When a children’s choir gives itself a gift

Question: the first choir rehearsal in 1999 – what do you still remember??

Uwe ungerer: mainly because i was very excited. I had already been directing choruses since 1991, and I was no longer an unknown quantity in mainstockheim, but I had never had anything to do with a children’s choir under the umbrella of a club before then.

How many choristers have there been since then in total?

Ungerer: approximately around 300 singers. The fluctuation was very high every year. In the youth choir there are currently some young adults who have been in the choir for over 13 years. The singers of the rainbow kids and the children’s choir weren’t even born then.

What is the current number of participants??

Ungerer: the choir has about 80 active members at the moment. With the youngest, the rainbow kids, there are about 20 singers, in the children’s choir and in the youth choir there are about 30 singers each.

There is already a second generation in the choir, i.E. Children of the original members?

Ungerer: there are already quite a few alumni who are married and have children. But I think these children are still a little too small. I would be very happy if one day parents would bring their children into the choir who have already sung in it themselves.

The best age to start choral singing?

Ungerer: singing in a choir can be compared to school: several people gather, one person stands in front and teaches something, the students have to pay attention and concentrate for a certain period of time. This is probably most possible when you enter elementary school. Also the voice starts to develop slowly at this age.

How do you realize that you have talent??

Ungerer: advice to parents: keep your ears open and observe the child.

How rough is the coming and going of a youth choir??

Ungerer: because of the fluctuation as well as the physical development of the children and teenagers, i face a completely new choir every two years.

Your favorite choir?

Ungerer: i am biased, because as a former singer of the windsbacher boys choir during my school years, it is definitely my favorite choir.

What excites you about choirs?

Ungerer: the unbelievable variety, the possibilities in the design, the choice of songs. Of course, that too with each other. With a choir, the sound comes directly, very directly from the performer and to the listener.

How did it come to the foundation?

Ungerer: in mainstockheim, i have been directing the male voice choir of the sangesfreunde since 1996. Some of the choir members, especially in the mixed choir, still had very young children at that time and had the wish that after a long time we should try again to start a children’s choir in mainstockheim.

I became the conductor…

Ungerer: 1991 – shortly after graduation.

Choral music inspires me because…

Ungerer: …There is fascinating choral literature in all genres. Not to mention the many different choir formations. From small a capella groups such as viva voce to the large-scale radio choirs and cantorries.

How did the musicals come about?

Ungerer: the idea of performing a musical with the children at some point in the future was there from the very beginning. The only question was, in what rough order should we move?. At the end of 2000 the time had come. We decided to take the risk and perform a musical in the fall of 2001 in the newly built gymnasium in mainstockheim. We have certainly set standards in the entire club landscape.

How much time does it take to a) write a musical and b) record it??

Ungerer: it takes the longest time to think up the story. Writing lyrics and inventing melodies is relatively quick for me, but then naturally comes the elaboration, the arranging, and even the layout of the sheet music. For the current musical "hotel happiness, it took me about four months to rehearse the choir, which we had just started. In january, we started with the stucco, but it wasn’t even finished yet. We now have three quarters of a year to type the entire text of the novel.

This is how we celebrate the anniversary…

Ungerer: the whole year we have so much to do with the preparations for the musical that we will fully concentrate on this project. With the four performances of our musical "hotel happiness" in the all saints’ vacations 2019 we will celebrate our jubilee in style.