A choir is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which spans from the medieval era to the present, or popular music repertoire. Most choirs are led by a conductor, who leads the performances with arm, hand, and facial gestures.
Leevi Antti Madetoja was a Finnish composer, music critic, conductor, and teacher of the late-Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely recognized as one of the most significant Finnish contemporaries of Jean Sibelius, under whom he studied privately from 1908 to 1910.
Selim Gustaf Adolf Palmgren was a Finnish composer, pianist, and conductor. Palmgren was born in Pori, Finland, February 16, 1878. He studied at the Conservatory in Helsinki from 1895 to 1899, then continued his piano studies in Berlin with Ansorge, Berger and Busoni. He conducted choral and orchestral societies in his own country and made several very successful concert tours as a pianist in the principal cities of Finland and Scandinavia, appearing also as a visiting conductor. In 1921, he went to the United States, where he taught composition at the Eastman School of Music, later returning to Finland, where he died in Helsinki, aged 73. Palmgren was married to the opera singer Maikki Järnefelt.
London Gay Men's Chorus is a gay choir that was founded in 1991 by a group of nine gay men. The group now has around 150 singing members at any one time and almost 300 members in total.
Kullervo, Op. 7, is a five-movement symphonic work for soprano, baritone, male choir, and orchestra written from 1891–1892 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Movements I, II, and IV are instrumental, whereas III and V feature sung text from Runos XXXV–VI of the Kalevala, Finland's national epic. The piece tells the story of the tragic hero Kullervo, with each movement depicting an episode from his ill-fated life: first, an introduction that establishes the psychology of the titular character; second, a haunting "lullaby with variations" that portrays his unhappy childhood; third, a dramatic dialogue between soloists and chorus in which the hero unknowingly seduces his long-lost sister; fourth, a lively scherzo in which Kullervo seeks redemption on the battlefield; and fifth, a funereal choral finale in which he returns to the spot of his incestuous crime and, guilt-ridden, takes his life by falling on his sword.
The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Helsinki, Finland. Founded in 1882 by Robert Kajanus, the Philharmonic Orchestra was the first permanent orchestra in the Nordic countries. Today, its primary concert venue is the Helsinki Music Centre; the current chief conductor is Susanna Mälkki, who has held her post since 2016.
Los Angeles Children's Chorus (LACC) is a children's choral youth organization based in Los Angeles. LACC has appeared in more than 300 performances with such organizations as the Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.
Helsinki Academic Male Choir KYL, founded in 1949, is an academic male choir from Helsinki, Finland. The choir is associated closely with Aalto University School of Business, consisting mainly of students and alumni of the university.
A men's chorus or male voice choir (MVC), is a choir consisting of men who sing with either a tenor or bass voice, and whose music is typically arranged into high and low tenors, and high and low basses —and shortened to the letters TTBB. The term can also refer to a piece of music which is performed by such a choir.
The Academic Male Voice Choir of Helsinki, abbreviated AS, colloquially also known as Akademen, is a Finland-Swedish academic male-voice choir in Helsinki, Finland. The choir was founded in 1838 by Fredrik Pacius and is the oldest extant choir in Finland. It is one of two male-voice choirs affiliated with the University of Helsinki, the other being the oldest extant Finnish-language choir, the YL Male Voice Choir. Furthermore, it is one of two Swedish-language choirs affiliated with the University of Helsinki, the other being the Academic Female Voice Choir Lyran.
The Pacific International Children's Choir Festival (PICCFEST) was established in 1998 as a week-long residential event and quickly became regarded as one of the top treble choir festivals in North America. The festival's co-founder and Artistic Director is Peter Robb, a composer and arranger of choral music as well as a conductor. The other co-founders are Genevieve Robb and Rebecca Robb Hicks. The gathering takes place each year in Eugene, Oregon, United States, in conjunction with the long-established Oregon Bach Festival.
Viipurin Lauluveikot is a Finnish male choir that was founded in Viipuri in 1897 and is one of the oldest men's choirs still active in Finland. After the Second World War, the choir moved from Viipuri to Helsinki because Viipuri had been ceded to the Soviet Union.
The City of Bath Male Choir is a male voice choir from Bath, Somerset. They came to national prominence in the United Kingdom after finishing 5th in the BBC television show Last Choir Standing during July and August 2008. They have since performed with many other choirs, bands and celebrities in the UK and overseas, and have participated significantly in charity fundraising projects.
Cantores Minores is a choir of the Helsinki Cathedral, and Finland's oldest and most successful boys' choir. The patron of the choir is the President of Finland. The choir consists of around three hundred 4- to 25-year-old boys and young men.
Michael Ostrzyga is a German Composer and Conductor based in Cologne. He is known for his choral music in particular, being commissioned by festivals like the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival and performers like The Chamber Choir of Asia, the Finnish YL Male Voice Choir, the Vienna Chamber Choir, Latvian Youth Choir "Kamēr..." and Chamber Choir Consono, among others. His works are performed by ensembles like the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet, New Dublin Voices, the Australian Chamber Choir, Rheinisches Klavierduo, Swedish choirs Kammarkören Pro Musica and Allmänna Sången Neues Rheinisches Kammerorchester, The Choral Project (California) and SFA A Cappella Choir (Texas).
Kari Antero Turunen, is a Finnish artistic director, choral conductor, ensemble tenor, and music scholar and lecturer.
Jutta Seppinen is a Finnish conductor and mezzo-soprano.
The Tapiola Choir is a children's choir from Espoo, Finland. The choir was founded in 1963 by Erkki Pohjola. Pohjola led the choir from its formation until 1994 and cultivated a pedagogical style based on the teachings of Zoltan Kodály and Carl Orff. During Pohjola's tenure as artistic director the choir undertook some fifty tours of the USA, Japan and the USSR among other countries. In 1994 the director's post was taken over by Kari Ala-Pöllänen and in 2008 by Pasi Hyökki.
