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The Iffeldorf choir “KlangKunst” (in red) will perform with 30 singers at Carnegie Hall in New York next Monday, January 15th. © Archive
Andrea Fessmann’s Iffeldorf “KlangKunst” choir has already had many major performances. But now a career highlight is imminent. The choir sings in the world-famous Carnegie Hall in New York. The concert was supposed to take place in 2020, but was canceled due to Corona. The first singers are already on their way to the USA.
Iffeldorf – Its members have already sung in the cathedral in Granada, Spain and – as the first external ensemble – in the rebuilt university church in Leipzig: The Iffeldorf choir “KlangKunst” under the direction of Andrea Fessmann is a well-known amateur choirwho has made a name for himself beyond the region’s borders with performances of major choral works.
Planned trip could not take place in 2020 due to the pandemic
In 2019 the choir was even invited to Carnegie Hall in New York. Its members were supposed to take part in a performance of Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana” in the world-famous concert hall. But nothing came of the trip, which was supposed to take place in April 2020. The pandemic came and made all travel impossible for a long time.
Now the performance will be rescheduled. When asked on Tuesday, Andrea Fessmann said that the first choir members were already on their way to the USA. She herself will get on the plane this Wednesday. The remaining singers would start tomorrow, Thursday. “And on Friday we’ll all meet in New York,” says Fessmann, and you can hear in her voice that she can’t quite believe it herself: her Iffeldorf choir will sing in Carnegie Hall – in Fessmann’s professional assessment, “one of the most “The most famous concert halls in the world, if not the most famous.” All the greats of music would have sung here, in this “music scene walk of fame”. There would be room for almost 2,000 listeners here.
The concert with a total of around 195 singers from different countries and a large orchestra is planned for next Monday evening, January 15th. Until then there will be three days of rehearsals, she says.
International choir project with around 195 singers
The organizer, the American concert agency DCINY, has not only invited the people of Iffeldorf to the international choir project. As far as Fessmann knows so far, singers will be coming from England, France and the Netherlands as well as from various parts of the USA. As the choir director explained in advance of the trips planned for 2020, the agency became aware of her choir through the Internet and then asked her by email whether the choir wanted to come to New York. When she read this email back then, “I first thought of fake news,” Fessmann told the local newspaper at the time.
But unlike planned in 2019, Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana” will no longer be performed in New York next Monday. “The choir project has changed,” says Fessmann. On the occasion of the upcoming 80th birthday of the Welsh composer Sir Karl Jenkins, his peace mass “The Armed Man” will now be heard – with Jenkins as conductor.
Andrea Fessmann directs the “Sound Art” choir © Obermaier/A
Since the project has changed, only 30 singers would now take part and no longer 90 as planned for 2020. She did not specifically select the 30 fellow travelers. “If you wanted to go, you could go.” Because not all choir members wanted to get on a plane during flu season or spend a lot of money on the trip, which everyone had to finance privately.
Looking forward to wonderful acoustics
Fessmann, who will also be taking part in the performance as a singer, is really looking forward to this concert, for which she and the other “KlangKunst” members involved have been rehearsing diligently over the past few days. Above all, she is happy because Carnegie Hall is supposed to have such wonderful acoustics. She hasn’t sung here yet.
Personally, she is “basically not” nervous about the upcoming concert. She simply has too much experience for that. The artist has already sung with many well-known conductors and in large concert halls. But some “KlangKunst” singers are definitely excited. “But that’s also a good thing,” she says.
Fessmann has not worked with Jenkins yet either. But she saw him at the premiere of his work One World in Linz last November. That’s why she knows: He is an absolutely “loveable and friendly person”. According to Fessmann, the concert will be recorded on Monday. She doesn’t know when it will be broadcast or where.
2024-01-09 23:00:00
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