The choir was founded in 1957 by Arne Bertelsen, the well-known former organist at the Messiah Church, and from 1983-2003 the next organist, Ib Bindel, conducted the choir. In 2002 the choir celebrated its 45th anniversary. From July 2003 the choir has been taken over by the new organist Krisztina Vas Nørbæk.
Colloquially we are called MKK, an abbreviation of our present name, and from the beginning we have been attached to the Messiah Church in Copenhagen. The choir has approximately 60 members.
Repertoire
"MKK"
is a mixed choir with a large repertoire,
mostly of church music. Since the foundation of the choir we have sung
Handel's "Messiah" every year, now every two years, before Christmas, and before
Easter we also perform a large oratorio by e.g. Bach, Schubert, Brahms a.o.
with soloists and professional musicians
from the Danish Radio.
About 3 or 4 times a year the choir participates at traditional music services and at special services where a large choir is desirable. Every year in June the municipality celebrates a cultural week where we give a concert presenting the summer-tour programme to our local community.
In May 2001 we gave 3 performances of a new cantata, "Hymn to Sofia", with contemporary music by the American jazz musician, John Tchicai, and words by Kristian Høeg, the present pastor of the Messiah Church. This new church music was highly praised in newspapers, radio, and television. We performed "Hymn to Sofia" again in 2005.
Recordings
The choir has made a record of old and new
church music, and with the company EMI
Classics the choir has recorded a CD with
the composer Frederik Magle's contemporary Christmas Cantata, "A
Newborn Child before Eternity God", for extended choir, children's
choir, soloists, brass band, and organ. The cantata was composed to
celebrate Copenhagen as the Cultural City
of the European Union in 1996. It was
recorded at the Messiah Church in October 1997. In 2001 Handel's "Messiah"
was recorded at a live concert.
Concert
Tours
Almost
every year the choir makes a concert tour in Denmark or abroad - often on
invitation. We have given concerts in many towns and cities in: Norway,
Sweden, Finland, England, Scotland, Holland, Austria, Germany, the Czech
Republic, Russia, Italy, Spain, Gran Canaria, and Mallorca. In 2002 we
went on a concert tour to the "Bach towns" of Germany, and in
2003 we visited England and Wales. In 2005 we went to Hungary, in 2009
to Austria, and in 2011 to Scotland.
Contact
If you
wish to contact the choir, you are welcome to mail:
hjkaat@fasttvnet.dk
Concert
Calender 2011-12
The Messiah Church
Concert with soloists
