Calmus Ensemble Leipzig - Christmas Lights
Barely any time of the year is associated with so many expectations, so much anticipation, so many appointments, and so many intense feelings as the Advent and Christmas season. The Calmus Ensemble aims to create a moment of calm with its Christmas program, evoke memories of past Christmas celebrations, and delight lonely hearts. This is achieved with just five voices that blend together in a homogeneous and warm way.
The program is interspersed with centuries-old lines such as "Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen" and "In dulci jubilo," which develop into new sounds within a sequence. Familiar melodies and texts encounter musical discoveries and provide evidence of how versatile Christmas music can be: contemplative, jubilant, humorous, pompous, melancholic, or simple, to name just a few. The singers take the audience into the musical tradition of other countries, breaking through not only regional but also stylistic boundaries. From simple choral works of the Renaissance to complex jazz or pop arrangements: Calmus brings pure Christmas joy.
For 25 years, the Leipzig Calmus Ensemble has made it its mission to tell a story in concert programs and CD productions, to link classical repertoire with musical discoveries, bring premieres to life, and touch people's hearts. As one of the most successful vocal groups in Germany, it showcases a wide variety of styles and genres that bring it to stages across Germany, Europe, and regularly also to the USA. The hallmark is a sound culture that has been a constant through all personnel changes over the past 25 years, like a common thread: rich timbres, homogeneity, love for detail, and a text-close interpretation of the music.
The ensemble's repertoire is almost limitless: shaped by the Thomanerchor tradition of its founding members, the Leipzig masters are a fixed part of the concert programs, as well as vocal music from the Renaissance, Baroque, and Romantic periods. Another cornerstone of the Calmus Ensemble's work is the performance of new music. Over the years, they have commissioned and premiered numerous pieces, including works by Paul Moravec, Mathew Rosenblum, Steffen Schleiermacher, Wolfram Buchenberg, Bill Dobbins, Mia Makaroff, Gordon Kampe, and in 2024 again by Bernd Franke ("face to face") and Harald Banter ("Elemente des Seins"). Pop, folk, and jazz arrangements complete the repertoire, as evidenced by numerous published scores. Collaborations with colleagues such as the ensembles Sjaella and Singer Pur ("Elemente"), amarcord ("Leipziger Disputation"), as well as lautten compagney BERLIN ("BachArkaden" / "Mitten im Leben"), the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet, the hr-Bigband, and Capella de la Torre, further enrich the ensemble's repertoire. At the Chortag in Mainz Cathedral with Sir John Rutter and around 1500 singers, the Calmus singers were not only invited as instructors for a workshop but were also heard in an a-cappella concert and solo performance under the direction of Sir John Rutter himself in September 2024.
With their latest release "Liebesleid," the quintet has brought a total of 27 recordings to the market and won a host of international awards and competitions – most recently the OPUS KLASSIK 2019 for "Best Choral Recording." Part of Calmus's time is dedicated to promoting young talent: workshops and jury work are part of the singers' everyday life, at home in Leipzig and on the road, including as patrons of the Wernigerode Radio Youth Choir under the direction of Robert Göstl, at the HfM Saar Summer School, or at the International Masterclass for Choral Conducting at the Bavarian Music Academy Marktoberdorf, and often also in the USA. Innovation, dedication, and friendship – this is what Calmus projects outward and what holds Calmus together from within.
Admission: 18:00 Uhr
Hallo, ich bin Maya.
