More than 50 colleagues from all departments of Deutsche Welle make up this unique mixed choir. They come from 20 different nations throughout the world, forming a multilingual community who share a common hobby: singing folklore from all parts of the world and performing on stage.
The Deutsche Welle Choir in Cologne has been going now for almost 17 years. Since Autumn 1993 the variety of the Cologne
music scenery has been enriched yet further by an unusual new species: probably the most international singing
community which has ever come into existence in the heart of the Rhineland.
What makes the Deutsche Welle Choir stand out from many other existing choirs is its melting-pot character, with members from all four corners of the globe, and its international repertoire.
50 singers from 20 nations
and 4
continents are dedicated to singing together.
When we perform at home or abroad
or once a week during our
regular rehearsals in Deutsche Welle´s broadcasting center in Bonn, you can hear songs in Japanese, Russian, Polish, Hebrew, Philippino,
Zulu, Croatian, Portuguese, English, Polynesian, Spanish, Indonesian, Italian, Korean and French, but there's
also German and "Koelsch", the Cologne dialect (by the way, it's the only language which you can speak, sing and
drink!). There are songs and music from all parts of the world, but the
best part is that you will hear them in their mother tongue.
Our repertoire includes folk songs, madrigals, well-known tunes, love songs, Christmas carols
and spiritual music,
composed for the four basic voices of soprano,
alto, tenor and bass.
As colourful as the unique repertoire
is the appearance of our choir
Most of us also wear traditional clothing from our native countries when we perform on stage, thus visually
emphasising the whole concept of our choir: people of different provenance and cultures not only working together
but enjoying music as a common hobby.
The choir was led by the former head of Deutsche Welle's music department, Gunnar Valk, who has a wealth of experience with various genres of music, through 15 successful years. As from January 2008, the DEUTSCHE WELLE CHOIR is beeing conducted by Maja Braun, who is part of the Kisuaheli Programme crew of DW-Radio.