VokalTotal: German youth choir performs sacral music from 18th -20th century

VokalTotal is a youth choir from the German town of Bielefeld (North-Rhine Westphalia). Comprised of teenagers between the ages 14 and 20, many of whom began to sing at the age of 4 or 5, the choir performs a broad range of choral and sacral music, from Gregorian chants to motets from different epochs to jazz arrangements. Besides numerous church appearances and repeated invitations to sing in the concert hall of Bielefeld, these talented young people have created their own musical ("We are what we are") and performed an opera.

From August 11-22, the group is traveling the American Midwest. Under the auspices of the Blue Lake International Exchange Program, they will visit Chicago, Illinois; Frankenmuth, Michigan; Cleveland, Ohio; and Ann Arbor, Michigan. Their program will contain sacral music, such as baroque motets by Alessandro Scarlatti and from the "Bielefelder Chorbuch"; psalms by the great Jewish composer Louis Lewandowski; a mass by Rihards Dubra, one of the most important contemporary composers from Estonia; Rudolf Mauersberger's famous motet "Wie liegt die Stadt so wüst," lamenting the destruction of the German town of Dresden at the end of World War II; and two anthems by the British composer Bob Chilcott.

Free Admission | Snacks and beverages available for purchase