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Founded in 1991 by Johannes Hiemetsberger, Chorus sine nomine currently ranks as one of Austria’s leading vocal ensembles. It has given guest performances at festivals, events, and venues such as Vienna’s Konzerthaus and Musikverein, Styriarte, Osterklang Wien (Easter Music Festival, Vienna), Salzburg Festival Pfingsten+Barock, Bruckner Festival, Linz, Chamber Music Festival Lockenhaus, and Music Festival Grafenegg. It also performs regularly at the Jeunesse (Musikalische Jugend Österreichs) concert series in Vienna and has formed a special partnership with this institution.
International performances took place in Italy (Rome 1992), Germany (Lübeck 1993, Frankfurt 1995, Wiesbaden 1999), France (Tours, Paris 1996) USA (Pittsburgh, Mansfield, New York 1998) Taiwan RoC (Taipei, Taitung, Hualien, Makung, Keelung, Kaoshiung 2000). In recent years, Chorus sine nomine has increasingly played international venues, among others at the Ravenna Festival, Théatre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, London’s Barbican Hall, and Munich Philharmonic Hall. It has also launched extensive a cappella tours around Asia (Philippines, Taiwan) and the USA. Together with the Wiener Akademie Orchestra, Chorus sine nomine will give guest performances in South America for the first time in October 2009.
The choir has won several international competitions, among them the "Bundesjugendsingen" in 1995, the contest Florilège Vocale in Tours, France in 1996, as well as the 34th international Choir Competition in Spittal an der Drau, Austria in 1997. CD releases also speak to the high quality, importance, and enthusiasm that mark Chorus sine nomine’s approach to a cappella music in all its rich variety.
The season 1999-2000 saves precious and exciting vowel facets for Chorus sine nomine: like L.v. Beethoven's 9th Symphony and stretches itself the elbow to fastidious concerts in the context of the Jeunesse over the impressive 2nd Symphony by Gustav Mahler at the Wiener Konzerthaus to sacred works by Haydn and Szymanowsky. A further highlight will be the co-operation with concerts of the "Osterklang Wien" as well as meetings with world class conductors like Ulf Schirmer and Michael Gielen.
In 2001 the Chorus sine nomine won the choir contest of European Broadcasting Union. 'let the peoples sing' is this contest called. 42 radio stations broadcasted the contest live to 3 continents. 2003 was challenging for Chorus sine nomine. The choir asked the composer Wolfgang Sauseng, a well know Austrian composer, to composer St. Johns passion especially for this choir and the soloists inside the choir. The permiere proformances were in passion week 2003.
Chorus sine nomine’s program would not be what it is without the projects it has launched, unconventional types of concerts such as CRY (2004), FROST (2007), or HAPPY BIRTHDAY (2009), and compositions commissioned with contemporary Austrian composers such as, most recently, Wolfgang Sauseng (Johannespassion, Totentanz).
In addition to pure vocal music, Chorus sine nomine performs pieces for choir and orchestra and has worked with famous partners such as Brucknerorchester Linz, Vienna Radio Symphonie Orchestra, Vienna Academie (ancient music specialists) and Sinfonietta Baden. The singers search challenges like first performances, operas and cross the borders to Jazz and Pop. Together with conductors of the likes of Jordi Savall, Kristjan Järvi, Martin Haselböck, H.K. Gruber, Gidon Kremer, Trevor Pinnock, and Ulf Schirmer as well as with orchestras such as Camerata Salzburg, Wiener Symphoniker, L'Orfeo Baroque Orchestra, and Ensemble Sarband under Vladimir Ivanoff, Chorus sine nomine also realizes choir-orchestra programs of great stylistic variety. They have included Cavalieri’s Rappresentatione di anima e di corpo, some of J.S. Bach’s great choir works, Vesper by Sergei Rachmaninov, Leonard Bernstein’s Mass, Weil’s Mahagonny, Steve Reich’s Desert Music, and The Canticle of the Sun by Sofia Gubaidulina. |
