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Expressive, differentiated, multi-faceted - the Kammerchor der Christuskirche Karlsruhe is known for such a sound. The musical and textual content of the works performed should be immediately audible and tangible for the audience. The Kammerchor prefers to focus on compositions by old masters from Heinrich Schütz and Johann Hermann Schein to J.S. Bach, through German Romanticism with Felix Mendelssohn, Johannes Brahms and Max Reger to classical modernism with Paul Hindemith, Benjamin Britten, Francis Poulenc and Debussy.
KMD Professor Carsten Wiebusch founded the Kammerchor der Christuskirche in 2002 and shaped the work of the approximately 40 vocally trained singers until 2018. Since September 2018, Peter Gortner has also taken over the musical direction of the Kammerchor and continues to lead it with the same high quality standards.
The Kammerchor can be experienced musically in a variety of ways in a cappella concerts with sophisticated, thematically designed programs as well as in large performances with an orchestra, often together with the Oratorienchor Karlsruhe der Christuskirche, which is also based at the Christuskirche. The musical participation in the church year in cantata services and on high holidays also plays a major role. The promotion of young talent is also supported through close co-operation with the Kinder- und Jugendsingschule Cantus Juvenum Karlsruhe, whose Mädchenchöre are based at the Christuskirche.
The Kammerchor der Christuskirche, one of the prize-winners of the Landeschorwettbewerbs Baden-Württemberg 2013, is not only one of the most ambitious local choirs, but has also acquired an excellent reputation beyond Karlsruhe and has been a guest at, for example, the Kilianskirche Heilbronn, St. Michael Schwäbisch-Hall, Speyerer Dom, Meissner Dom and Kreuzkirche Dresden as well as the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. In 2016, they were invited to be a guest choir at the Chorfest der Nordkirche in Lübeck. In the spring of 2017, the choir was a guest at the Händelfestspielen Karlsruhe once again and performed Dixit Dominus with the Deutschen Händelsolisten. In October 2017 he organized the final concert of the “Zeitgenuss” Festival in the city of Karlsruhe together with the Konzertchor Mädchen Cantus Juvenum. The audio recordings bear witness to this impressive concert. As the crowning conclusion to 2017 and the last joint concert with its founder Carsten Wiebusch, the Magnificat in D major BWV 243 and parts I and V of the Weihnachts-Oratorium BWV 248 by J.S. Bach were played on the 3rd Sunday in Advent.
The acclaimed first concert with Peter Gortner took place on 3rd Sunday in Advent, 2018. Messiah + X Part I 1685: Festival music by Bach and Handel. The program included the Christmas part of George Frideric Handel's oratorio Messiah as well as J.S. Bach's Christmas Cantata Gloria in excelsis Deo, BWV 191. The CD recording was made in December 2019 in close collaboration with the Barockorchester L'arpa festantew München "Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her" with works by the Leipzig Baroque composers Johann Schelle, Sebastian Knüpfer and Johann Kuhnau, which was placed on the recommendation list "The best Christmas classical music CDs and recordings released in 2020" by BBC Music Magazine.
For the anniversary year 2021-2022, the choir has invited special musical guests and is looking forward to working with the Lautten Compagney Berlin and the associated performance of Claudio Monteverdi's Marienvesper. |
