The Tölzer Knabenchor, founded in 1956 by Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden in the Bavarian town of Bad Tölz, has been one of the most famous and sought-after boys’ choirs in the world for over six decades and performs more than 150 concerts and operas a year. The choir’s repertoire covers all areas of choral literature from the Baroque to the present day, with a particular focus on the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Soloists from the Tölz Boys’ Choir take on the important boys’ roles in the world’s famous opera houses.
Over the past decades, the Tölzer Knabenchor has worked with many important conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Leonard Bernstein, Karl Böhm, Pierre Boulez, Sergiu Celibidache, Riccardo Chailly, John Eliot Gardiner, Bernard Haitink, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Mariss Jansons, Herbert von Karajan, Fabio Luisi, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Kent Nagano, Seji Ozawa, Kirill Petrenko, Sir Simon Rattle, Carlo Rizzi, François-Xavier Roth, Georg Solti, Robin Ticciati and Christian Thielemann.
Concert tours have taken the Tölzer Knabenchor to almost every country in Europe, Russia, Israel, China,
Japan, Korea and the USA.The choir is regularly invited to perform at the Salzburg Festival, the Leipzig Bach Festival, the Rheingau Music Festival and the Shanghai Baroque Festival. It performs in the world’s major concert halls such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Philharmonie de Paris, the Vienna Musikverein, Carnegie Hall and Suntory Hall.
The choir has received numerous awards for its recordings on all major labels, including the German Record Award, the French Record Award, the Diapason d’Or and the ECHO Klassik of the German Phono Academy Berlin. The choir was nominated for a Grammy Award for its participation in the complete recording of all cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach with Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
PERFORMERS
Tölzer Knabenchor choir
Christian Fliegner director
PROGRAM
Gioachino Rossini
Petite messe solennelle
