, innovative and often immersive).
Realising this series, created for my hometown, for a house and an organisation I hold in great affection, with musicians from my adopted home whom I admire equally, feels for me, in the best possible way, like coming full circle.
The conceptual thread is a shared choral tradition - one that connects these very different sound worlds and their distinct positioning within British musical life. Kronberg audiences are in for something special, and I am pretty certain they will be as moved by these vocal ensembles as I am, every time.