Sing-along Concert by the Rundfunkchor Berlin

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.

Joo-hoon Shin was born in Incheon, South Korea. He began studying classical voice at the Royal Welsh College of Music in Cardiff before later completing his studies with honors at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar in the class of Gudrun Fischer. He was already a soloist in numerous Bachcantatas and oratorios during his time as a student. Today he sings in concerts and song recitals in the Philharmonie Berlin, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Berliner Dom and in churches in Berlin and Brandenburg. He joined the Rundfunkchor Berlin in 2014 as a permanent member and also performs as a soloist regularly.

Born in Sonneberg/Thuringia, bass-baritone Axel Scheidig began his musical training at the Special School for Music Education in Wernigerode and with the Radio Youth Choir of  Wernigerode . From 1991 to 1998 he studied vocal performance and musical theatre with Helga Bante at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Weimar and graduated with an artistic diploma. He attended masterclasses with Barbara Schlick, Kurt Moll, Siegfried Lorenz and Jakob Stämpfli, among others.

Axel Scheidig was a laureate at the International Handel Competition in Halle in 1997 and won the first prize  at the German Music Council in 1998 with the vocal ensemble “Die Weimarer Hofsänger”, which he co-founded. Numerous recordings, concerts and guest performances in Germany and abroad are proof of his extensive experience in chamber music. During his studies in Weimar, he appeared as a soloist at theatres in Thuringia, including Weimar, Erfurt, Meinungen, Gera and Rudolstadt.

From 1998 Axel Scheidig worked in the radio choirs of the NDR, WDR, BR and the Rundfunkchor Berlin, where he has been a member of the ensemble since 2005. Here he also performs regularly as a soloist under conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Simon Halsey, Marek Janowski, Marc Minkowski and Gijs Leenaars, among others at the Berlin Philharmonie, the Salzburg Easter Festival, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, the Sala São Paulo or the Teatro Colón. In addition to his work with the Rundfunkchor Berlin, Axel Scheidig is also a much sought-after soloist in the oratorio field with performances throughout Germany. At the Grand Prix of Nations Berlin 2017, which was organised by Interkultur in cooperation with the Rundfunkchor Berlin, Axel Scheidig served as a juror.