Tue 12/2 @ 7:30
When I was a child singing in the Chicago Children’s Choir, we all knew that our founding director Christopher Moore was inspired by the Vienna Boys Choir, and we sang much of their repertoire.
There were key differences however. First and foremost, our choir included girls. And we were not a boarding school that attracted only the most talented singers, selected by audition, from around the world, currently from places like Korea and Finland and Afghanistan, as well as Austria. Our kids came from Chicago’s inner city and any kid could join if they were willing to show up at rehearsals. But the underlying idea — that children could be trained to sing vocal classical music by Mozart and Purcell and Hindemith and Britten on a very high level — was the same.
Unlike the Chicago Children’s Choir, formed in 1956, the Vienna Boys Choir’s roots go back centuries, although the contemporary choir was formed in 1924. Mozart, as well Haydn, Schubert and Bruckner, were all associated with its predecessors. And those four composers lend their names to the four units of the approximately 100-voice choice, comprising boys between the ages of 10-14.
The groups take turns going out on the road and being in residence in Vienna. And one of the units will be at Severance Hall performing its traditional Christmas in Vienna program, featuring both religious music and popular carols from around the world.
Tickets are $35-$100.