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Faith Matters - Bach’s Successor - The Thomaners’ New Conductor

January 2, 2022

The Swiss conductor Andreas Reize is the latest musician to join the Thomanerchor’s prestigious list of choirmasters. He’s the eighteenth musician to hold this post since Johann Sebastian Bach trained the famous Leipzig boys’ choir between 1723 and 1750. Even in Bach’s day, the Thomaner already had a long and glorious history; the choir was founded in the thirteenth century.

https://p.dw.com/p/453W9

46-year-old Reize doesn’t have any previous connection with Leipzig, but he’s a widely respected authority on church music. The choir’s main function is to sing at St Thomas’ Church, Leipzig. Andreas Reize has excellent qualifications and experience for the job. He himself was a boy chorister in Switzerland and at an early age decided that he wanted to be a musical director. He studied church music and took charge of the boys’ choir at Solothurn Cathedral in the diocese of Basel. He also made a name for himself as an opera conductor, placing strong emphasis on faithfulness to the score and its historical sound. That stands him in good stead for his new appointment. However the greatest innovation is that for the first time since the Reformation a Catholic is conducting the choir in this famous German Lutheran church. In this report by Alex Rowohlt we sit in on the new conductor’s first rehearsals and performances. We also take a look behind the scenes — at the life of the boy choristers.

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DW Sendungslogo Glaubenssachen englisch (Faith Matters)

Faith Matters — The Church Program

What people build on, what gives them support and the values they hold: For many, that is a question of faith. Every first Sunday of the month DW's monthly feature on religion gives insights into matters of faith.

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