Hear one of Europe’s finest chamber choirs, in their debut Melbourne performance.
Performing a stunning program of works for chamber choir by composers including Josef Rheinberger, Paul Stanhope, Wolfram Buchenberg, John Rutter and Valentin Silvestrov, the Neuer Kammerchor Berlin will also combine with the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir to perform a number of spectacular works by Heinrich Schutz, Franz Biebl and motets by Anton Bruckner.
Founded in October 2016 by Adrian Emans, the Neuer Kammerchor Berlin has quickly become one of the most renowned chamber choirs of Germany’s Capital Berlin. The choir is made up of singers with extensive choral experience. The ensemble has developed an ambitious and varied a cappella repertoire, which includes choral works ranging from the literature of the Renaissance to contemporary classical music, including many premieres of works written by young composers such as Nik Bohnenberger, Karin Rehnqvist, Zuzanna Koziej und Justin Lépany.
In the short years since its founding, the Neuer Kammerchor Berlin has already completed several competitions and concert tours (including South Africa, the Czech Republic, Poland, Luxemburg, and Italy). In November 2017, the Neuer Kammerchor Berlin participated in the 31st international choir competition “Praga Cantat” and won the “Gold Band” and the second prize in the category of “Mixed Choirs.” As part of the International Choir Competition for Chamber Choirs Mosbach, the Neuer Kammerchor Berlin took part in a workshop with Prof. Frieder Bernius, the director of Kammerchor Stuttgart.
In July 2018, the choir traveled to Tshwane, South Africa for the tenth “World Choir Games” and earned a silver medal in the “Champions Competition.” In addition to the competition, the choir gave concerts with several different choirs in Johannesburg and Stellenbosch, among others within the “Endler Concert Series,” well-known in South Africa. In October 2018 the ensemble participated in an exchange project with a Polish choir and orchestra in Wrocław to premiere Zuzanna Koziej’s “Mass of Trust.”
In January 2019, the Neuer Kammerchor Berlin sang in the Chamber Music Hall of the Berliner Philharmonic as part of their Sunday Concert Series. At the “Claudio Monteverdi International Choral Festival and Competition” in October 2019, the choir won first place in the categories “Musica Sacra” and “Cori dei Adulti,” as well as the “Grand Prix,” the grand prize for the entire international competition.
At the German Choral Festival in Leipzig in May 2022, the choir won first places in both the “Contemporary Choral Music” and “Romantic Secular” categories, as well as a special prize as for a “Particularly Outstanding Performance”, which comes with a three-day CD production by the Rondeau Production label.
The choir is under the direction of Adrian Emans, the founder and musical director of the Neuer Kammerchor Berlin, the Charité Chor Berlin and the Neuer Männerchor Berlin. Emans began his musical career with the classical guitar, for which he earned national and international recognition. In 2016, Adrian Emans founded the Neuer Kammerchor Berlin, made up of students from the Berlin University of the Arts. Under his leadership, the choir enjoyed international success by winning second prize at the competition “Praga Cantat”, where Adrian was additionally awarded a special jury prize for outstanding conducting. In 2018, the choir was also awarded with a silver diploma in the “Champions Competition” at the international competition “World Choir Games” in Tshwane, South Africa. In addition to his ensemble conducting work, Adrian Emans is active as the chairman of the music committee of the Choral Association of Berlin.
Adrian Emans, conductor
Andrew Wailes, conductor
Neuer Kammerchor Berlin
Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir
About All Saints East St Kilda
The construction of All Saints Church was begun in 1858 and it opened in 1861. It is one of the most significant gothic revival church buildings in Australia, and is the country’s biggest parish church with a seating capacity of over 1200 people.
The Church is located at the corner of busy Dandenong Road (the Princes Highway) and Chapel Street, East St. Kilda, just south of the famous Chapel Street tourist precinct. The Astor cinema is opposite the Church Hall. Trams pass the site in both Dandenong Road (routes 05 & 64) and Chapel Street (routes 78 & 79). The Windsor railway station (on the Brighton/Sandringham line) is only a few hundred metres down Chapel Street. The train journey to/from the Melbourne CBD takes less than ten minutes. As well, there is car parking available for patrons in the car park beside All Saints Church.
The Neuer Kammerchor Berlin thanks the Goethe Institute for financial support during their tour to Australia.
