"Passion with a long-lasting effect" attests the local press to the ensemble amici musicae, Chor & Orchester, Leipzig. This concert impression also describes the continuing enthusiasm of the ensemble members. Since 1994, young musicians have been making professional demands in addition to studies, training and work, and they are constantly winning new members who carry on the ambitious work of the ensemble. Currently, the ensemble consists of 40 musicians, most of whom have received musical training (including in the Thomanerchor Leipzig and in the Gewandhauskinderchor) or at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy". Under the direction of Ron-Dirk Entleutner, Amici Musicae has become an important part of Leipzig's musical life.
The composition of mixed choir and string orchestra offers the ensemble an ideal prerequisite for a broad musical repertoire. This covers almost all epochs of music history, ranging from multi-layered polyphonic music (for example by Thomas Tallis) to cantatas, oratorios such as George Frideric Handel's Messiah , works of W.A. Mozart, Benjamin Britten and Tippett, and the operas of Gluck. to rarely performed contemporary music. The ensemble attaches great importance to the care of works by Leipzig composers, especially those of J.S. Bach. The longstanding engagement with the music of the famous Thomaskantor reached its climax in 2008 with the concert series »Bach Bei Uns«. In more than 20 concerts, Amici Musicae presented selected compositions by J.S. Bach and thus made an important and individual contribution to the Leipzig J.S. Bach tradition.
The success of this concert series also speaks for the high musical demand as well as the continuous concert activity, which includes the annual participation in the Bachfest Leipzig and the regular performance of the Motets at the Thomaskirche. The Peterskirche, Lukaskirche and Gewandhaus also belong to the traditional concert venues of the ensemble.
In the autumn of 2014, the ensemble Amici Musicae celebrated its 20th anniversary and can look back not only on a committed concert activity, but also on numerous concert tours in Germany and abroad (including the USA, Hong Kong, Denmark, Italy, Hungary, Asia or on the Azores), on awards in competitions (including 3rd Prize in the German Choir Competition 1998) and on two CD productions with oratorios in German and English.. |