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Berliner Oratorien-Chor, Foto: Mark Hunt
For 120 years now, the Berliner Oratorien-Chor (BOC) has stood for innovatively designed programs and high artistic standards. With this year's autumn concert, the choir remains true to its goal of merging sacred and secular music, newer and more well-known older works to provide the audience with a diverse listening experience with – perhaps surprising – interconnections.
In the upcoming performance on October 12, 2025, at 3:30 PM in the Berliner Philharmonie, two masses will be presented side by side: the Messe D Dur by Antonín Dvořák from the 19th century (1887) and the Messe Solennelle by the French composer Naji Hakim, composed about 100 years later (1999). Both are designed for choir and organ. These two sacred works will be combined in this concert program with secular songs from the 19th and 21st centuries: Johannes Brahms set texts from the "literary romanticism" in his Gesängen für Frauenchor (1860), and Thomas Hennig chose a widely spread slogan against the threat to women's freedom (once in Kurdish and once in Persian) as the basis for two pieces for alto and mixed choir. They are individual titles from the collection “Geminiden 23”.
Participants include soloists Iphigenie Worbes (soprano), Gundula Hintz (alto), Myungwon Kim (tenor), Haakon Schaub (bass), Daniel Seeger (organ), the chamber ensemble of the Neue Preußischen Philharmonie, the Berliner Oratorien-Chor, and conductor Thomas Hennig.
Tickets are available from 19 euros to 39 euros (possibly plus additional costs) at Ticketmaster, at Eventim, at known advance sales outlets, or via the BOC ticket phone (030) 547 34 943, www.berliner-oratorienchor.de, tickets@berliner-oratorienchor.de.
The Berliner Oratorien-Chor – one of the oldest amateur choirs in the city
Since its founding in 1904, the Berliner Oratorien-Chor – then still known as the Berliner Volks-Chor – has made it its mission to perform both popular and lesser-known works of choral symphony to bring them closer to a larger audience. This type of repertoire is perhaps the most elaborate form of choral music, as it requires not only a large choir but also an orchestra, which in turn necessitates a sufficiently large stage and correspondingly many seats for the paying audience. Thus, every performance of the Berliner Oratorien-Chor is associated with significant organizational and financial effort. Regular self-organized performances take place in the Berliner Philharmonie and the Konzerthaus Berlin – alongside numerous collaborations and guest appearances. Between 1958 and 2008, the choir established itself in Berlin's music scene under the direction of Gert Sell and was honored in 2004 with the Zelter Plaque for the promotion of choral music. In 2008, Thomas Hennig took over the artistic direction. With innovatively designed programs and high artistic standards, the choir remains a pioneering institution; currently, it has about 80 active members from various backgrounds and generations.
