Montanara Chor: THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GERMAN FOLK MELODIES

"The Most Beautiful German Folk Melodies"

The Montanara Choir

Founded in Stuttgart in 1958 – not in South Tyrol! From the very beginning until today, the Montanara Choir has delighted its audience and fans with its distinctive sound and versatile repertoire, setting standards in German men's choir history. Since its inception, the Montanara Choir has consisted exclusively of trained singers – members of the Stuttgart State Opera Choir (multiple award-winning Opera Choir of the Year) and the SWR Vocal Ensemble. This has allowed the choir to maintain its unique profile and highest artistic quality over the years. The numerous recordings of the most beautiful art and folk songs, but also many other songs, bear witness to this.

Since 2001, the conductor and artistic director Michael Alber has been a guarantor of the choir's high musical and vocal standards, following in the footsteps of his predecessor Harry Pleva. The Stuttgart Opera Choir has been awarded Opera Choir of the Year for many years! Collaborations with other successful stars in the music industry have also resulted in beautiful melodies and unique arrangements. Awarded the "Hermann Löns Medal" in 1977, the choir has been a guest on numerous TV shows and remains a popular performer in concert halls and TV shows to this day. The Montanara Choir is without a doubt one of the highest quality male choirs in Europe. As stated in the Frankfurter Allgemeine: "... great expectations were placed on the performance of the world-famous Montanara Choir, and it turned out to be the expected highlight in terms of choral singing ...".

Founded in 1984, the Ludwigsburg Brass Quintet consists of students and aspiring orchestral musicians from the music academies in Stuttgart and Mannheim. The concept was to promote brass chamber music at a high level in concert halls, castles, outdoors, in churches, schools, and other possible venues. The quintet aimed to develop unconventional programs, arrangements, and performance formats – especially in collaboration with other artists and groups. As documented by numerous national and international reviews, the quintet has succeeded in this endeavor. Concerts and tours have taken the musicians throughout Germany, the former GDR, Italy, France, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Austria, Russia, Croatia, Hong Kong, and Namibia. With over 1200 performances in its over twenty-year history, the ensemble has remained true to its original concept, despite all the musicians now holding recognized positions in the music world. Invitations to prestigious music festivals, twelve CD recordings, TV appearances, and various radio broadcasts, including on Hessischer Rundfunk, DeutschlandRadio, and SWR, underscore the quintet's national reputation it has earned.