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The Tölzer Knabenchor (the Tölz boychoir) was founded in 1956 by Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden in Bad Tölz, in the middle of High Bavaria. Since 1970, there is a section in Munich with its own studio in Munich-Solln. At the moment, nearly 80% of the choir members come from Munich, although Bad Tölz remains an important center.
The universal training of the choir members is based on the discipline accepted voluntarily by each boy. Creativity, spontaneity and the joy of singing are as important as a highly developed technique.
The choir’s very vast musical pallet includes as a priority baroque oratorios in original distribution as various remarkable recordings prove it. Among them are included the Little Sacred concertos of Schütz (recorded between 1987 and 1990) conducted by Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden.
The various ensembles of the Tölzer Knabenchor give nearly 240 concerts and opera performances annually. The choristers receive a share of the benefit.
Extensive concert-tours have led the Tölzer Knabenchor to China, Japan, the USA, Israel, England, France, Italy, Spain, Holland, Belgium, Poland, Austria and Switzerland. Many eminent conductors have worked or still work with them. Among them, Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Leonard Bernstein, Karl Böhm, Sergiu Celibidache, John Eliot Gardiner, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Herbert von Karajan, Gustav Leonhardt, James Levine, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Sir Georg Solti, Bruno Weil. The soloists of the Tölzer Knabenchor sing in the many famous operas and the great festivals of the whole world. For example, there are eight recordings of W.A. Mozart's Magic Flute, in which the parts of the three boys are sung by Tölzer Knabenchor choristers. |
