Mädchenkantorei Limburg (Limburg Girls' Choir; ), officially Mädchenkantorei am Hohen Dom zu Limburg (Girls' Choir of the High Cathedral at Limburg), is a girls' cathedral choir at
Limburg Cathedral
Limburg Cathedral (german: Limburger Dom, also known as ''Georgsdom'' ("George's Cathedral") after its dedication to Saint George, is located above the old town of Limburg in Hesse, Germany. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Diocese of Limburg ...
in Limburg,
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...
, Germany. The choir was founded in 1971 by Hans Bernhard. The choir's main task is singing in services at the Limburg Cathedral. The choir also performs in other services and concerts. Their repertoire covers all eras of classical music, but has a focus on contemporary music.
History
The Mädchenkantorei was founded by Domkapellmeister Hans Bernhard in 1971 and is one of the oldest girls' choirs in German cathedrals. The primary purpose of the choir is to sing during services at
Limburg Cathedral
Limburg Cathedral (german: Limburger Dom, also known as ''Georgsdom'' ("George's Cathedral") after its dedication to Saint George, is located above the old town of Limburg in Hesse, Germany. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Diocese of Limburg ...
. They perform there monthly, while other services are sung by the Limburger Domchor and the Limburger Domsingknaben. The choir also performs in services within and outside of the
Diocese of Limburg
The Diocese of Limburg (Latin: ''Dioecesis Limburgensis'') is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. It belongs to the ecclesiastical province of Cologne, with metropolitan see being the Archdiocese of Cologne.
Its territory encompasses ...
as well as in concerts. Their repertoire spans eras from
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek (language), Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed ma ...
to Baroque music, the Classical period, Romantic music and contemporary music.
The conductor is Domchordirektorin Judith Kunz. Girls may join the choir from the last year of kindergarten, and receive a thorough musical education until they finish school. They rehearse at four levels. From the fifth school year, they are trained at the highest level in the A Choir, or chamber choir (''Kammerchor''). At this level, the girls perform internationally, putting on concerts in Austria, France, England, Italy, Sweden and the United States, and taking part in competitions. In 2017, they won the first prize in their category, "Mädchen und Jugendchöre, gleiche Stimmen, 12–22 Jahre" (Girls' and youth choirs, similar ighvoices, ages 12 to 22).
In February 2019, the choir sang a program of sacred contemporary music together with the women's choir Carpe Diem at Limburg Cathedral. They performed works by
Ola Gjeilo
Ola Gjeilo ( , ; born May 5, 1978) is a Norwegian composer and pianist, living in the United States.Thomas Jennefelt, Arvo Pärt,
Imant Raminsh
Imant Karlis Raminsh ( Latvian: Imants Kārlis Ramiņš, born 18 September 1943) is a Canadian composer of Latvian descent, best known for his choral compositions. He resides in Coldstream, British Columbia.
Early life and education
Born ...