A Choral Journey from Helsinki to Paarl

The Winelands Chamber Choir is proud to host the Academic Male Voice Choir of Helsinki (or Akademiska Sångföreningen) from Finland.

The Academic Male Voice Choir (a.k.a. Akademen) was founded in 1838 by German-born Fredrik Pacius, music teacher at the Imperial Alexander University of Finland (today the University of Helsinki) and known as ‘the father of Finnish music.’ Akademen is thus the oldest extant Finnish choir.

At present, Akademen has around 60 active singers, most of whom are university students. However, quite a few choose to stay in the active choir long after graduation, which makes for a healthy mix of youth and experience. Besides regular concerts in Finland, the choir travels abroad as regularly. In addition to all the Scandinavian and most European countries, Akademen has been on tour in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Singapore and is now bound for South Africa.

The Winelands Chamber Choir will be hosting the concert in conjunction with Akademen, in hopes of raising funds for their tour to Belgium next year. Founded in 2010 and under the capable direction of choir conductor, Thurloe Ernstzen, the chamber choir competed in the Open category of the 2018 World Choir Games and achieved gold for Vocal Ensemble. This win qualified them to take part in the Champion Chamber Choir category of the 2020 World Choir Games. They are currently placed under the Interkultur Top 1000 choirs of the world.

Please join these outstanding world choirs for an unforgettable choral experience!

For more information on The Academic Male Voice Choir visit their website or check us out on Facebook, Spotify or YouTube. Here's a few direct links to recordings of the choir in action:

Alberto Schiavo: Frottola nº 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKph9YLYlOQ

Lars Karlsson: Jag vill gå genom rågen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQbzqwDf3l4

Anneli Arho: Aih!: https://open.spotify.com/track/4bG2Z5yPUenPPq0bJbtgCB