Zurich Boys' Choir
The Zurich Boys' Choir was founded in 1960 by Alphons von Aarburg. Over one hundred boys from all walks of life and religious denominations belong to the choir's various groups. The members, who come from Zurich and the surrounding area, meet three to four times a week for rehearsals. An additional two or three weeks of singing camp during the spring and summer holidays serve to deepen their repertoire. The choir is not affiliated with any boarding school; it thrives on the spontaneous enthusiasm and joy of music-making of its young members.
A boy's career begins in the singing school, where six- to eight-year-olds take their first musical steps. In the general choir, the boys learn a broad repertoire in order to then be allowed to sing in the concert or touring choir. Later, interested boys have the opportunity to join the men's voices, which are part of the boys' choir.
The Zurich Boys' Choir undertook numerous concert tours throughout Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Italy, Belgium, France, Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria, Finland, the Netherlands, and Portugal. The choir's exceptionally successful concert tours to America deserve special mention.
Distinguished conductors such as Herbert von Karajan, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, John Eliot Gardiner, Franz Welser-Möst, Charles Dutoit, David Zinman, Roger Norrington, Christoph Eschenbach, Armin Jordan, Gerd Albrecht, Alain Lombard, and Ferdinand Leitner, among others, collaborated with the Zurich Boys' Choir. In the spring of 2009, the Zurich Boys' Choir, together with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra under Muhai Tang, embarked on a concert tour to China. For the enthusiastic Chinese audience, it was the first performance of Joseph Haydn's oratorio "The Creation" in the Land of the Rising Sun. Furthermore, the boys have performed as guests at the opera houses of Zurich, Strasbourg, Metz, Shanghai, and Salzburg (Festspielhaus in Puccini's "Tosca," Easter Festival 1988 and 1989 under Herbert von Karajan).
Their most recent engagements took them to the Grand Théâtre de Genève in 2015 as the Three Boys in Mozart's "The Magic Flute" and to the Zurich Opera House in 2017. The Zurich Boys' Choir has also performed with the Munich Chamber Orchestra under Christoph Poppen. In 2015, at the invitation of the Tölz Boys' Choir, the Zurich Boys' Choir, together with the Wilten Boys' Choir, participated in the exclusive International Tölz Boys' Choir Festival.
A boy's career begins in the singing school, where six- to eight-year-olds take their first musical steps. In the general choir, the boys learn a broad repertoire in order to then be allowed to sing in the concert or touring choir. Later, interested boys have the opportunity to join the men's voices, which are part of the boys' choir.
The Zurich Boys' Choir undertook numerous concert tours throughout Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Italy, Belgium, France, Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria, Finland, the Netherlands, and Portugal. The choir's exceptionally successful concert tours to America deserve special mention.
Distinguished conductors such as Herbert von Karajan, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, John Eliot Gardiner, Franz Welser-Möst, Charles Dutoit, David Zinman, Roger Norrington, Christoph Eschenbach, Armin Jordan, Gerd Albrecht, Alain Lombard, and Ferdinand Leitner, among others, collaborated with the Zurich Boys' Choir. In the spring of 2009, the Zurich Boys' Choir, together with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra under Muhai Tang, embarked on a concert tour to China. For the enthusiastic Chinese audience, it was the first performance of Joseph Haydn's oratorio "The Creation" in the Land of the Rising Sun. Furthermore, the boys have performed as guests at the opera houses of Zurich, Strasbourg, Metz, Shanghai, and Salzburg (Festspielhaus in Puccini's "Tosca," Easter Festival 1988 and 1989 under Herbert von Karajan).
Their most recent engagements took them to the Grand Théâtre de Genève in 2015 as the Three Boys in Mozart's "The Magic Flute" and to the Zurich Opera House in 2017. The Zurich Boys' Choir has also performed with the Munich Chamber Orchestra under Christoph Poppen. In 2015, at the invitation of the Tölz Boys' Choir, the Zurich Boys' Choir, together with the Wilten Boys' Choir, participated in the exclusive International Tölz Boys' Choir Festival.
