The Justice

A WHIRLWIND TOUR: The chorus was able to explore German cities at night. Above, a live performance at Hofbrauhaus, a famous beer hall in Germany.

Inside the Salzburg Dom, the 17th-century cathedral where Mozart was baptized and performed on the organ almost 250 years ago, the University Chorus sang amidst passers-by and tourists one February afternoon.

"Performing music in the churches that it was written for is a surreal experience. It makes what you are doing musically authentic," Nicholas Brown '10 said.

Twenty-seven members of the Brandeis University Chorus, two Brandeis parents and two Brandeis students unaffilliated with the chorus attended an eight-day tour of Austria and Germany over February vacation. The group was led by choral director James Olesen, who also conducted nearly all of the performances.

The Arts Council at the Office of the Arts and the Brandeis music department funded the weeklong trip, which was facilitated by Music Celebrations International, a tour company based in Tempe, Ariz. that provides performance groups with international venues.

The tour included recitals at Frauenkirche, the Dachau concentration camp, St. Michael's Church, Wieskirche, Mirabell Palace and Salzburg Dom, where Leopold and Wolfgang Mozart once performed.

The chorus performed in a variety of languages, including Hebrew, Latin and German, and sang some American folk songs. Most pieces were informally performed a cappella.

The music was a way of commemorating and "reflecting," Brown said. One of the goals for this trip "was to work towards building a global community from Brandeis by using music as a tool," he said.

On a trip rich with historical concert locations, the chorus also found some more impromptu singing venues.

The chorus gave performances at airports and repeatedly sang "Edelweiss," the show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music, while touring through the city of Salzburg.

Other musical performances were more emotionally and spiritually meaningful. At Dachau, the chorus formed a semicircle and sang the psalm setting,"Elohim Hashivenu" outside of a large monument commemorating the Holocaust.

The majestic beauty of the European landscape the chorus toured enhanced the thrill of performing for international audiences in historic locations.

Continued...

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