Throughout the centuries, the choir has worked with renowned composers, including Mozart, Anton Bruckner, Johann Joseph Fux, Antonio Salieri, Heinrich Isaac, Schubert, Hofhaimer, Biber, Caldara, and Gluck. Before they became celebrated composers, Schubert and Jacobus Gallus were members of the ensemble.
The
Wiener Sängerknaben (Vienna Boys’ Choir or Vienna Choir Boys) is a choir of
trebles and altos based in Vienna, and is one of the best known boys’ choirs in
the world. The boys are selected mainly from Austria, but also from many other
countries in Europe plus the United States, Ireland, Malaysia, Japan and South
Korea.
Ranging
in age from 10 to 14, the organization’s 100 choristers are divided into four
equal touring ensembles, aptly named after Austrian composers associated with
the choir’s history, which include Bruckner, Haydn, Mozart, and Schubert.
Combined, the four choirs perform about 300 concerts each year before almost
500,000 people. Each group tours for about nine to eleven weeks. This
performance at Penn State will feature the Mozart choir, led by choirmaster
Bomi Kim.
The
520-year-old Vienna Boys’ Choir, one of the three imperial Austrian musical
groups along with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vienna State Opera,
has maintained many traditions for centuries. But sometimes even traditions need
to give in to the many changes taking place in our society and in the world
around us.
In
September 2012, Kim was appointed conductor of the Vienna Boys’ Choir, based on
the recommendation of her former professor Erwin Ortner, who was once himself a
member of the choir. The selection made Kim the first ever female and the first
ever Asian conductor to guide one of the choirs. “It’s definitely a wonderful
job, but it’s not so easy because the quality must be good,” she said. “But I
think it’s much better for children – I can feel that. I feel like a mother for
those kids.”
After
graduating from Yon Sei University in Seoul, Korea with a major in concert
choir, Kim went to Regensburg in Bavaria to study church music. She then
enrolled in the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and earned
her master’s degree in choir conducting, vocal music and Gregorian chants. She
is currently working on her doctoral dissertation on early church Modi,
according to her biography.
A
doctoral student at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Kim
has traveled with the Vienna Boys’ Choir to perform in Japan, China, Arabia and
Germany. This is her first tour to the United States with the choir.
“It’s
now a very international choir – we have one Japanese boy, one Korean boy, one
Irish boy, and one from Australia,” Kim said. “Because we are always on tour,
we give auditions everywhere. That’s why we are so international. When a child
wants to sing, he can come to me, and we can have an audition. For example, I
can give an audition in Pennsylvania – why not?
Included
in the program are Claudio Monteverdi’s “Ave Maria,” Franz Schubert’s
“Serenade,” Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Praise the Lord,” and Aria No. 20 from
George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah.” Holiday carols include “Joy to the World,”
“Feliz Navidad,” “Jingle Bells” and “O Holy Night.”“For the first part we will be singing European music by Bach, Mozart, Schubert and others,” Kim said. “And then for the second part we will sing American Christmas songs and European Christmas songs – and often in German.”
With
each and every performance, Kim is very animated in her direction, and she
always anticipates enthusiasm and participation from the audience. “Every
concert is important, and every single audience is important for us,” she said.
“We usually plan an encore song, so I expect and want the audience to sing –
they must sing with us. They must sing with us really loud.”
