Mitsingkonzert in der Philharmonie

Simon Halsey was Principal Conductor of Rundfunkchor Berlin from 2001 to 2015. As of 2015/16 season he passed on the baton to the young Dutch conductor Gijs Leenaars. He was awarded Conductor Laureate as part of his official farewell and will furthermore retain his ties to the ensemble as regular guest conductor. His enthusiasm, wit, perfectionism and passionate pedagogical dedication have made him one of the most sought-after choral conductors
in the world.

Born in London in 1958, Halsey was appointed director of music at the University of Warwick when he was only 22. In 1982, Sir Simon Rattle engaged him as director of the CBSO Chorus, a position that he holds until today. Under the auspices of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, he initiated an exemplary youth choral programme with three further choirs. Between 1997 and 2008 he was engaged as guest conductor then principal conductor of the Netherlands Radio Chorus in Hilversum. From 2004 to 2012 he also directed the Northern Sinfonia Chorus and the choral programme at the Sage in Gateshead.

He took up two new directorships in 2012: the London Symphony Chorus and the BBC Proms Youth Chorus. In 2012 he was also appointed artistic director of the new youth choral programme »Vokalhelden« of the Berliner Philharmoniker. With the 2016/17 season he assumed his post as the new artistic director of the chorus Orféo Català and artistic advisor at the Palau de la Música Catalana Barcelona. For his preparation of Rundfunkchor Berlin in Brahms’s »Ein deutsches Requiem« and Stravinsky’s »Symphony of Psalms« for the CD recordings with Sir Simon Rattle conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker as well as Kaija Saariaho’s »L’Amour de loin« for the CD recording with Kent Nagano conducting the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Halsey won the Grammy Award in 2008, 2009 and 2011.

Besides his work as a conductor and choral trainer, Halsey is also in demand as a pedagogue. In 2012 the recipient of three honorary doctorates took up his post as professor at the University of Birmingham. With Rundfunkchor Berlin he established the Berlin International Masterclass.

His teaching activities also include numerous guest lectureships – thereunder at Princeton and Yale. In 2011 his book on choral conducting »Chorleitung: Vom Konzept zum Konzert« was issued in the Schott series »Master Class«.

For his outstanding contributions to choral music in Germany, Simon Halsey was awarded the »Bundesverdienstkreuz« (Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany) in 2011. In 2015 he was presented by the Queen with »Her Majesty’s Medal for Music« and appointed »Commander of the Order of the British Empire« (CBE). In 2016 he received the »Geschwister-Mendelssohn-Medaille« of the Berlin Choral Association, with a laudatory speech by Berlin’s former State Secretary of Culture Tim Renner.

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 round about 60 concerts per season, CD-recordings and international guest performances the Rundfunkchor Berlin is one of the world’s outstanding choral ensembles. Three Grammy® Awards alone mark the success of the ensemble. The exceptional breadth of its repertoire, an unmistakable warm, richly nuanced sound, absolute precision and delight in experimentation all contribute to making it one of the chosen partners of international orchestras and conductors such as Kirill Petrenko, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Simon Rattle, or Yannick NézetSéguin. It is the permanent partner of the Berliner Philharmoniker as well as of Berlin’s Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester and Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester and their Principal Conductors.
Rundfunkchor Berlin’s experimental project series has attracted great worldwide attention. In collaboration with artists from diverse disciplines, the chorus breaks down the classical concert formation and adopts new modes of choral music for a new audience. The interactive scenic version of Brahms’s »Ein deutsches Requiem« staged by Jochen Sandig and a team of Sasha Waltz & Guests – »human requiem« – became a milestone within the choir’s experimental repertoire with guest performances in New York, Hongkong, Paris, Adelaide and Istanbul. In its project »LUTHER dancing with the gods« the choir cooperated with director Robert Wilson and reflected upon Luthers impact within the arts in an extraordinary concert performance with music by Bach, Nystedt and Reich in march of 2017. In the season 2020/21 the Rundfunkchor Berlin presented the transdisciplinary project THE WORLD TO COME based on Beethovens »Missa solemnis«. Directed by Tilman Hecker, contemporary music genres are fusing with the masterpiece by Beethoven, guiding the audience on a musical journey into the world of tomorrow. National and international Artists including Moor Mother, Mohammad Reza Mortazavi, Planningtorock, Colin Self and Birke J. Bertelsmeier, came together to realize the heart of the new season in Berlin’s Vollgutlager.
With its community projects for various target groups – the big Sing-along Concert in the Berlin Philharmonie, the Festival of Choral Cultures for international choirs and the Liederbörse (Song Exchange) for children and young people – Rundfunkchor Berlin invites people of all ages to become immersed in the world of singing. Its long-term education programme SING!, encourages singing in Berlin’s elementary schools as an ongoing staple in everyday classes. With its Academy and Schola for young professional singers as well as the Berlin International Masterclass for highly qualified young choral conductors it supports the next generation.
Founded in 1925 the choir celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2015. Since its foundation the ensemble was shaped by conductors including Helmut Koch, Dietrich Knothe, Robin Gritton and Simon Halsey. As of season 2015/16 Gijs Leenaars has taken up his post as Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of Rundfunkchor Berlin. Simon Halsey was appointed Conductor Laureate and will retain his ties to the ensemble as regular guest conductor.
Rundfunkchor Berlin is an ensemble of RundfunkOrchester und -Chöre gGmbH Berlin (Shareholders: Deutschlandradio, the Federal Republic of Germany, the State of Berlin and Radio BerlinBrandenburg).