The origins of the TÖLZER KNABENCHOR can be traced back to the Tölzer Pfadfindergruppe, which was founded after the war. At that time, they were an enthusiastic group who loved to get together in order to sing all kinds of folk songs and marching songs. When the group decided to disband in January 1956, Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden, an 18-year-old high school student, stepped in and took over the leadership. He proceeded to lay the foundation for the uniquely successful TÖLZER KNABENCHOR. Since 1971, the choir has been based in the regional capital of Munich. There, approximately 200 boys are divided into four different levels by their artistic leader RalfLudewig and seven other vocal instructors. Besides being given instruction, they are advised and supported by the founder of the choir. After their voices change, they are moved to one of several men’s choirs, where they receive further guidance.The boys’ joy of singing is a vital component of the choir, as is their creativity, spontaneity, and their self-discipline. In the concert choir, they are responsible for as many as 250 concerts and opera appearances worldwide every year. They perform music from the Middle Ages to the present, with a focus on church music from the Baroque and Classical eras. Soloists from the choir have achieved special fame singing the parts of the three boys in Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute. Their contributions are currently available on as many as 12different CD and DVD recordings of this opera.Besides numerous appearances within Germany,the TÖLZER KNABENCHOR performs in almost all the countries of Europe as well as Israel, China, Japan, Korea and the United States. Many well-known conductors have worked with the TÖLZER KNABENCHOR, including Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Leonard Bernstein, Sergiu Celibidache,John Eliot Gardiner, Enoch zuGuttenberg, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Mariss Jansons, Herbert von Karajan, James Levine, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Metha, Riccardo Muti, Kent Nagano, Seiji Ozawa, Sir Georg Solti, and Christian Thielemann.
