Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir press release

Tuesday, 18 May, 8 pm, All Saints' Church, Oystermouth, Swansea (Tickets from 01792 406062)

One of the world’s great choirs – the Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir – will perform at All Saints, Swansea on May 18. It will be one of only five venues during the choir’s six-day tour of this country. They will be coming to England directly from singing at the wedding of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark to Mary Donaldson in Copenhagen Cathedral.

Since 1959 the choir has been resident at Copenhagen Cathedral and performs on state occasions and during royal visits abroad. It has been bracketed alongside the Vienna Boys’ Choir and that of King’s College in Cambridge.

Its latest accolade came last November when the French Academy awarded it its greatest prize – Le Prix de Chant Choral Liliane Bettencourt – plus 40,000 euros. It was awarded by recommendation of the 40 members of the Academy, among them Roman Polanski, Jeanne Moreau, Pierre Cardin and the director of the Conservatory in Paris, Jacques Taddei.

The choir’s acclaimed director Ebbe Munk – appointed in 1991 - has led the choir at concerts in halls, cathedrals and festivals across the world, including Sydney Opera House, Beijing Concert Hall, Notre Dame in Paris, Washington National Cathedral, Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro and Westminster Abbey.

Ebbe Munk said: “We are thrilled to be visiting Swansea for the first time ever. It has been a huge privilege to take the choir to venues around the world and we are really looking forward to performing for another new audience. I know they and the choir will enjoy a wonderful evening.”

The first half of the concert will feature a performance sung in English of A Noone of Night by award-winning Danish composer Palle Mikkelborg who will also play trumpet. This magical work opens with Palle Mikkelborg playing hauntingly on trumpet and joined by Helen Davis on harp as the choir sings as it enters from various parts of the church.

The first movement conjures up William Blake’s picture of the Noone of Night and this is followed by a Breton fisherman’s Prayer, The Fly, Over and Over, Infant Joy, The Tyger and The Teacher. The choir enhance the magic by playing musical boxes at one point.

The second half of the programme opens with the well-known Ave Maria Stella by Edvard Grieg, to be sung in Latin. This is followed by Transfiguring of Hope, which has been specially written by Norwegian choral music composer Knut Nystedt for the choir a cappella and will receive its World Premiere in Copenhagen in March 2004. It will be sung in English.

The programme will end with Songs and Ballads in Danish from Denmark’s greatest composer, Carl Nielsen.

ENDS

For further information, contact: Stephannie Williams Artists on 01789 266272

1. Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir tour to UK, May 2004

Wednesday, 19 May, 8 pm, Worcester Cathedral, Worcester (Tickets from 01905 611427)

Sunday, 23 May, 7.30 pm Wilton Church, Wilton, Salisbury (Tickets from 01722 320333)

Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir is one of Scandinavia's oldest choral foundations. The high artistic standards which have characterised the choir for 75 years have been achieved by means of the unique vocal training the choristers receive at Sankt Annæ Gymnasium (St. Anne's Gymnasium), the Municipal Choir School of Copenhagen, and from the choir's duties at Copenhagen Cathedral (The Church of Our Lady). The choir has gained an international reputation through its interpretation of the works of the major composers of the renaissance and baroque eras in particular and of 20th century choral music for boys' and men's voices. The choir gives a large number of concerts each year in Denmark and all over the world, including in recent years, Beijing, Buenos Aires, New York, Johannesburg, Paris, St Petersburg, Sydney and Vienna. The choir was founded by Mogens Wöldike in 1924 after a visit to Copenhagen by the famous Thomanerchor, the boys' choir of St. Thomas's Church, Leipzig, Bach's own choir. The choir often performs in connection with the Royal Family's major festivities, at State Visits abroad as well as at many other official functions. The choir also frequently appears on radio and television both in Denmark and in other countries. It has made extensive recordings of a wide range of works, including those by Handel, Mahler, Britten, Nielsen, Rossini and Mikkelborg. Since 1991, Ebbe Munk has been the choir's artistic and administrative director.

Ebbe Munk was born in 1950 and studied music at Copenhagen University, continuing his studies as a conductor in Dresden, Munich, Budapest and the USA. From 1982 until 1991 he was conductor of Sankt Annæ Youth Choir. In the mid-eighties he also founded the Chamber Choir Vox Danica which specialised in contemporary Nordic music and in 1991 won the first prize in Concours Internationales de Chant Chorale in France. Since 1991 he has been chief conductor of the Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir and choirmaster of the Copenhagen Cathedral. He has conducted the major choral repertoire together with leading Danish orchestras such as the Copenhagen Symphony Orchestra and Concerto Copenhagen as well as with baroque ensembles such as Dufay Collective (London) and Ensemble Lascaris (Nice). He has led the choir to all parts of the world including Europe, USA, South America, Asia, Australasia and Africa. In 2002 he received a Grammy in the Danish Music Awards for his recording of Buxtehudes Cantatas together with Dufay Collective, London and the Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir.

Palle Mikkelborg took up the trumpet in 1956 and became a professional musician in 1960. He established himself as an orchestral musician when he became a member of the Danish Radio Jazz Group and the Danish Radio Big Band and was Danish jazz musician of the year in 1968. His other numerous prizes and awards include Danish Conductor Association’s Prize of Honour, 1977; Danish Musicians’ Union’s Prize of Honour, 1987; Two Grammy Awards in 1990; Danish Grammy Award in 1993 and the Nordic Council’s Music Prize, 2000. As a band leader during the seventies, he developed his talents as a composer and arranger as well as a skilled interpreter of other composers. In the eighties he undertook international tours with the likes of Gil Evans Big Band and the George Russell Big Band and made numerous recordings. He was also a member of the successful Danish trio Heart to Heart. For the past ten years he has led the Tread Lightly Group with himself and Welsh harpist Helen Davies as the focal point. He has been recording since the sixties and as well as many of his own CDs such as Anything But Grey (1992) and Song&ldots;Tread Lightly (2000) he has also recorded with a host of artists, including Miles Davis.

Helen Davies studied harp in her native Wales with Ann Griffiths, and holds the degree of Bachelor of Music from the University of Birmingham. She has been principal harpist with orchestras in Sweden (Operan, Gothenburg) and Ireland (RTÈ Dublin). Now based in Copenhagen, Helens main work is in the field of contemporary improvised music, blending acoustic and electronic sounds, with trumpet player/composer Palle Mikkelborg. They have appeared together throughout Scandinavia, Australia, the Far East and China and Helen has also toured extensively with the Danish Royal Chapel Choir. Her solo CD ‘Open the Door Softly’ was released in Autumn 2000.

Stephannie Williams Artists Ltd, 9 Central Chambers, Wood Street,

Stratford-upon-Avon, Warks, CV37 6JQ

Tel: 01789 266272; Fax: 01789 266467

World famous choir to sing in All Saints' Church, Oystermouth, Swansea

ENDS

For further information, contact: Stephannie Williams Artists on 01789 266272

1. Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir tour to UK, May 2004