Artists biographies
Choir of Theater Bonn

In the 2010-11 season the Bonn Theatre Chorus celebrated the 75th anniversary of its foundation. Its history as a permanent feature in Bonn’s cultural life began in 1935 when director Curt Herwig added a chorus to complete the theatre’s newly formed opera division. After the war the ensemble was re-established by conductor Theodor Scheer, who left a deep impression on the chorus’s artistic evolution as its director until 1978. He was followed by Georg-Archim Földes, Markus Oppeneiger (1992) and its current director Sibylle Wagner (1997). It takes part in more than 100 performances every season and is currently the smallest top-echelon chorus in Germany with 38 members. More than seven new productions are mounted each season, and the schedule is further augmented by choral concerts.

Besides its guest appearances in the German-speaking countries, the artistic highlights in the chorus's history include performances of Verdi’s »Otello« with Placido Domingo in Reggio Emilia (1992), an invitation to the Vienna Festival to sing in the première of Kurt Schwertsik's opera "Der ewige Friede" (1995) and its participation in the Gran Canaria Festival with Weber's "Freischütz" and Beethoven's "Fidelio" (1996).

The Bonn Theatre Chorus is also devoted to Beethoven’s concert works and has sung in numerous performances of the Ninth Symphony since its foundation, most recently at the 2005 Bonn Beethoven Festival under general music director Roman Kofman on Bonn's Museum Square. It also sang in Mahler's Eighth ("The Symphony of a Thousand") at the 2009 Beethoven Festival, conducted by general music director Stefan Blunier.

The chorus's high quality is amply in evidence on the complete recording of Antonio Carlos Gomes's opera "Il Guarany" with Placido Domingo. It also recorded Eugen d'Albert's opera "Der Golem" with the Bonn Beethoven Orchestra under Stefan Blunier in January 2010.