End-of-semester concert by the University Choir

As always, the University Choir of the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences and the International University Institute Zittau will conclude this winter semester with a challenging concert.

Just a few weeks after the sensational performance of the Mozart Requiem in the Johanniskirche in Zittau on the Sunday of the Dead, the choir will be showing a completely different side this time, demonstrating the enormous range of its repertoire and the musical challenges it sets itself.

On Sunday ,January 24 at 5 p.m. in the auditorium of the university in Görlitz (Furtstraße - Bluebox building), only secular vocal works will be performed, with the choir's vocal soloists taking on a large part of the program. Admission to the concert is free.

In addition to rarely heard choral works by 20th century composers (including Armin Knab, Neithard Bethke, Felix Oberborbeck, Fritz Jöde, Carl Orff), the program also includes old masters of choral composition such as Clemens non Papa, who was active in the late Renaissance.

The solo pieces by the choir members coached by Neithard Bethke in singing lessons will attract particular attention. There will be a cantata for solo bass by Georg Philipp Telemann, three songs for soprano from the "Jahrkreis op. 69" by Neithard Bethke, a scene excerpt from the comic opera "Bastien und Bastienne" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, two songs for bass from Franz Schubert's "Winterreise ", Italian ariasby Antonio Caldara and Giuseppe Giordani for alto, an aria from the opera "Don Giovanni" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for baritone, and two enchantingly beautiful songs for alto by Robert Schumann from the cycle "Frauenliebe und Leben" and from the "Wesendonck-Lieder" by Richard Wagner.

The virtuoso alto aria "Ombra felice" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and finally the famous Agathe scene "Wie nahte mir der Schlummer" from the opera "Der Freischütz" by Carl Maria von Weber for soprano also adorn the musically appealing and varied program, through which the choir director Prof. Dr. Neithard Bethke moderates and accompanies from the piano.

For every music lover, this concert will be another unforgettable event, just like all previous University Choir concerts. Detailed programs are available at the entrance. Signposts to the auditorium will be posted at the university for those not familiar with the area. Interested listeners who would like to sing in the choir and think they meet the high standards of this choir should not miss this end-of-semester concert in order to gain an insight into the choir's level of performance; they should then contact the choir singers or the choirmaster. Absolute reliability in attending rehearsals is the first prerequisite, in addition to a good musical background, in order to be able to sing in the University Choir, which also has great tasks ahead of it in the future.

For the final concert of the summer semester, rehearsals will soon begin on Ludwig van Beethoven's Mass in C major. The annual choir concert tour will take place again in the fall, this time to Denmark. In addition, the University Choir will sing three performances of Johann Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio in Berlin Cathedral in the following winter semester.