Mitsingkonzert in der Philharmonie

Simon Halsey occupies a unique position in classical music. He is the trusted advisor on choral singing to the world’s greatest conductors, orchestras and choruses; as an ambassador for choral singing to amateurs of every age, ability and background he has led ground-breaking massed choral events, notably for New York’s Lincoln Center.

Making singing a central part of the world-class institutions with which he is associated, he has been instrumental in changing the level of symphonic singing across Europe. He holds positions across the UK and Europe as Chorus Director of City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Principal Guest Conductor and Choral Ambassador of Orfeó Català, Principal Guest Conductor at WDR Rundfunkchor, Conductor Laureate of Rundfunkchor Berlin, Choral Director Emeritus of London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and Professor and Director of Choral Activities at University of Birmingham. His work is the subject of the documentary film Unsere Herzen – Ein Klang (Our Hearts – One Sound), which was released to cinemas in September 2022.

He is also a highly respected teacher and academic, nurturing the next generation of choral conductors on his post-graduate course in Birmingham and through masterclasses in Germany, the Netherlands, and the USA. He holds four honorary doctorates from universities in the UK, and in 2011 Schott Music published his book and DVD on choral conducting, Chorleitung: Vom Konzept zum Konzert.

Halsey’s numerous awards include three Grammys for his recordings with the Rundfunkchor Berlin. He was made Commander of the British Empire in 2015, was awarded The Queen’s Medal for Music in 2014, and received the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2011 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to choral music in Germany.

Born in London, Simon Halsey sang in the choirs of New College, Oxford, and of King’s College, Cambridge and studied conducting at the Royal College of Music in London. In 1987, he founded with Graham Vick the Birmingham Opera Company. He was Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Choir from 1997 to 2008 and Principal Conductor of the Northern Sinfonia’s Choral Programme from 2004 to 2012. From 2001-2015 he led the Rundfunkchor Berlin (of which he is now Conductor Laureate); under his leadership the chorus gained a reputation internationally as one of the finest professional choral ensembles. Halsey also initiated innovative projects in unconventional venues and interdisciplinary formats.

Gloria Rehm studied in Berlin and won the Richard Strauss Competition in Munich in 2013. After her studies, she was engaged at the Cologne Opera, then from 2014 to 2019 a member of the ensemble at the Staatstheater Wiesbaden. Guest engagements have taken her e.g. to the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Semperoper Dresden, the Leipzig Opera, the Frankfurt Opera, the Volksoper Vienna, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf/Duisburg and the National Theater Taipei. Her repertoire includes roles such as Konstanze and Blonde (Die Entführung aus dem Seraglio), Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos), Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte), Despina (Così fan tutte), Adina (L’elisir d’amore), Gilda ( Rigoletto), Oscar (Un ballo in maschera), Adele (Die Fledermaus), Ophelia (Brett Dean’s Hamlet) and Inanna (Jörg Widmann’s Babylon). For her interpretation of Marie (The Soldiers) she was awarded the German Theater Prize DER FAUST in 2017. She made her debut at the Bavarian State Opera in 2018 as Fiakermilli in Arabella.

During her Singing training Anna opted for a multi-faceted approach that would lead her to perform operatic, symphonic and chamber repertoire from Renassaince until the Romantic, even contemporary creations. Thus, while attending the “Hans Eisler” Musikhochschule in Berlin she received artistic guidance from Anneliese Fried, Wolfram Rieger, KS Prof. Brigitte Fassbaender, KS Prof. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, KS Bernarda Fink, KS Prof. Thomas Quasthoff, KS Thomas Hampson and Cornelius L. Reid, Emma Kirkby, Andrew King, Al Ayre Español, Andrea Marchiol, Raphael Alpermann, Mireia Pintó and María González.

She was awarded with the 1st Prize at the Singing Competition Joan Massià 2005, the 2nd Prize at the P.A. Cesti Singing Competition for Baroque Opera 2010, the 2nd Prize at the International Competition for the Art Song Stuttgart 2010 next to the pianist Alexander Fleischer. She also received scholarships from the Humboldt Foundation, the Caja Madrid (Spain) and the DAAD.

She performed tens of roles including Romeo (“I Capuleti e i Montecchi”), Angelina (“La Cenerenola”), Rosina (“Il barbiere di Siviglia”), Donna Elvira (“Don Giovanni”), Cherubino (“Le nozze di Figaro”), Annio (“La Clemenza di Tito”), Dritte Dame (“Die Zauberflöte”), Dido (“Dido and Aeneas”), Diana (“La Calisto”), Siébel (“Faust”), L’enfant (“L’enfant et les sortilèges”), Kater (“Der gestiefelte Kater”), Simplicius (“Simplicius Simplicissimus”), Rita (“Rita”), Proserpina and La Messaggiera (“L’Orfeo”), Clarisse (“L’amour des trois oranges”) and Armelinde (“Cendrillon”) on several stages, such as, i.a., the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Staatstheater Nürnberg, Landestheater Linz, Theater Heidelberg, the Winteroper Potsdam, the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Teatro Real (Madrid), Auditorio Nacional, Palacio de la Ópera La Coruña, Ópera de Oviedo, Teatre Principal de Palma de Mallorca, Teatro Arriaga, next to inspiring artists such as Susan Graham, Roberto Alagna, Linda Watson, Barbara Frittoli, Marc Minkowski, Thomas Hengelbrock, Markus Poschner, Konrad Junghanel, Corrado Rovaris, David Afkham, Diego Martin-Etxebarria, Achim Freyer, Robert Carsen, La Fura dels Baus, Joan Anton Rechi, Lindsay Kemp or David McVicar.

Due to her commitment to young composers she took part on many operas and song cycles premieres, but soon she also aroused the interest of the Baroque scene where she performed next to the Belgian Baroque Orchestra Ghent, Collegium 1704, Musica Florea, La Chimera, Vespres d’Arnadí, Ensemble Daimonion, Orquesta Barroca de Sevilla, Academia 1750, among others, at the Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik, Musikfestspiele Potsdam, Davos Festival, Music Bridge Prague-Dresden, WDR 3 Concerto Discreto, Teatro Arriaga, Festival de Música Antiga dels Pirineus, Festival Intl de Torroella de Montgrí and the Festival Castell de Peralada.

Within her work as a soloist, she has acquired a broad concert and oratorio repertoire, which led her to the Berliner Philarmonie, Ópera National de Bordeaux, Heidelberger Frühling, Hirschberger Liedfest, Würzburg Lied Festival, the Berliner Konzerthaus, Glinka Hall (St. Petersburg), Palau de la Música Catalana, L’Auditori (Barcelona) or the Schubertíada de Vilabertran, where she appeared alongside pianists as Wolfram Rieger or Alexander Fleischer, and the Staatskapelle Weimar, Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona, Orquesta Sinfónica de Gran Canaria, Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Staatskapelle Berlin, the Bruckner Orchester Linz, the Nürnberg Philharmonic, the Orquesta Nacional de España, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, among others.

She also participated in radio and television recordings for Bayerischer Rundfunk, DeutschlandRadio, COM Radio, Catalunya Música, the International TV Channel from Portugal or RNE Radio Clásica, as well as several recordings for Editorial L’Avenç (Folklore National Award 2012), Discmedi (Best Classical Album 2015 Enderrock Critics Award, Ficta Edicions, Seed Music, Naxos Records and Sony Classical.

The British-Indian tenor Caspar Singh is entering his second season as a member of the Bavarian State Opera ensemble after completing his studies at the State Opera’s opera studio at the end of the 2019/20 season. Caspar received a first class degree from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he studied with Adrian Thompson and Susan Waters.
His engagements at the Bavarian State Opera in 2021/22 include Gherardo Gianni Schicchi, Pásek Cunning Little Vixen, Normanno Lucia di Lammermoor, Third Squire Parsifal, Young Seaman Tristan and Isolde and Dominik in Haas’ Thomas.
Outside of Munich, this season Caspar makes his house and role debut as Tamino Die Zauberflote at the Komische Oper Berlin and as a male choir The Rape of Lucretia at the Potsdam Chamber Academy. On the concert stage, he sings Septimus Theodora at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow with the Musica Viva Chamber Orchestra and Alexander Rudin, sings a solo concert with the West Side Sinfonietta in Wroclaw, Poland, and embarks on a mini-recital tour of the UK Sholto Kynoch for Oxford songs.
Looking ahead, Caspar will join the ensemble of the Komische Oper Berlin for the 2022/23 season, singing Ferrando Cosi, Fenton Falstaff, Steuermann The Flying Dutchman, Laerte Hamlet and returning to the role of Tamino The Magic Flute. He will also make house and role debuts at Glyndebourne Opera, perform Messiah with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, make his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in Il Prigioniero and make his Warsaw Philharmonic debut.
Recent engagements at the Bavarian State Opera include role debuts as Wilhelm Meister in a new production of Mignon, Edmondo Manon Lescaut, Borsa Rigoletto, Der Haushofmeister in Faninal Der Rosenkavalier, Third Squire Parsifal, Scaramuccio Ariadne auf Naxos, the Prince in Hans Abrahamsen’s Die Schneekönigin, High Priest Poseidon Idomeneo and Augustin Moser Die Meistersinger.
Caspar’s operatic performances to date have included the roles of Brabant’s Edle Lohengrin, First Prisoner Fidelio, Prince of the Snow Queen, Messenger Il Trovatore, Mainfroid Les Vêpres Siciliennes, First Prisoner Fidelio, Giuseppe La Traviata, Almeric Iolanta and Coryphaeus Alceste in the opera studio of the Bavarian State Opera.
Caspar made his professional debut as the Alvarez Young Artist for the Garsington Opera, where his engagements include the Italian tenor Capriccio and roles in The Magic Flute and Falstaff.
Other opera performances include; Ferrando Cosi fan tutte, L’Aumônier (cover) Dialogues des Carmélites, Tamino in Mozart’s Magic Flute, Young Man (cover) in Martinů Ariane and Chorus Tchaikovsky Iolanta at GSMD; Amphinomus (cover) Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria in a co-production between the Royal Opera and the Roundhouse, conducted by Christian Curnyn; Man in the chamber opera Occo’s Eternal Act by Daniel Saleeb and Oge Nwosu (as part of the Opera: Passion, Power and Politics exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum); the good robber in Judith Weir’s The Vanishing Bridegroom with British Youth Opera; and small roles in Beethoven Fidelio at the Longborough Festival Opera, and in the UK premiere of Jonathan Dove’s The Monster in the Maze at the Barbican Hall with Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra.
On the concert stage, Caspar has co-performed Handel’s Messiah at Gärtnerplatztheater, Dvořák Stabat Mater with Munich Motettenchor, Bruckner Te Deum at LSO St Luke’s, Britten Saint Nicolas with Northwood Choral Society, Haydn Nelson Mass with Hertford Choral Society, Orff Carmina Burana Ealing Symphony Orchestra , Stainer Crucifixion at All Saints’ Church Chalfont St Peter , Mozart Requiem with the City of London School, Dvořák Mass in D with Genesis Chorale and Bach Easter Oratorio with the Guildhall School Consort. An avid recitalist, he has appeared at the Munich Opera Festival and recent performances include Britten Winter Words and Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, Schubert’s Die Schöne Mullerin and In the Great Dawn, Thomas Bove’s setting of Rupert Brooke’s poem Second Best.

The Croatian bass-baritone studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart.
OPERA
Krešimir Stražanac was 24 when he became a permanent member of the ensemble at the Zurich Opera House. He stayed with the house for seven years, where he acquired a broad stage repertoire.
The highlights of the past seasons include the title roles Orpheus (Telemann’s “Orpheus”) at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona under the direction of René Jacobs and Ruggiero (“La liberazione di Ruggiero” by Francesca Caccini) at the Theater an der Wien under the direction by Clemens Flick.
His repertoire also includes roles such as Kreon (Stravinsky’s “Oedipus Rex”), St. Peter (Carl Orff’s “Der Mond”), Baron Tusenbach (Eötvös’s “Three Sisters”), Ping (“Turandot”), Harlequin (“Ariadne auf Naxos “) and Frank (Die Fledermaus) at opera houses such as the Bavarian State Opera and the Frankfurt Opera in collaboration with conductors such as Nello Santi, Bernard Haitink, Peter Schneider, Franz Welser-Möst and Placido Domingo.
Planned in 2022 and 2023 are the roles of the devil (Weinberger’s “Schwanda”) at the Theater an der Wien, a Robert Wilson-directed production of Handel’s “Messiah” at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Ambrosio (Carl Maria von Weber’s “Die Drei Pintos” ) with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig conducted by Petr Popelka and König Froila in Schubert’s “Alfonso und Estrella” in the Musiikkitalo Helsinki conducted by Aapo Häkkinen.
CONCERT
In the 2022/2023 season, Krešimir Stražanac will make his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Kirill Petrenko.
As a concert soloist, he is a regular guest with important works from classical to contemporary music with orchestras such as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Tokyo and Singapore Symphony Orchestras, the Saxon Staatskapelle Dresden, the WDR, mdr and hr Symphony Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Manfred Honeck, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Jonathan Nott have performed throughout Europe and Asia.
The collaboration with the conductor Philippe Herreweghe is very important for his musical career. With him and his orchestras he regularly sings as a bass soloist in Bach’s Passions, the B minor Mass, Brahms’ “Four Serious Songs”, the Requiem, Schumann’s Paradise and the Peri, Dvorak’s Requiem, the Masses by Schubert, Beethoven’s 9th symphony and many other works.
BAROQUE
He also often works in the baroque field and particularly likes to devote himself to the great works of Johann Sebastian Bach – with other orchestras such as Concerto Köln, the Gaechinger Cantorey, the Collegium 1704, the Concentus Musicus Vienna, the Academy for Early Music Berlin, I Barrochisti and conductors such as Hans-Christoph Rademann, Diego Fasolis, Peter Dijkstra, Vaclav Luks and Giovanni Antonini.
In February 2021, as part of the memorial concert for the destruction of Dresden in February 1945, he sang Bach’s solo cantata “I have enough” with the Staatskapelle Dresden under the direction of Philippe Herreweghe. A CD of this concert was also released by EDITION STAATSKAPELLE DRESDEN / GÜNTER HÄNSSLER in 2021.
2022. He debuts Bach’s Magnificat and Cantatas at the Bach Festival in Montréal, Canada, conducted by Masaaki Suzuki.
ART SONG
In 2021 he made his recital debut at Suntory Hall Tokyo with a Schuhmann – Spohr – Schubert program featuring Japanese pianist Kae Ogawa and Tokyo Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Akira Mizutani.
Other performances where he has sung recitals have been at: Bayreuth Stadthalle, Grand Théâtre de Dijon, Venice Casino, Zagreb Lisinski Hall, the Slovenian Philharmonic in Ljubljana, Zurich, Klagenfurt Konzerthaus and Stuttgart (Wilhelma Theater and Hospitalhof Halls).
His art song repertoire includes works such as Schubert’s “Winterreise” and “Schwanengesang”, Schumann’s “Dichterliebe”, Brahms’ “Four Serious Songs” and “The Beautiful Magelone”, Beethoven’s “An die ferne Geliebte”, Frank Martin’s “6 Monologues from Jedermann”, Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder and many others.
In July 2022, Krešimir Stražanac will also be a member of the jury of the 11th International Competition “Franz Schubert and Modern Art” at the University of Art and Design Graz.
CD/DVD
Krešimir Stražanac’s discography now includes around 20 opera and concert publications, for example Beethoven’s “Fidelio” with Bernard Haitink (Don Fernando, BBC Opus Arte), Peter Eötvös’s “Tri sestri” (OEHMS CLASSICS), Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” (Konrad Nachtigall, QUATTRO LIVE), Bizet’s “Carmen” (Morales, DECCA), or the CD recording of Bach’s Johannes Passion with Bayerischer Rundfunk / Concerto Köln conducted by Peter Dijkstra (BR-KLASSIK).
Other recordings are: the video DVD/Blue-Ray recording of the staged St. John Passion (BR-KLASSIK 900514), Mendelssohn’s “Psalms” with the Munich Radio Orchestra (BR-Klassik (900519), as well as the DVD recording of Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” with the Gaechinger Cantorey (ACCENTUS AC20408), Handel’s “Messiah” with the Collegium 1704 (ACCENT), St. John Passion (PHI), “A German Requiem” by Johannes Brahms (COVIELLO) , Handel’s “Alexanders Feast” (SONY/ DEUTSCHE HARMONIA MUNDI), Bach’s “St Matthew Passion” (as aria bass, ACCENTUS) as well as CDs with works by Vatroslav Lisinski and Tomaso Cecchini in co-production with Croatian Radio (HRT).
The CD productions of Schubert’s “Winterreise”, a solo album with the pianist Jonathan Ware, a CD with works by the Swiss composer Fritz Stüssi and another solo CD are in preparation.

With around 60 concerts annually, numerous CDs and three Grammys, Rundfunkchor Berlin is one of the world’s foremost choruses. Its wide-ranging repertoire, flexible and richly nuanced sound, flawless precision and enthralling delivery have made it the chosen partner of the major orchestras and conductors in its home city but also internationally, where it functions as a musical ambassador for Berlin in the great concert halls of the world. It is so much more than just a concert and studio chorus.

Along with its symphonic choral central repertoire, Rundfunkchor Berlin is constantly forging new paths by means of projects that burst the bounds of the classical concert format and allow choral music to interact with other art forms. The choreographic realization of the Brahms Requiem as “human requiem” by Jochen Sandig with Sasha Waltz & Guests represents a milestone. Following acclaimed performances in Brussels, Taipei and Hong Kong, the work was performed during the 2016-17 season in Berlin, New York and South America. In Christian Jost’s LOVER, a music-theatre piece premiered in 2014 in Berlin’s Kraftwerk, Western symphonic choral music meets a traditional Asian percussion ensemble. In its most recent project, “cosmic lights”, in 2016, Rundfunkchor Berlin presented a multimedia programme based on celestial phenomena including the Northern Lights.

Rundfunkchor Berlin is constantly developing new and unusual ways of experiencing choral music and stimulating choruses all over the world to follow its lead. In formats such as the Sing-Along Concert in the Berlin Philharmonie, the Liederbörse (Song Exchange) for Berlin’s school choirs and the project Hand in Hand, it is working intensively with committed amateur choirs. With its International Master Class for choral conducting and the Academy and Schola for young singers, it is fostering the next generation of professionals. And to help make singing an intrinsic component of the primary school day, it created the initiative SING! in 2011.

Founded in 1925, the chorus celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2015. Since its inception, it has been shaped by conductors like Helmut Koch, Dietrich Knothe (1982-93), Robin Gritton (1994-2001) and Simon Halsey (2001-15). At the beginning of 2015-16 season, Gijs Leenaars assumed the position of Principal Conductor and Artistic Director. Simon Halsey retains his ties to Rundfunkchor Berlin as Conductor Laureate and Guest Conductor. Rundfunkchor Berlin is an ensemble of Rundfunk Orchester und Chöre GmbH Berlin and is sponsored by Deutschlandradio, the German Federal Republic, the state of Berlin and Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg.