VIENNA BOYS CHOIR
TO PURCHASE TICKETS, CLICK THE "SEAT YOURSELF" LOGO ABOVE
The world-renowned Vienna Boys Choir will perform on Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 3:00 pm at Austin Avenue United Methodist Church in Waco. Tickets cost $25 or $35 for adults and $10 for students, and can be purchased using the link above, at the door, or in person during business hours at the church, located at 1300 Austin Avenue. The concert will be over at least one hour prior to Super Bowl Kickoff.
Boys have been singing at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor since the early 15th century. In 1498, more than half a millennium ago, Emperor Maximilian I moved his court and his court musicians to Vienna. He gave instructions that there were to be six singing boys among his musicians. Historians have settled on 1498 as the foundation date of the Vienna Hofmusikkapelle and - in consequence - the Vienna Boys Choir. Until 1918, the choir sang exclusively for the imperial court, at mass, at private concerts and functions, and on state occasions.
Today there are around 100 choristers between the ages of ten and fourteen, divided into four touring choirs. The four choirs give around 300 concerts and performances each year in front of almost half a million people. Each group spends nine to eleven weeks of the school year on tour. They visit virtually all European countries, and they are frequent guests in Asia, Australia and the Americas.
The choir maintains its own
school. Almost 250 children study and rehearse in the Augartenpalais, a baroque palace and former imperial hunting lodge
in Vienna. Beginning with kindergarten, boys and girls are provided with a
complete musical and general education through the elementary grades. At age
ten, the most talented boys are selected to join the choir and enter the
choir’s grammar school. All boys are assigned to one of the touring choirs. The
school has a band, and offers extracurricular activities ranging from sports to
attending (pop) concerts, operas, plays, musicals and movies. The choristers
are also encouraged to create their own projects; a number of them write, act
and direct short sketches or films. All choir boys live in the choir’s own
well-appointed boarding school; two to three boys share a room.
This is the Vienna Boys Choir’s third visit Waco, previously appearing at Baylor in 2008 and the Hippodrome in 2001.
Recent reviews of the choir state:
“There’s no more gratifying sound than that of children singing. And there’s no more polished ensemble of children’s voices than the Vienna Boys Choir.” -Fort Worth Star Telegram
“Bright,
light voices through the centuries”
“The
angelic voices of this most famous vocal group are ageless”
“Time may march on, but the Vienna Boys Choir remains a rock-solid institution. 4 out of 4 stars.”
-The Green Bay Press Gazette