The Madrigal Chorus of Aachen has been in existence for 30 years. It emerged from the relative anonymity of the larger Aachen choruses by performing the secular and sacred choral music of the Renaissance and Baroque with appropriate small forces; soon they expanded into Romantic and modern choral music directions.
The first choral director, Johannes Meister, has since become the choral director of the Vienna State Opera; eight further members are now professional singers. Participation in international competitions has been awarded with first and second prizes, tours have been taken to England, Denmark, Israel, France, Estonia, Italy, India and Singapore, and radio recordings have been made for the BBC, Danish Radio, KRO (the Netherlands) and WDR.
Der Kammerchor des Aachener Bachvereins widmet sich vorwiegend der Musik des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts sowie dem A-cappella-Repertoire von der Renaissance bis zur Moderne. Höhepunkte der letzten Jahre waren die Aufführungen von Monteverdis Marienvesper, Bachs Messe h-Moll, Bruckners Messe e-Moll, Schönbergs Kol Nidre und Friede auf Erden sowie – in einer Kooperation mit dem Bonner Kammerchor – die Messe von Frank Martin. Auf Einladung des Domkapitels gestaltete der Kammerchor das 28. Benefizkonzert zur Erhaltung des Aachener Doms sowie ein Gastkonzert im Rahmen der Heiligtumsfahrt 2014 u. a. mit Händels Dixit Dominus. Anlässlich des 125. Geburtsjahrs des ehemaligen Chorleiters und bedeutenden Komponisten Rudolf Mauersberger spielte das Ensemble für ein deutschlandweit produziertes CD-Kompendium mehrere seiner Motetten ein.
Aachener Bachverein is the oratorio choir of Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Aachen (protestant church). The choir consists of about 120 active members of all denominations and is considered as one of the most steeped-in-tradition art organisations of this region. Continuity and quality mark its contribution as „body of sound to Aachen’s music life“. Aachener Bachverein performs regularly the works of J. S. Bach and beyond that feels also obliged to the choral repertoire from the early Baroque to the present. As choir of Evangelische Kirchengemeinde, Aachener Bachverein performs church music in the Annakirche. In 2013 the choir celebrates its 100th anniversary.
The Kammerchor Aachener Bachverein performs fastidious works of all epochs after short intensive rehearsals. In addition, concert tours and broadcast recordings are taken regularly.
The student orchestra of Aachen (ASO) was founded by a student initiative in 1989. It is one of three orchestras in Aachen where students and other young people can participate and play music together: The Collegium Musicum (the official orchestra of the RWTH), the young symphonic orchestra of Aachen and the ASO. The great number of amateur orchestras is not surprising, considering that Aachen is home to more than 40.000 students, most of them in the faculties of engineering, medicine and natural science. These orchestras not only enable students to follow their hobbies but also offer a wide range of classical music and numerous concerts every year not only for students, but for all residents of Aachen and the surrounding cities.
The ASO itself consists of about 80 musicians, mostly students of the “RWTH University” and the “University of Applied Science”. These students all share a strong interest in music and welcome the orchestra as a free time activity to balance their workload at university. We therefor try to perform our programs without hiring professional musicians as temporary staff.
We prepare a new program each semester and give two end of term concerts. The program is proposed and chosen by the members of the orchestra. Happily, due to an unusually big cast, we are able to perform large orchestral works that one would otherwise seldom have the opportunity to participate in as an amateur musician.
In addition to these concerts, we occasionally take part in smaller projects with other local musicians, visit international music festivals or, in 2013 for the first time, take part in the Chorbiennale in Aachen.
Vor fast 25 Jahren wurde das Aachener Studentenorchester in studentischer Eigeninitative gegründet und ist neben dem Collegium Musicum der RWTH und dem Jungen Sinfonieorchester e.V. das dritte Orchester für Studierende in Aachen. Seitdem ist es auf aktuell ungefähr 90 Mitglieder angewachsen und bietet Studenten, aber auch Ehemaligen die Möglichkeit gemeinsam zu musizieren. In jedem Semester bestreitet das Orchester in der Regel zwei Konzerte. www.aso.rwth-aachen.de
The Aachen Symphony Orchestra is one of the oldest and most venerable orchestras in Germany. First mentioned in 1720, it performed in 1825 Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 for the first time outside Vienna and participated in the first performance of „Der Freischütz“ in Paris. In 1852 it was officially named ‚municipal orchestra‘. International renowned conductors have always influenced the orchestra. Amongst the guests were Richard Strauss, Felix Weingartner, Karl Muck, Hans Pfitzner and Clemens Krauss whereas its Music Directors Fritz Busch, Herbert von Karajan and Wolfgang Sawallisch started their international careers in Aachen. Under the direction of Marcus Bosch in the last ten years the Aachen Symphony Orchestra achieved an enormous stylistic versatility which ranges from the great works of the romantic tradition to contemporary music as well as to cross-over projects and more than 24 best spoken CD-productions (e.g. complete recordings of the symphonies of Bruckner and Brahms). The number of audience could be quadrupled in this period. During the last years the orchestra performed with soloists as Martha Argerich, José Carreras, Vesselina Kasarova and Andrei Gavrilov.