THE GERMAN-POLISH CHORAL ACADEMY
"in terra pax"
The German-Polish choral academy “in terra pax” was called into existence after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain in 1991 by musicians such as Professor Ludwig Güttler, Dresden, Professor Jan Szyrocki, Szczecin, Wolfgang Unger, Leipzig, Volker Schmidt-Gertenbach, Göttingen and Werner Pfaff, Karlsruhe. Patronage was taken over by the Presidents of Poland and Germany.
Since the summer of 1991, many young people had been provided the opportunity of getting in touch in order to forge bonds of friendship by jointly elaborating, practicing and performing representative works of Polish, German and international choral repertoire up to vocal jazz, hence building bridges. And these bridges extend even farther: In 1999 we were able to welcome friends from France to “in terra pax”, and in 2003 students from Spain and the U.S. joined the choral academy for the first time.
The choir is annually formed anew with singers from renowned choirs in Poland, Germany, France, Spain and the US. A demanding a cappella program is rehearsed for a week on the peninsula Wollin in Międzyzdroje, Poland. The choir works together with internationally noted conductors, and premiers a newly commissioned work written especially for that choir. These works are presented to an audience during the International Choral Festival in Miedzyzdroje, as well as during an annual concert trip that has lead the academy to places in Poland, Germany, France and Spain.
Concerts of special note include:
- 1998 Concert trip along the German Baltic coast.
- 2000 Invitations to the world fare EXPO 2000 in Hanover, Germany.
- 2001 Concerts at the “Millennium Pace“ Festival in Valencia, Spain.
- 2002, 2003, 2004 Concerts at the “Etè musical“ Festival in St. Bonnet le Château, France.
- 1997, 2000, 2002 and 2003 Concerts in Northrhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Over the course of time, these conductors have worked with ”in terra pax“:
- from Poland Jan Szyrocki and Bronislawa Wietrzny
- from Germany Werner Pfaff, Volker Schmidt-Gertenbach, Jürgen Faßbender and Martin Winkler
- from the Netherlands Harold Lenselink and Jan Pasveer
- from Canada Don James
- from Spain Jose Ramon Perez Cebrian
- from France Jean Baptiste Bertrand
- and Richard Zielinski from the USA
The first German participants of this musical meeting of nations came from Eastern Westphalia. The promotion association of the academy was founded in Steinheim/Northrhine-Westphalia. It supports the work of “in terra pax“ and organizes activities within Germany.