Sing-along concert with the Rundfunkchor Berlin

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.

Since her debut as Ninfa in Monteverdi’s ‘LʼOrfeo’ under René Jacobs at the Innsbrucker Festwochen in 2003, followed by engagements at the Berlin State Opera and the Theater an der Wien, the singer has worked regularly with conductors of historical performance practice such as Philippe Herreweghe, Ton Koopman, Andrea Marcon, Jean-Christophe Spinosi and Masaaki Suzuki as well as with ensembles such as Anima Eterna, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Venice Baroque Orchestra, Concerto Köln and the Finish Baroque Orchestra.

As a renowned interpreter of new music, she has sung with the Nieuw Ensemble Amsterdam in Unsuk Chin’s ‘Akrostichon-Wortspiel’, with the Scharoun Ensemble of the Berliner Philharmoniker in Wolfgang Rihm’s ‘Mnemosyne’ and with the Ensemble Intercontemporain under Susanna Mälkki in ‘Mysteries of the Macabre’ by Ligeti. She took part in the world premiere of Rihm’s ‘Drei Frauen’ at Theater Basel and gave the European premiere of Matthias Pintscher’s fantasy ‘with lilies white’ together with Kent Nagano and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. In May 2019, she premiered Beat Furrer’s ‘Spazio Immergente III’ at the Elbphilharmonie with Peter Rundel and the Ensemble Resonanz.

Yeree Suh studied at Seoul National University, the Berlin University of the Arts with Harald Stamm, in Leipzig with Regina Werner-Dietrich and at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis with Gerd Türk.

The Munich baritone Ansgar Theis is a national and international soloist in opera, concert and lieder.

He works with orchestras such as the Munich Radio Orchestra, Concerto München, the Ensemble Musikfabrik (Cologne) and the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra (Amsterdam), as well as with ensembles such as the SWR Vokalensemble, the Bavarian Radio Choir, the Rundfunkchor Berlin and vocal ensembles such as the Singphoniker and the Vokalzirkel.

The singer’s extensive repertoire ranges from the Renaissance to the modern era. In addition to major works such as the great oratorios by Bach, Handel, Mozart and Mendelssohn, Ansgar Theis also devotes himself to new works by contemporary composers such as Gordon Kampe, Max Beckschäfer, Jean-Luc Darbellay and Martin Smolka, in whose world premieres he has participated.

The singer was a scholarship holder of the German Stage Association, the Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now Munich Association, the Richard Wagner Association Munich and the Cusanuswerk Episcopal Study Grant and is a prizewinner of the Federal Singing Competition 2022 in Berlin.

Ansgar Theis grew up in a family of musicians near Detmold. Along the way, he benefited from a wide-ranging musical education and practice. After beginning his studies at the Detmold University of Music (double degree in choral conducting with Anne Kohler and singing with Gerhild Romberger), the young singer moved to Munich in 2016. He studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater and the Theaterakademie August Everding with Lars Woldt and Andreas Schmidt. He is currently furthering his studies with Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber.

Lessons with artists such as Brigitte Fassbaender, Christiane Iven, Julian Prégardien, Ian Bostridge, Aribert Reimann, Gerd Uecker and Eberhard Feltz have broadened his horizons. In addition to his artistic activities, he teaches voice training at the Munich Cathedral Singing School. In the current season, Ansgar Theis can be seen in February 2024 in the children’s opera “Bösemann” by Steingrimur Rohloff as the father and narrator at the Schwere Reiter Theater in Munich (performed by the Munich ensemble der/gelbe/klang) and as the baritone soloist in “human requiem”, the staged version of Brahms’ Requiem with the Rundfunkchor Berlin (May/June 2024 at Radialsystem V/Berlin).