Windsbacher Knabenchor

History

Founded in 1946 by Hans Thamm and since 1978 under the direction of Karl-Friedrich Beringer, the choir is one of the most renowned boys choirs of the world. The choir is an institution of the Lutheran Church in Bavaria, which raises about 30 percent of the funds required to support both the ensemble and the singers boarding school. The choir received the Rheingau Musikpreis of the Rheingau Musik Festival in 2007.

Repertoire and performances

The choirs repertoire spans all kinds of disciplines from a cappella to great oratoric masterpieces, such as the Messiah by Handel or Elijah by Mendelssohn Bartholdy. With about 70 singers, the choir conducts about 50 concerts per year. This includes going on tour once or twice per year to locations such as other European countries, the Middle East, Far East, the United States and South America. The choir also accompanied the Presidents of Germany Richard von Weizsäcker and Roman Herzog on their state visits and held a concert for Johannes Rau.

Education

At school, the young singers are specially supported in so called "choir classes" of the external grammar school "Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Gymnasium". This allows for more flexibility in responding to the special needs of the singers. The musical education at the boarding school also includes voice training, music theory and of course the daily rehearsals.

In order to ensure proper delivery of homework and absorption of curriculum content, the younger grades are obliged to attend a daily "study time" at the boarding school. Depending on the proficiency level of an individual student, special enhancement classes are offered by teachers of the grammar school. The purpose of this offer is to enable students to catch up on subject matters they missed due to absence or class cancellations which result from tours or additional rehearsals in preparation of important performances.