Marien-Kantorei Lemgo (Choir)

Founded: 1946 - Lemgo, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

The MarienKantorei Lemgo was founded in 1946 by Walther Schmidt; it is based at the Gothic church of St. Marien in the old Hanseatic town of Lemgo.

From 1992 to 2010 Rainer Johannes Homburg was director of the choirs of the Marien-Kantorei and full-time Kantor at St. Marien. Under his direction, the der Kammerchor der Marien-Kantorei was awarded the ECHO-Klassic in 2008. Since January 2011, Volker Jänig has been Kantor at St. Marien in Lemgo and Kantor of the Lippischen Landeskirche.

Four choirs are united under the roof of the Marien-Kantorei: the singing school in two groups – for children up to confirmation; the singing community of the Marien-Kantorei with up to 70 singers - for performances of the great oratorio works by J.S. Bach, George Frideric Handel, Johannes Brahms, Verdi, Benjamin Britten and others; the Kantoreichor with about 30 singers - for a cappella music.

Der Kantoreichor (The Kantorei Choir)

The Kantorei Choir, the real "Marien-Kantorei", consists of about 35 singers and performs primarily a-cappella repertoire from medieval to contemporary.

Since 1995, the choir seeks increasingly to the realisation of art form transitional projects. With a series of concerts in North Rhine-Westphalia with the music of the Estonian artist Arvo Pärt in 2001, the choir saw a special artistic challenge in performing a joint concert with the world-renowned Hilliard Ensemble.

In addition, the ensemble makes regularly concert tours, the longest held on the occasion of the Bicentennial in the USA. The last led the choir in 2005 to Rouen and Reims in France, and in 2007 to Palatinate in Austria.

The Kantorei Choir also participates in worship tasks at St. Marien.

Der Kammerchor (The Chamber Choir)

The Chamber Choir of Marien-Kantorei Lemgo is a creation of the Kantorei choir, supplemented by additional, as needed in each case for special projects. Its size and composition are always dependent on the respective plant that will be developed, which is especially the vocal balance not only between but also within the voices in relation to the respective plant or matching desired sound colour.

The Chamber Choir already released two CD recordings with works by Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel.

Sources:
Marien-Kantorei Lemgo Website, English translation by Aryeh Oron (April 2009, November 2022)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (March 2009)

Rainer Johannes Homburg: Short Biography | Ensembles: Marien-Kantorei Lemgo | Stuttgarter Hymnus-Chorknaben | Handel's Company
Bach Discography Recordings of Vocal Works

Volker Jänig: Short Biography | Ensembles: Marien-Kantorei Lemgo
Bach Discography: Recordings of Vocal Works

Links to other Sites

Marien Kantorei Lemgo (Official Website) [German]