Press

Press releases for concerts

For the use of announcing concerts with the Chamber Choir Hymnia we suggest that you use the following text:

The Chamber Choir Hymnia was founded in Copenhagen in 1983 and consists of 25 experienced and dedicated singers under the musical leadership of Flemming Windekilde. The choir has specialised in performing newer and often very complicated compositions and has for many years been an established and recognised part of the Danish choir elite. Hymnia emphasises working with active Danish composers, and through the years the choir has presented much new Danish music, including many world premieres.

The choir has won numerous prizes at international competitions and has published several CDs containing Danish and international choir music.

Hymnia's conductor, Flemming Windekilde, received his education from the Musiciology Department at the University of Copenhagen and at the Royal Danish Music Conservatory. Windekilde is an experienced and accomplished conductor, and most recently he has worked with the Danish Radio Choir on several projects and tours. To read more about Hymnia and its conductor, please visit www.hymnia.dk.

If a longer version is desired, the following text may be used:

The Chamber Choir Hymnia was founded in Copenhagen in 1983 and consists of 25 singers, most of whom work or have worked as professionals, under the musical leadership of Flemming Windekilde. The main objective has always been to present the audience with an exciting and diverse repertoire, and in particular works which are considered to be very challenging for choirs in general and which therefore are not performed very often in the Danish choral environment. Hymnia has specialised in works spanning from the late Romantic period up to completely new works by Danish composers. The concerts are usually performed a cappella, but on certain occasions the choir will work with instrumentalists.

Hymnia has distinguished itself both in Denmark and abroad. Numerous prizes have been won, including first prizes at competitions in Holland, Hungary, Italy, Austria, Wales, Germany and the Czech Republic. The choir has performed in the Leipzig Gewandthaus and has represented Denmark in the European Broadcasting Union's choral competition. In 1998 Hymnia was chosen as Artist of the Year in Copenhagen County. One of the reasons given for this honour was that "The Chamber Choir Hymnia was chosen, because the choir belongs to the very elite of Danish choirs and performs at a very high artistic level. The choir has a repertoire which is artistically developing but does not necessarily attract a large audience. Hymnia constantly seeks and embraces new challenges and has an unusually technically difficult repertoire."

As a result of the 1998 prize the choir was able to record a number of CDs. These are Kammerkoret Hymnia (1999), Figure Humaine containing works by Francis Poulenc (Figure Humaine and Mass in G) and Frank Martin (Mass for Double Choir), Tid og Rum (2000) with new Danish choir music, plus the double CD Requiem (2000) containing Alfred Schnittke's Requiem, choir concerto and two brief pieces for organ. In 2006 the choir released the CD Waterworks containing music from the composer's competition by the same name which Hymnia organised in 2003. Most recently published are Friede auf Erden (2008), Nowhere Now Here (2012) and Sing Noël (2013).
Hymnia participates on several other CDs including Liber Canticorum (1999) with music by Vagn Holmboe recorded and released by the organisation Danish Chamber Choirs. Previously Hymnia recorded the CD French Music for Choir with music by Poulenc, Messiaen, Duruflé, Debussy and Ravel.