Vienna Boys Choir boss on girls choir plan claims
By Thomas Hochwarter
Gerald Wirth on rumours and facts.
Director speaks out on Augarten building controversy.
Vienna. Wiener Schnitzel, skiing, Mozart - and the Vienna Boys Choir. The capital’s institution fits perfectly in this list of Austrian "trademarks”. Founded more than 500 years ago, the choir is today one of the country’s most reliable marketing warhorses.
Gerald Wirth, the Vienna Boys Choir’s creative director, spoke to News on Austria about the ongoing building controversy at the Augarten park and recruiting trouble rumours which allegedly made bosses consider accepting girls in the near future.
It has been reported that the Vienna Boys Choir could soon change its pri- orities and open up to girls. But Gerald Wirth - who was a member of the famous choir himself - said interest in joining the choir among boys was still strong enough not to warrant such a move. "There are many boys interested in becoming a member of our four touring choirs, so we can still send those away who do not match criteria in test phases. Many simply have little experience in the artistic area. This is also because there is less music- making and singing going on in families these days.”
What few people know is that girls have been taught at the institution’s primary school since 1998. But des- pite this change of princi- ples, Wirth is convinced the Vienna Boys Choir will never become mixed.
"The decision to educate boys and girls together ma- de sense from a co-educa- tive point of view," the father of six explained, adding: "We regarded this as a natural process and a good thing. But the girls will never join our touring choirs. One reason is that most of our repertoire is meant to be performed by boys’ voices. Another one is that most pre-adolescent boys prefer to stay among themselves. They want to play football and get rid of their energy. This is one of the reasons many mixed choirs in Vienna eventually become girls choirs.”
A little known aspect of the choir’s activities are its many projects with schools, many of them focusing on campaigning for better integration of foreigners.
"I think we have a lot of responsibility in our double function as an education and cultural institution,” Wirth said, adding: "We are not a isolated island of high culture but carry out many projects trying to encourage and promote integration and language learning."
These projects, as well as choir performances, will soon have a new venue with a concert hall due to be opened in 2011. But the project has been hit by controversy since the choir got the go ahead from authorities to build it on a 1,000-square-metre site in the Augarten. There have been claims that hundreds of trees will have to be cut down though and the Vien- na Greens have teamed up with environmental acti- vists and a committee of re- sidents to campaign against the construction. Only a few weeks ago, protesters were evicted by a private security firm after occupying the site for months. Green poli- ticians are to launch legal action while campaigners have pledged they will not give up their fight.
Wirth, 44, said: "I have to say I think these groups tried to deliberately spread wrong information. What few people know is that these 1,000 square metres were declared a construc- tion site ten or 15 years ago and that the site has been used as a parking lot since then.”
Wirth became the choir’s creative director eight years ago after returning from an assignment in Calgary, Canada and is responsible for various administrational aspects but also for con- tents of the boys’ musical education. An important part of his tasks is arran- ging the touring schedule for the four choirs of 25 boys each.
"I determine the number of journeys and concerts. It is a great responsibility as I have to consider off-days and keep in mind how many performances are reasonable,” the 44-year-old said. Speaking about fears the boys could be worn out by their intensive touring which takes them all around the globe, he said: "The boys always look for- ward to going on tour. They enjoy the experience and representing Austria.”
Full article on austriantimes.at
Printausgabe vom 13.11.2009
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