北京巴罗克室内合唱团

President: Zheng Xiaoti

Conductor: Wang Linlin

  The Baroque Chamber Chorus of Beijing was founded in 1994, and today has grown to be a group of 32 voices. The choir performs a wide-ranging repertoire that encompasses both western and Chinese choral music. The choir has given first performances in the PRC of works by many celebrated western composers, including Handel, Haydn and Stravinsky. In addition to madrigals and masses, the choir’s repertoire also includes lighter Western music, such as arrangements of Cole Porter and Kurt Weill. The Baroque Chamber Chorus is one of the very few choirs in China that sings all of its repertoire in the original language.
  The Baroque Chamber Chorus performs at Beijing’s premier concert venues, including the Beijing Concert Hall, the Forbidden City Concert Hall, the Beijing Library Concert Hall and the Jinfan Concert Hall. In 1999, the choir was engaged for a series of four concerts entitled 500 Years of Choral Music. This series included Faure’s Requiem, Handel’s Coronation Anthems, a celebration of 100 years of Chinese choral music, and a carol concert on Christmas Eve. This series was so well received that the choir was also invited give concert hall’s prestigious new year’s eve midnight concert to sing in the year 2000. In May 2000, the choir went on tour to Sichuan Province. As part of its 2000 concert plan, the choir performed concerts in the Beijing Concert Hall’s Stairway to Music series and the Christmas Eve concert at in Beijing’s prestigious Century Theatre, and gave the PRC first performances of Bach’s Cantata No. 79 and Haydn’s Nelson Mass. In 2002, the choir took part in the 5th Beijing Music Festival, to give the PRC premiers of Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms and the 40 part motet Spem In Alium by Thomas Tallis. The Baroque Chamber Chorus ended its 2002 season by giving the PRC premier of The Pilgrim, a concert mass by Norwegian composer Siegvald Tveit, in conjunction with the National Film Symphony Orchestra of China.
  The Baroque Chamber Chorus is unique in China its focus on, and pursuit of an authentic performance style for, early European repertoire. The group’s programs frequently feature English and Italian secular madrigals as well as a range of sacred music, and have included first PRC performances by a Chinese choir of motets by Palestrina. Since 1997, the choir’s work has attracted wide media attention, and the group has been featured in numerous television and radio programs that have been broadcast on Star TV, CCTV, Beijing TV, China Radio International and Beijing local radio.
  The choir has become well-known throughout China for its pioneering work in introducing new European repertoire, and has been highly acclaimed by organizations such as the China Choral Association and composers including the late Li Huanzhi, former president of the China Musicians Association, for its efforts in this regard. As part of its long-term aim of helping to establish a truly Chinese choral style within the world tradition, the Baroque Chamber Chorus has also gained a reputation for its experiments in applying the European style of choral singing to Chinese choral music. This new approach has been supported and encouraged by many distinguished choral conductors including Wu Lingfen, who has described the choir’s work as “an important step in China’s reaching out to the world and finding a place within the choral tradition as an equal partner”.
  The choir also collaborates with European groups visiting China. As part of its activities in 2001, the Baroque Chamber Chorus joined forces for a joint concert with the English Concert Singers directed by Roy Wales for one of the Beijing Concert Hall’s most successful 2001 summer series concerts.
  As part of its plans for 2003, the Baroque Chamber Chorus intends to produce a cd of Chinese choral music and to give PRC first performances of unaccompanied renaissance and 20th century choral music.
The Baroque Chamber Chorus maintains international links by admitting both Chinese and non-Chinese members. The group is affiliated with the Chinese People’s Friendship Association.