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The Bachchor der Johanniskantorei Halle (= BCJKH) with at present about 80 active members at the age between 15 and 65 years, is led since 1988 by KMD Martin Rieker. The Bachchor was created in 1961 by Professor KMD Burghard Schloemann. Its order grew with the introduction of the Haller Bach-Tage in 1964. Within this annual music festival the "Chorkonzert II" forms the high pick. So far the Bachchor has already performed all the J.S. Bach oratorios, in addition, Monteverdi's Marienvesper, Felix Mendelssohn's Elias and in 1998 the premiere of Franz Schmidt's Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln.
Concert tours within the Federal German Republic as well as abroad (Switzerland, France, Austria) enrich the musical life. Besides the Bachchor has very important part in the musical life of municipality, in the arrangement of the services, with concerts in the "Musikalischen Herbst" of Halle. Franz Schmidt Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln - was an enormous challenge. The Bachchor gave its first performance in September 2003 in Paderborn, a further performance in November 2003 in Göttingen together with the Göttinger Symphonieorchester under the baton of Christian Simonis. The Bachchor had already a joint production with the Göttinger Symphonieorchester, with Gustav Mahler's "Symphony of Thousand", performed in Göttingen and Hameln in the early summer 2000. Co-operation with the Göttinger Symphonieorchester resulted from an old friendship between Christian Simonis and Martin Rieker from recent "Musiker-Jahren" in Vienna.
Two CD recordings from the 36th Haller Bach-Tage 1999 performance of Monteverdi's Marienvesper are present. Other recordings of the Bachchor are: "Breit aus die Flügel beide" angel music of Halle Westphalia and "Advents- und Weihnachtsmusik" from the St. Johanniskirche Halle. There are concert recordings of F. Mendelssohn's Elias from 2001 and J.S. Bach's Mass in B minor (BWV 232) from 2003. |
