Knabenkantorei Basel

Founded as the Singknaben der evangelisch-reformierten Kirche Basel-Stadt in 1927, the boys choir already took part in the 1938 debut performance of Arthur Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc under the baton of Paul Sacher. Today, the singers continue to invest a significant part of their spare time: in addition to rehearsals, they perform at services and concerts, go on concert tours, and produce radio, television, and CD recordings. The Knabenkantorei has sung in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, England, Germany, Poland, Russia, Hungary, Estonia, and South Africa. In April 2013, the choir travelled to Rome to attend the general papal audience. In cooperation with Culturescapes, the ensemble toured the Balkans in the following Autumn. In addition, the choir has been invited to important festivals, such as the Internationale Musikfestwochen Lucerne under the direction of James Conlon and Mario Venzago, as well as the Lucerne Festival 2001, where they appeared with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra under Mariss Jansons. Their a cappella repertoire ranges from Renaissance works to contemporary compositions. The ensemble focusses much of its artistic endeavours on the performance of oratorios, masses, and cantatas by Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Britten, and Bernstein.