Dear friends,
Thank you for a fantastic season, and a special thank you to the members and board of the Friends' Association for their support at rehearsals and concerts. At DR Kor & Orkestre we are very grateful and happy to have one of Europe's largest friendship organisations firmly planted in our backyard.
We are also proud to look back on a season where the DR Symphony Orchestra, DR Vocal Ensemble, DR KoncertKoret, DR PigeKoret, DR Korskolen and DR Big Band have travelled exceptionally far - both musically and geographically.
First and foremost, we are grateful for the great musical experiences we have had in the company of the many excellent conductors and guest artists who have travelled to Denmark. Our highly competent staff of chief conductors, Fabio Luisi for DRSO, Marcus Creed for DR VokalEnsemblet, Phillip Faber for Pigekoret and Susanne Wendt for Junior- og Børnekoret, together with guest conductors such as Dennis Mackrel with DR Big Band, have led us safely and professionally through the season's countless productions, and we have manifested ourselves as one of Europe's absolute best radio stations when it comes to live music.
It is important to emphasise that everything DR Kor & Orkestre produces is recorded and broadcast to all of Denmark via TV, the internet or radio. The ensembles' anchoring in the media house DR is crucial to our work, and we want to deliver the very highest quality. Every concert must be a little bit better than the last - but we also want to share the music with as many people as possible, and we can only do this through our very close and well-functioning collaboration with DR's media platforms. For example, did you know that last year DR's Choirs & Orchestras participated in more than 500 programmes on DR, either in concerts or as subtitles, web transmissions or other.
Throughout the season, both the distant past and the vibrant present have been at play on the DR Symphony Orchestra's music stands. Among other things, we have celebrated the 200th anniversary of Danish music's godfather Niels W. Gade - and we have also performed two brand new Danish symphonies for the christening. But the Danish National Symphony Orchestra has also taken the pulse of the present - and not least the future - in the form of a series of concerts with music for computer games, TV series, science fiction and space films. It has been wonderful and life-affirming for us to experience a new and enthusiastic audience welcoming the big, symphonic sound with open arms!
DR VokalEnsemblet celebrated its 10th anniversary at the Glyptotek in January with a distinguished programme consisting of great classical choral works and newly written music, an artistic manifestation at an extraordinarily high level. The VocalEnsemble also celebrated the Shakespeare anniversary in Trinitatis Church, and they participated in DR's major programme ”En By Spiller Op” in Struer, as well as the newly launched Northern Choir Conducting Competition in Svendborg.
Together with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, DR KoncertKoret gave us some wonderful musical experiences in Haydn's Nelson Mass with Andras Schiff conducting, a fantastic Verdi Requiem with Fabio Luisi - and then they gave all us choir lovers plenty of musical treats at the concert ”De Skønneste Kor”. Those who love meditation and contemplation could make themselves comfortable in Copenhagen Cathedral and Roskilde Cathedral where KoncertKoret together with DR VokalEnsemblet gave meditation concerts.
In the 2016-17 season, DR Big Band has continued its fine progress. In the 26 working weeks, the band has played more than 50 concerts, and two out of three have been outside Copenhagen. Audiences have been able to experience the band in Frederiksværk, Aarhus, Aalborg, Sorø, Torshavn, Reykjavik, Svendborg, Frederikshavn, Brønderslev, Års, Dronninglund, Holstebro, Sønderborg, Ledreborg, Ebeltoft, Turup, Assens, Askov, Brande, Værløse, Esbjerg, Kolding, Silkeborg, Helsingør, Holbæk, Nyborg, Køge and Vordingborg, in addition to Copenhagen - and not least a series of broadcasts on P8 Jazz.
The DR Big Band is also receiving international attention, most recently through album releases on prestigious labels such as Impuls and Concorde with artists such as crooner Curtis Stigers and drummer Charlie Watts.
Since the start of the 2016-17 season in October, DR Big Band has premiered no less than 15 new works from 13 Danish composers or composers working in Denmark. It's a record we probably won't break anytime soon.
2016 also brought a Danish Music Award Jazz, for the release ”At The Heart of a Selkie”.
DR PigeKoret's major venture this season was the trip to Rio in connection with the Olympic Games. Together with chief conductor Phillip Faber, the choir were excellent representatives, not only of Danish song and DR, but also of official Denmark, where they represented Denmark on a number of occasions together with Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary, among others.
For those who are interested, I attach two short videos where you can follow DR PigeKoret both at their performance on the School Ship in August, but also when they, together with parents and relatives, recently welcomed the School Ship Denmark on the ship's return in May this year. Two touching clips that once again show the choir's enormous importance to Danish song and how song affects and enriches us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPVqz0K_h3M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyYA1aBBzjI
DR PigeKoret also launched a new concert series called ”Your Danish Song”. Here, the Concert Hall is filled with song-loving audiences alongside soloists such as Oh Land, Pernille Rosendal and Lau Højen, the lead singer from the band Carpark North.
Among many other concerts, DR PigeKoret, together with all the wonderful children from Korskolen, filled the Concert Hall four times with their Christmas concerts. The choir school now has 250 children aged 6-16 years in the Spire Choir, Children's Choir and Junior Choir. The choir school has expanded with help from the Augustinus Foundation, and the children have given a number of concerts all over Denmark and in Holmens Church in Copenhagen, where they participated in the Church Ministry's Christmas concert and helped celebrate the liberation of Denmark. Last, but not least, DR BørneKoret played a major role in the School Singing Day in March, where hundreds of thousands of children sang with the choir for almost an hour.
Although we love our unique concert hall and the loyal audience at DR Koncerthuset, it is also important for the Danish National Symphony Orchestra to get out of the box every season, and this year the orchestra has travelled to the other side of the world and the other end of Denmark. In March, we took over the American West Coast with six concerts in five different cities, and last week we travelled with DR Big Band and DR VokalEnsemblet to Struer, where we met music-loving Danes who otherwise only know DR's orchestras and choirs from radio and TV. Here we gathered all the good forces in DR's choirs and orchestras and gave everything we had of music to the small town in North Jutland. The collaboration with the municipality and their many choirs and orchestras was fantastic. Here, DR showed what we can do when music travels together with the media house and in close collaboration with the locals experiences the power of music among people.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a good summer and thank you for your support of DR's choirs and orchestras. It is you, dear friends, who keep us going, season after season, and we sincerely hope to see you all again in the 2017-18 season.
Thank you for this year!
Kim Bohr
Head of DR Choir & Orchestras