Eric Whitacre at St Paul's Church

In an otherwise rather quiet February, glamour blew through the Kulturkirche Paulus on a weekend: US star composer and Grammy winner Eric Whitacre was a guest at the invitation of ‘Männerstimmen Basel’ and rehearsed for a gala concert with six Basel choirs - and was delighted with the church space.

Eric Whitacre on the tower of St Paul's Church. (Photo courtesy of Zlatko Mićić)

It had been almost a thousand days since the Basel choir ‘Männerstimmen’ met the globally acclaimed composer Eric Whitacre in a Zoom call. Whitacre has been the most sought-after personality on the global choral scene for decades thanks to his ‘virtual choirs’, his famous choral works (‘Lux aurumque’, ‘Sleep’) and his collaboration with film music luminary Hans Zimmer. His links with Switzerland go back to a week's skiing holiday in Wengen in the 1990s and an invitation to the WEF in Davos in 2013, and his third visit should now bring him his concert premiere in Switzerland. The trigger was the new commissioned composition ‘Time is a River’, which Whitacre wrote for the ‘Männerstimmen’ - his first ever work for male choir. The premiere took place on 19 February 2023 in the sold-out Stadtcasino under Whitacre's direction - workshops, singalongs and all main rehearsals took place in the Pauluskirche beforehand.

Eric Whitacre at the Friday rehearsal with six Basel choirs. (Photos courtesy of Pascal Städeli)

The event kicked off on Friday evening with a rehearsal each with the music school's youth choir ‘ATempo!’ and the chamber choir of the boys' and girls' choir, before all six participating choirs met for a tutti rehearsal at the end. In addition to the ‘Männerstimmen’ and the three youth choirs, these included the women's choir ‘Les Voix’ and the vocal ensemble ‘pourChœur’ - choirs that have performed at St Paul's Church of Culture in the recent past.

Eric Whitacre and Basel choir conductors at the workshop organised by the Northwestern Switzerland Choral Conducting Association. (Photos courtesy of Zlatko Mićić)

On Saturday morning, numerous members of the Choral Conducting Association of Northwestern Switzerland (VChN) met for a two-hour workshop in the church, where Whitacre worked with the choir conductors from the region using excerpts from his masterclass programme ‘The Beautiful Mess’ and answered questions on the topics of composition and creativity in detail.

After lunch break, other interested parties joined the group in the afternoon to rehearse and practise three of his pieces under Whitacre's direction in an open singing session. This gave singing enthusiasts from amateur choirs the unique opportunity to get to know and experience the composer directly during rehearsals.

Open singing with Eric Whitacre: a unique opportunity. (Photos courtesy of Zlatko Mićić)

Our general manager David Rossel used the longer break after the intensive first half of the day to give Whitacre a closer look at St Paul's Church during an exclusive tour of the tower. The guest of honour was visibly fascinated not only by the sweeping view of the city, the countryside and the border triangle, but also by the plaster casts of the numerous ornaments on the tower floor. Afterwards, the two received Swiss Radio SRF for an interview about Whitacre's guest performance in the newly refurbished Soussol.

Private tour of the church tower and interview with SRF in the soussol. (Photos courtesy of Zlatko Mićić)

The conclusion and highlight of the two days was the public dress rehearsal of the ‘Männerstimmen’ under Whitacre's direction, to which the members of the association were invited. The news of the sold-out Stadtcasino also spontaneously attracted many more curious people to St Paul's Church. They were not disappointed; after all, there was a private preview of ‘Time is a River’ - the composer's emotional reaction after hearing his work live for the first time and the artistic work on the piece are particularly memorable: Whitacre improved some parts of his composition on the spot and benefited from the great flexibility of the male choir singing from memory.

Public dress rehearsal for club members and spontaneous visitors. (Photos courtesy of Zlatko Mićić)

This brought the greatest highlight of our new choir centre to a close. A return of Eric Whitacre to St Paul's Church - then with his own concerts - is not ruled out in the medium term.

In spring, the Kulturkirche Paulus continues with many concerts and events. The detailed monthly programme for March/April can be downloaded here. We particularly recommend the concert by the male choir ‘Il Polifonico’ on 1 April 2023.

Flyer Monatsprogramm Maerz April 2023.pdf

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