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The Ensembles of Bonn University

From classical music to jazz and pop, from a cappella singing to slide trumpet: you will find here a broad musical spectrum in which students of Bonn University, as well as alumni, staff and lecturers can make music to their heart's content. At the start of each semester the ensembles generally offer open rehearsals to which all interested parties are cordially invited. After that, rehearsals are held weekly with permanent members. At the end of the rehearsal period the ensembles finally present themselves at concerts to the public.

 

Please find information about the individual ensembles at the bottom of this page. If you are interested, feel free to contact them directly. New members are usually accepted only after an audition at the beginning of the semester.

Instrumental Music

The university of Bonn hosts four major symphony orchestras. This not only surpasses most other German universities, it also offers an enormous number of musicians a place at the music stand. The orchestras all play mainly classical works, including symphonies, solo concertos and even an occasional opera. Unfortunately, even with so many orchestras the woodwind/brass positions are particularly limited. However, all ensembles are trying to admit as many interested players as possible – sometimes with the help of rotation schedules.

 

Our big band is responsible for the (instrumental) jazz at the university. It performs quite regularly on a wide variety of occasions and "rocks" the stage with a broad and exciting repertoire that ranges from classical swing à la Count Basie to more modern pieces.

 

More detailed information is available below.

 

Violinen Camerata Musicale
© GalNet
Eine Wissenschaftlerin und ein Wissenschaftler arbeiten hinter einer Glasfassade und mischen Chemikalien mit Großgeräten.
© Nele Walter

Vocal Music

In addition to the numerous orchestras, the university features a similar number of choirs. Apart from the "large" choir of the Collegium Musicum, which mainly devotes itself to oratorical works, there are two smaller choirs that mostly perform classical a cappella works.

 

The spectrum of vocal music at the university of Bonn also comprises a jazz ensemble – the Bonn university jazz choir. Not only does this choir regularly win prizes at competitions, it is also a highlight of every concert season.

 

It is thanks to this colorful mix of ambitioned, music-loving ensembles that the public gets to enjoy incredibly awesome and multi-faceted concerts at the end of each semester. You are cordially invited to either participate yourself or to experience and enjoy the various concerts as part of the audience.


Ensembles - Instrumentalmusik

Since its foundation in 2002, the big band is led by Bonn jazz trombonist Oliver Pospiech and has become a figurehead of the university of Bonn. The band regularly performs at the graduation ceremony in the Hofgarten as well as at other university events. It has also played concerts with jazz greats such as professor Jiggs Wigham and collaborates with the Deutscher Musikrat (German music council). CD productions such as a jazz version of Mozart's Requiem (2006) and concert tours complete their broad spectrum. In 2011 the big band won the first prize at the Deutscher Orchesterwettbewerb (German orchestra competition).

The big band is also on Facebook

Bigband.jpg
© Bigband

Campus Brass is the brass ensemble of the University of Bonn. Founded in 2015 by the artistic director of the Forum Musik, it develops a wide range of literature for brass ensemble and performs it on a variety of occasions.

Project: Organizing various university and concert events with the chamber orchestra

Rehearsals: By arrangement and registration at jritter@uni-bonn.de

Conductor: Jörg Ritter

More than 60 music enthusiasts from all faculties – that is the hofgartenORCHESTER!

As a student symphony orchestra at the university of Bonn the musicians, together with conductor David Scharmacher, work out a varied program every semester, ranging from baroque to modern. They are constantly trying out new formats, whether in chamber music instrumentation or as a large symphony orchestra with choral singing. The highlight of the musical work is the rehearsal weekend held outside of Bonn toward the end of each semester, as well as the traditional end-of-semester concerts. Particularly exciting was the rendering of the fairy-tale opera Hansel and Gretel by E. Humperdinck in the winter semester 2019/2020, which the orchestra performed together with vocal soloists from the Cologne University of Music and Dance.

 

Since 2011 the orchestra has been a member of the Bundesverband Deutscher Liebhaberorchester (Federal Association of German Amateur Orchestras, BDLO), which promotes selected orchestral activities, and since 2018, a member of the Forum Musik of the university of Bonn.

New members are welcome – even without an audition.

Click here 1to visit the website of the HofgartenOrchester. It is also on Instagram. Instagram  2and Facebook3 .

HGO Bild.JPG
© Christian Kulmer
Kammerorchester Logo.PNG
© Kammerorchester an der Universität Bonn

The chamber orchestra of the University of Bonn performs exciting projects with works from the 17th to 21st century in various instrumentations. Rehearsals take place by arrangement. Suggestions for works are very welcome.

Conductor: UMD Jörg Ritter (jritter@uni-bonn.de)

 The orchestra of the Collegium musicum Bonn provides students with the opportunity to devote themselves intensively to symphonic music in their free time. Each semester, works from different epochs are being produced, which are later presented to a wide audience at the end-of-semester concerts. The weekly rehearsals as well as the rehearsal weekends, which take place up to two times per semester, enrich not only the members' musical experience but also their sense of community.

The Collegium musicum Bonn was founded in 1953 by Prof. Dr. Emil Platen. The orchestra's history is marked by numerous performances in Germany and abroad, including tours to South Korea, Cyprus, Cairo and London.

Click here [LINK] to visit the orchestra's website. It is also present on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

Click here4. It is also present on YouTube55, Instagram 2und Facebook .3

2023.07.12-80 komprimiert.jpg
© Viktor Rubow*
Camerata Musicale.jpg
© Camerata Musicale

The Camerata musicale was founded in 1969 as a chamber orchestra and is today the largest student symphony orchestra among the numerous ensembles at the university of Bonn. Together with conductor Martin Kirchharz the orchestra organizes closing concerts at the end of each semester. The students decide democratically on the main work and in recent years have regularly chosen and performed great romantic pieces.

Click here 6to visit the website of the Camerata musicale. The orchestra is also on YouTube7, Instagram8 and Facebook.9

Feature Kammermusik (chamber music) was created in the summer of 2019 as a new concert format within the Forum Musik, in order to give students of the university of Bonn the opportunity to present chamber music works to an audience in the university museum as an ensemble or solo.

 

Logo Feature Kammermusik weiß.jpg
© Jörg Ritter

The academic orchestra was founded in 1985 as an alumni orchestra and rehearses with varying conductors.

Click here 10to visit the website of the Academic orchestra.

Further questions?

Do you have any further questions about our ensembles? Then please feel free to contact us directly per email.

musik@uni-bonn.de

Ensembles - Vokalmusik

The choir of the Collegium musicum Bonn consists of approximately 120 active members, most of which are students. Under the direction of Ansgar Eimann it enthusiastically devotes itself to choral music that is rich in variety and diversity. In addition to a cappella programs, the main focus lies on oratorio works, which are often performed in collaboration with the symphony orchestra of the Collegium musicum Bonn or the Academic orchestra and, if need be, with the support of professional soloists.

Committed choir singers are welcome at the beginning of each semester!

Click here 11to visit the choir's website. It is also on Instagram12 and Facebook.13

Collegium Musicum Chor.jpg
© Chor des Collegium Musicum
IMG_5032.jpeg
© Härtel

Since 1995, the jazz choir of the university of Bonn has become a veritable fixture in the musical landscape of the buildings around the Hofgarten and beyond. By now, the choir has been able to make a name for itself both nationally and internationally. Since 2012, the formative figure of the choir's rehearsal work has been Jan-Hendrik Herrmann, who has since become indispensable as its director and arranger. Notwithstanding its name, the choir regularly tries out musical genres other than jazz. There is no doubt that jazz is the singers' heart and soul – whether they are lightly swinging, singing close harmonies, being accompanied by the piano, or in the uncompromising brusqueness of an a cappella performance. However, they are not willing to and cannot leave any genre out – and so they sing with passion whatever they like.

The jazz choir usually presents what it has worked on in rehearsals in three closing concerts during the last weeks of the semester.

The choir's special moments can be viewed on its homepage Homepage14  It is also present on  YouTube15, Instagram16 und Facebook.17

Since 2011 the chamber choir at the university of Bonn has been working out demanding choir works from the renaissance to the present, with a special focus on international a cappella literature. In contrast to the other ensembles the choir rehearses during semester breaks. Concert tours have taken the choir to Padua/Venice (2012), Paris (2013) and most recently to Oxford (2015).

Click here 18to visit the website of the Kammerchor. It is also on Facebook.19

Kammerchor.jpg
© Kammerchor

Bring some action to your lunch break by making music together! For all university staff members who fancy and enjoy singing together during the lunch break. The offer of the VocalCluster is organized in cooperation with human resource development, Mrs. Susanne Brandt (Tel. 73-4951). The repertoire is diverse, but mainly draws on gospel and jazz singing.

Date: Tuesdays, 12:15 – 13:00 hrs.

Location: Rehearsal room, Am Hof 7

Direction: UMD Jörg Ritter (registration under: jritter@uni-bonn.de)

The vocal ensemble of the Collegium musicum Bonn originated from the choir of the Collegium musicum in the summer semester of 2017 und consists of about 30 dedicated singers. Each semester a distinct a cappella project is prepared under the direction of Ansgar Eimann. In the winter semester of 2017/2018, for example, the Vokalensemble organized an Advent concert in aid of the initiative for refugees Bonn (Initiative für Flüchtlinge, IfF). In the summer semester of 2019 it went on a concert tour to Luxemburg.

In order to stay connected in spite of the pandemic, a small online singing project was established in addition to the online rehearsals, which was a matter very close to the singers' hearts. It can be viewed here20.  In this way, they were able to sing together across borders, even in times of a global crisis, when frontiers in some places were being controlled again.

Click here21  to visit the website of the vocal ensemble. The choir is also on Instagram12 and Facebook.22

Vokalensemble CmB.jpg
© Vokalensemble des Collegium Musicum

Further questions?

Do you have any further questions about our ensembles? Then please feel free to contact us directly per email.

musik@uni-bonn.de


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