Musical Bond Beyond Borders
Just before the Easter holidays, we were thrilled to welcome 58 young singers from the Kieler Knabenchor to Trinity School for the next part of the choirs’ musical collaboration. The boys first sang together back in September 2024, when they gave two concerts in the northern German city.
There was a packed schedule for the UK trip, and Mr Mulroy, our Choir Director, reports on the special visit:
“Musically and socially, partnering with Kieler Knabenchor has been a tremendously positive experience – with wonderful performances given and firm friendships cemented – although it is always sad to report that Germany, several times, again underlined its traditional sporting superiority…!
The UK leg of the collaboration involved joint concerts in London and Coventry, as well as a farewell evensong at St Michael’s, Croydon, followed by a barbeque, at which many of our German colleagues took a swift turn for the Würst(!).
Performing JS Bach’s masterpiece
The main musical experience for the students was four performances of JS Bach’s St Matthew Passion, a monumental setting of the narrative around Christ’s capture, trial and death, and a very apt piece for the Easter season, as well as one of the masterpieces of Western music. We sang in Southwark Cathedral and Coventry Cathedral. In the latter, it was particularly unforgettable to sing this piece – which is partly about finding hope and love and joy in the ruins of human behaviour – in a building which so visibly attempts the same task.
All in all, 110 young people sang this piece, with admirable commitment and dramatic and musical skill, to very enthusiastic and prolonged applause in each venue. There was some stellar solo work by Leo, Nadya, Michael, Ben, Sebastian, Oliver, Josh, Alex, Xavi, and it was great to hear Ms Fuge, Ms Gill and Mr Herman-Wilson demonstrating their artistry, and to welcome back Seb Hill, a Trinity alumnus now making spectacular progress as a professional tenor.
Building musical friendships
After the UK leg of the project, 36 Trinity boys travelled to Kiel for the return fixture, guided with what was apparently termed ‘saintly patience and disarming good looks’ by the lavishly experienced team of Messrs Swinson, Brookman, Mulroy, Timm and Coma. We gave performances in Lübeck (Bach once walked the 220 km there from his home in Leipzig!) and Kiel, to sold-out audiences. Having sung with some of Britain’s finest orchestral players of this music, it was then wonderful to hear a German orchestra play this music, and to sing this piece to a German audience, for whom this music is such a central part of their cultural and spiritual heritage.
The students who took part in this project grew to know and love this amazing music (many of them still singing it around the school for weeks after), to make and renew friendships with their Kiel colleagues, and also to understand that music is a gift that transcends boundaries of geography and language.
For my part, I was deeply moved and encouraged by the sight and sound of so many of our students giving their all, to music that is profoundly challenging and ambitious, but also (almost exactly 300 years after its composition) timelessly relevant and important.”
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