Ascension Fine Arts Committee
Presents
Junger Chor Speyer
(The Speyer, Germany Youth Choir)



FRIDAY, MARCH 28, 2008
7:00 PM



Freewill Offering will be taken

Church of the Ascension
13216 Detroit Avenue
Lakewood, Ohio 44107
216-521-8727

Junger Chor Speyer - Speyer Youth Choir
The Junger Chor Speyer was founded in 1993 by the St. Joseph Parish and the city of Speyer's Conservatory. This non-profit organization presently offers choral music education to nearly 100 boys and girls (beginning at age four) in various levels and ensembles. These young singers learn and perform a great variety of repertoire consisting mainly of classical literature, but also many selections from international folk music. In addition, the choir is known to premiere specially commissioned works by young German composers. The Speyer Youth Choir sings regularly for Sunday Mass at St. Joseph's in Speyer, presents concerts locally and in nearby communities and parishes. The choir's touring ensemble has performed internationally in England, Russia, Norway and Switzerland. The singers and their families have also hosted several visiting choirs in their 2000-year-old hometown of Speyer. The Junge Chor Speyer has been featured on both national TV and radio. The ensemble has also recorded several independent CDs.

Twenty-four young singers between the ages of 12 and 22 form the touring choir arriving in the US on March 24, 2008. They are joined by a string-quartet and adult chaperones which bring the traveling group to a total of thirty-two. These young musicians and their friends are very excited about their upcoming 12-day performance tour to New York City, Ohio and Chicago, Illinois. They are being supported by the Goethe Institut, the Summit Choral Society of Akron, Ohio and Incantato Concert Management with a special emphases being placed on musical and cultural exchanges. The Junge Chor Speyer will meet with fellow musicians in parishes and fine music organizations almost every day of their sojourn. In addition to the three formal concerts titled: "Mozart & Friends" in New York City, Lakewood and Fairlawn (Ohio), several recitals and impromptu performances will take place. While in the USA these young singers and their director consider it their mission to contribute to international understanding and friendship through the universal language of music.

Artistic Director – Marie Theres Brand
Marie Theres Brand, a renowned organist and church musician from Speyer serves as the Artistic Director of the Speyer Junge Chor as well as the Speyer Motettenchor which she founded in 1986.  Mrs. Brand holds both under-graduate and graduate degrees in choral conducting, organ and music education from the University of Mainz as well as the Conservatory of Music and the Performing Arts Mannheim-Heidelberg (founded in 1776). She has been the music director at St. Joseph in Speyer since 1981, the same year she started teaching at the Speyer Conservatory of Music. Additionally, Brand is a member of the staff at the Bishop's Institut for church music in Speyer. She is frequently called to adjudicate in international choral competitions and is heading to Moscow for just such an event immediately after returning from this tour – the Speyer Junger Chor's very first performance tour to the United States.