The long history of the Zurich Mixed Choir
In 1863, the Gemischte Chor Zürich was founded as the first official mixed singing ensemble in Zurich. For the first time, men and women sang in the same association.
The constituent assembly took place on October 28, 1863 and on December 12 and 27, 1863 the first concert, Joseph Haydn's Creation. The purpose of the choir was "to cultivate all levels of mixed choral singing from the simplest folk song to classical oratorio". At the same time, the Easter holidays were to be celebrated "not only through prayer and preaching, but also through the performance of masterpieces of church music".
The Zurich Mixed Choir is one of the founding choirs of the Tonhalle Society, which was established in 1868 together with the City and Canton of Zurich, the Harmonie Singers' Association and the Zurich Male Voice Choir. In 1891, the Teachers' Singing Association joined the founding choirs. In 1872, the mixed choir donated the installation of an organ in the Tonhalle and in 1895 donated half of its assets for the construction of the new Tonhalle hall.
Friedrich Hegar became conductor of the choir in 1865. Under him, the choir experienced its first heyday; he conducted the choir until 1901. Hermann Suter (1901-1902) was followed by the long conducting periods of Volkmar Andreae (1902-1949) and Erich Schmid (1949-1975). Räto Tschupp led the choir from 1975-1996 and Joachim Krause, who still leads the choir today, took over in 1996. Today the choir has around 130 active members.
To celebrate its anniversary, the choir has commissioned a work from Zurich-based composer Edward Rushton. In D'un pays lointain will feature settings of poems by Henri Michaux, Gunnar Ekelöff, Dino Campana, Stevie Smith, Jürg Halter and Gerhard Meister. They tell of fictitious journeys to fictitious countries and the desire to set off for new shores. Handel's Ode for St. Cecilia's Day.
Anniversary concert: November 9, 2013, 7:00 pm, Tonhalle Zurich
Further concert: November 30, 2013 at 7:30 pm in the Stadthaus Winterthur
The anniversary commemorative publication will be published by Musikverlag Hug at the end of October
150 years of music for Zurich. The Zurich Mixed Choir 1863 - 2013
