"Die Kreuzchorknaben sind eben einfach ein Markenzeichen von Deutschland"
— Angela  Merkel

 

The Dresden Kreuzchor is one of the world's oldest and most famous boys' choirs. Its history dates back to the first mention of the city of Dresden in the early 13th century. More than 800 years later, its most important task is still the musical accompaniment of the vespers and services at Dresden's Kreuzkirche. Here, the Dresden Kreuzchor performs in Vespers and services and regularly gives concerts with outstanding works of sacred music. They form the core of the repertoire and are an expression of the Christian-humanistic character of the choir. Alongside famous soloists, the Dresden Philharmonic and the Saxon State Chapel Dresden are major artistic partners. The Dresden Kreuzchor also collaborates with ensembles of early music such as the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and the Academy for Early Music of Berlin. The repertoire of the Dresden Kreuzchor ranges from the Renaissance to premieres of contemporary works. His extensive artistic work has been documented in numerous recordings.

 

 

Several times a year, the Dresden Kreuzchor goes on national and international concert tours, beyond German and European borders to Israel, Canada, Japan, South America and the USA. Moreover, it performs at international music festivals as well as countless radio and television recordings. He represents the Saxon state capital as its oldest cultural institution on almost all continents and has recently debuted at the Shanghai International Arts Festival and the Saxon Staatskapelle Dresden at the Salzburg Easter Festivals. The choir singers are also regularly invited to opera roles as soloists.

 

The Kreuzchor singers, called "Crucians", still graduate at the Kreuzschule; about two third of them live in the adjacent boarding school. Next to their normal classes, the 130 singers aged nine to eighteen have weekly singing and instrumental lessons. Their daily rehearsals and the specific sound of the choir are the basis of the success and the fame of the Dresden Kreuzchor.

 

 

Director: Peter Kopp

 

Peter Kopp is the founder and director of Vocal Concert Dresden and led the Chamber Choir to the artistically remarkable charisma, for which he has also been internationally acclaimed for a long time.

 

Peter Kopp even graduated as a member of the Dresden Kreuzchor. An education as a church musician followed a course for choral and orchestral conducting at the Dresden University of Music. As a student, Kopp directed the Dresdner Bachchor at his oratorio performances.

 

Since 1995, Peter Kopp has also been working as a chord director at the Dresden Kreuzchor. In his daily rehearsals and as a conductor of concerts and performances, he contributes significantly to the continuation of the 800-year tradition of this famous boy's choir, in addition to the cross-cantor. As in the case of his debut in China in the year 2013, the second tour was held under Kopp's direction.

 

As a conductor, Peter Kopp has been a guest at festivals such as the Ravello Festival, the Bachfest Leipzig, the Dresden Music Festival and the Handel Festival in Halle and Göttingen, as well as in the case of sound bodies such as the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. In addition to the choral work in his hometown, he took over choirs at renowned choirs in Germany and abroad, most recently conducting a Bach project in Taiwan. He also regularly works as a guest director of the Bach Society Houston.