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Connected Culture Carleton Music Choral Masterclass Series – Nicol Matt
January 20, 2021 at 12:00 PM
| Audience: | Anyone |
| Key Contact: | Deanna Singh |
| Contact Email: | Deanna.Singh@carleton.ca |
Join us for the Connected Culture Carleton Music Choral Masterclass featuring Nicol Matt – Chamber Choir of Europe.
Topic: Rehearsing and interpreting German Romantic Works by Brahms, Mendelssohn, Reger
Nicol Matt, one of Germany’s few new generation conductors enjoying an international reputation, was born in 1970 in the Black Forest region of Germany. He studied Lutheran church music, conducting, vocal coaching, score playing, piano and singing at the music academies of Stuttgart, Trossingen and Strasbourg.
He is the founder and conductor of the Chamber Choir of Europe and the World Choir for Peace. Since November 2019, he has taken on the role of Artistic Director of the Hanover Chamber Choir. For many years he successfully directed the Amadeus Choir.
Almost one hundred CDs with recordings of highly demanding vocal, orchestral and instrumental works document his sophistication as an artist, these include recordings with renowned labels such as Deutsche Grammophon, Sony Classical, Hänssler Classic, Berlin Classics, Brilliant Classics, ARS-Produktion, Bayer-Records und Dabringhaus und Grimm. Worldwide sales of over eight million CDs testify to the demand for his highly regarded and award-winning interpretations.
He regularly receives invitations to perform at established concert series such as the Rheingau Music Festival, the SWR Festival, the MDR Musical Summer in Germany, and in many other countries.
As producer Nicol Matt developed and initiated many new projects for the international TV and music industry, to support choirs and a cappella singing worldwide. Since 2017, he has been artistic director of the new TV format Eurovision Choir, an international TV competition to find Europe’s best choir. The format was broadcast live on 22nd July 2017, to a total of 12 European countries and was organized by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in cooperation with INTERKULTUR and the European Choir Games. The second edition took place on 3rd August 2019 in Gothenburg (Sweden) and was successfully broadcast live on television in 11 European countries. In November 2018, together with the “World Orchestra for Peace” and his newly founded choir “World Choir for Peace” of 2,000 singers from over 30 countries and composer Sir Karl Jenkins, he created a monumental concert for peace for the TV broadcasting channel ARTE which was performed in Berlin.
As lecturer and judge he is regularly invited to international choir competitions, festivals and universities, to teach during workshops and masterclasses for conductors and singers around the globe.
Nicol Matt has directed numerous world premieres of contemporary music and recorded many works on CD. He also has active partnerships with contemporary composers from countries such as Germany, England, Norway, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden and the United States – including Morten Lauridsen, Sir Karl Jenkins, Bob Chilcott, John Rutter, Ola Gjeilo, Eric Whitacre, Maarja Nuut, Kim Andre Arnesen, Volker Bertelmann and David Reichelt. In 2012, he received the CARA Music Award in the USA for the best interpretation of a contemporary choral work. He is planning annual productions for the near future in the field of contemporary music for the labels such as Deutsche Grammophon and Sony Classical. The production series started in 2018 with the publication of a production on the occasion of the 75th birthday of the composer Morten Lauridsen (USA) with the leading Italian chamber orchestra “I Virtuosi Italiani” for Deutsche Grammophon. This year he will release a new album with Sony Classical and the World Choir for Peace with new works by well-known international composers.
The international promotion of choral music has been close to his heart for many years. In addition to recent projects, such as working with institutions and composers from India, the United Arab Emirates and Israel, he has created a vast network and is in close contact with almost all worldwide leading Choral music organizations. In 2012, through the Hänssler Classic label, he launched a new CD series for choral music, The Choir Project which offers the best amateur choirs from different nations a platform to present their music and culture to a wider audience.
For several years, Nicol Matt has also been active in the scientific field. As an international ambassador for the Singing Hospitals Association, he is in close contact with leading scientists and doctors that specialize in singing research. Their goal is to firmly anchor singing as a health and social prevention in our society. Especially in oncology, in the psychosomatic area, as well as in Alzheimer’s and dementia research, the Singing Hospitals Association have been internationally successful in many clinical facilities for years.
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Carleton Music Masterclass
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Passcode: 848393
