Nothing welcomes Christmas like the sound of children’s voices.
For centuries the gold standard in youth singing has been the Vienna Boys Choir.
This year, the ensemble returns to Hodgson Concert Hall on Dec. 18 at 7:30 p.m. with a program that stretches from ancient carols to ABBA.
The Vienna Boys Choir is one of the most famous choirs in the world, and one of its oldest. Boys have been singing at Vienna’s Imperial Chapel since at least 1296. Two hundred years later, on July 7, 1498, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I established a Court Chapel in Vienna. He gave specific instructions that there were to be boys among the singers, thus laying the foundation for the Vienna Boys Choir. Like their modern successors, the early boys spent much time on the road, following their imperial employer to sing at the Holy Roman Empire’s parliamentary meetings, imperial coronations, weddings, state processions and feasts.
Today, the former imperial ensemble has grown into an entire campus; the modern Vienna Boys Choir is a private, nonprofit organization that funds itself chiefly through income generated from concerts and touring, as well as donations and sponsorship deals. The Vienna Boys Choir maintains a primary school and a grammar school whose syllabuses focus on choral music and singing. Three hundred and thirty boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 19 attend the schools on campus. All students have individual voice lessons, and all sing in one of the choirs.
There are currently 90 active boy choristers, divided into four boys’ choirs, which all perform as “Vienna Boys Choir” — Brucknerchor (Choirmaster Manolo Cagnin), Haydnchor (Choirmaster Jimmy Chiang), Mozartchor (Choirmaster Manuel Huber), and Schubertchor (Choirmaster Oliver Stech). The four choirs share concerts, tours, sound recordings and filming equally. Between them, they perform almost 300 concerts per year, with almost half a million people attending. Since 1924, the choirs have completed more than 1,000 tours in 100 different countries, clocking up a staggering 29,000 concerts.
This performance is supported by David Coker and Sharon Price.
Three ways to get tickets
- Purchase tickets online at pac.uga.edu.
- Call the Performing Arts Center box office at 706-542-4400, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Visit the UGA Performing Arts Center box office, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (five-minute parking is available in the drop off circle at the Performing Arts Center for purchasing or picking up tickets.)
Audience members can create their own series of three or more performances for 10% off. UGA Presents single tickets start at just $25 with promo code PAC25, and UGA student tickets are $10. Parking is free.
To learn more about all UGA Performing Arts Center events, visit pac.uga.edu.
