MOGENS DAHL CHAMBER CHOIR

Classical choir with fixed workflows and proven concepts? Think again. Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir is a unique international choral project, which both artistically and organizationally breaks with the usual. Conductor Mogens Dahl has strived to create a flexible ensemble that dares and can tread new paths in the world of vocal music. A blend of 40 young singers from around the world forms the backbone of the choir, which from the very beginning in 2005 has caused a great stir with its innovative concert, festival, and CD projects. Collaborators such as the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Brooklyn Rider and Athelas Sinfonietta testify to the ensemble’s artistic range and international outlook. Based on the Nordic a cappella tradition, Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir has sought to break the usual repertoire boundaries of classical vocal music. Why do the Nordic region’s leading composers love to write new music for the ensemble? One reason may be that the choir on its international tours to Berlin, Halle, Stockholm, Bergen, Reykjavik, Tallinn, and Riga, among others, has been able to demonstrate its delicate grip on contemporary vocal art. For example, Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir premiered Nordic Mass by Sven-David Sandström at the Bergen Festival in 2014, in 2015 it was the world premiere of the same composer’s ‘The Passion of St. John’ at the Konzerthaus Berlin. And most recently in 2021, we premiered the last work from his hand ‘Sonnets of Darkness and Love’. A work written and dedicated to the choir and Nils Landgren, who was both vocal and trombone soloist in the work. But surely there is no audience for classical choral music today? The choir break another prejudice here: Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir, which in an international context has collaborated with Anna Netrebko, has more and more enthusiastic followers from all over the world with its extensive presence on digital media. In Denmark, the choir also has the Royal Family’s attention and participated in the Queen’s official visit to Zagreb, Croatia. Future projects include exciting international tours, just as more CD releases are on the way.

MOGENS DAHL, CONDUCTOR

Mogens Dahl is the conductor and founder of the Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir, which he has developed into one of Scandinavia’s leading vocal ensembles today. He graduated from the Department of Musicology in Aarhus and from the Royal Academy of Music supplemented by studies with Eric Ericson and Jorma Panula, among others, and he has been an associate professor for several years at the Conservatory in Aarhus and at Aalborg University. From 1991 to 2003 he was Singing Master at the Royal Danish Opera. A large number of Mogens Dahl’s groundbreaking projects are based on newly written works dedicated to Mogens Dahl and the Chamber Choir by, among others, leading composers in Scandinavia. Mogens Dahl’s visionary work with Nordic vocal music has led to sensational collaborations with composers and musicians across familiar genre divides. Fourth year in a row, Mogens Dahl conducted the London ensemble Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in connection with Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir’s annual Messiah concerts in Holmens Church, Copenhagen. In the spring of 2019, the chamber choir conducted a successful tour of the Baltic States with Brahms’ Requiem.

SØREN JOHANNSEN, ORGANIST

Søren Johannsen graduated as an organist in 1992 from the Royal Danish Academy of Music. The following year he was admitted to the soloist class in the same place and had his debut concert in Helligåndskirken, Copenhagen in 1995. With the classical organ repertoire, Søren Johannsen has given many concerts in Denmark and abroad. He has, among other things, performed J. S. Bach’s collected organ works four times in concert series. In 2003 he was employed as organist at Frederiksberg Slotskirke and in 2007 as organist in Christians Kirke in Copenhagen.

Photo: Mads Dobel