Dresdner Kreuzchor

The Dresdner Kreuzchor is the boys' choir of the Kreuzkirche in Dresden. It has a seven century history. Today the choir has about 150 members from the age of 9-19 from Dresden and the surrounding region. The boys attend the Kreuzschule. They are also called "Kruzianer". The present director of the choir is Roderich Kreile, the 28th Kreuzkantor since the Reformation. From 1971 until 1991 Martin Flämig was the Cantor.

The repertoire of the choir includes compositions from the early Baroque (Heinrich Schütz, Johann Sebastian Bach), the early 19th century and modern work. Several recordings are available from Berlin Classics, Deutsche Grammophon and Capriccio. The choir often performs with the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra.

The choir sings Vespers almost every Saturday at 5 pm and on Sunday at 9:30 am in the Church Service. Every year they go on several concert tours in Germany, but also in Europe, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Canada, Latin America and the United States. Altogether the choir performs about 100 times every year, 50 Church Services and Vespers, 10 concerts at their church (including always Bach's Christmas Oratorio and St Matthew Passion and A German Requiem of Brahms) and 40 concert on tours. All in all 150.000 people are visiting the performances of the choir every year.

Samuel Barber

Samuel Osborne Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. He is one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century: music critic Donal Henahan stated that "Probably no other American composer has ever enjoyed such early, such persistent and such long-lasting acclaim."

His Adagio for Strings (1936) has earned a permanent place in the concert repertory of orchestras. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music twice: for his opera Vanessa (1956–57) and for the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1962). Also widely performed is his Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (1947), a setting for soprano and orchestra of a prose text by James Agee. At the time of his death, nearly all of his compositions had been recorded.

Biography

Early years

Barber was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, the son of Marguerite McLeod (née Beatty) and Samuel Le Roy Barber. He was born into a comfortable, educated, social, and distinguished American family. His father was a physician; his mother, called Daisy, was a pianist of English-Scottish-Irish descent whose family had lived in the United States since the time of the Revolutionary War. His aunt, Louise Homer, was a leading contralto at the Metropolitan Opera; his uncle, Sidney Homer, was a composer of American art songs. Louise Homer is known to have influenced Barber's interest in voice. Through his aunt, Barber had access to many great singers and songs.