Welcome...

The Choir

The Johanneskantorei, the choir of the Johanneskirche, Düsseldorf's central Protestant church, has a membership of 90 singers who enjoy singing every style of sacred music. We perform challenging works from the Renaissance to the present.

Cantor

Wolfgang Abendroth has conducted the Johanneskantorei since 2002. Read on »

Church Services

We are involved in special services as well as evensongs where we sing a-cappella works or cantatas. In addition to this, members of the choir participate in Sunday services in small individual groups.

Concerts

We perform two to three major choir concerts every year. Thus, our repertoire includes the following works:

Bach: St John's Passion, St Matthew's Passion, Christmas Oratorio

Beethoven: Missa solemnis

Bernstein: Mass

Brahms: A German Requiem, Song of Destiny

Bruckner: Te Deum

Eben: Holy Symbols

Händel: Messiah, Jephtha

Haydn: The Creation

Jenkins: The Armed Man

Mendelssohn: Elijah, St Paul, Symphony No. 2

Orff: Carmina Burana

Verdi: Requiem, Quattro Pezzi Sacri

Special highlights were the staged performances of Verdi's Nabucco in 2010, the first production ever of this opera in a church, as well as the world premiere of the opera Abraham by Daniel Schnyder in 2014
Read on »

Rehearsals

Rehearsals take place Tuesdays from 7.45pm till 10.00pm in the Johanneskirche's »Bachsaal«. We also occasionally have Saturday afternoon rehearsals, as well as full weekend rehearsals away from Düsseldorf. Read on »

Vocal Training

To further the development of each individual voice as well as to provide for an homogenous choral sound, professional vocal training is offered in small groups.

Travel and Social Activities

We not only come together to sing, we also meet socially, for example after rehearsals and at parties following our concerts. Furthermore, we have a good tradition of going on concert tours. The last few took the Johanneskantorei to Chile, to the south of France and East Frisia in Northern Germany. Some singers of the choir went to Israel in 2015 to perform the opera »Abraham« in the Holy Land.

2006, 2011, and 2015 we went in England to visit our twin choir Reading Festival Chorus. Our twin choir has returned our visit already two times and we are happy to sing Handel's Messiah together on New Year's Eve 2015 in Düsseldorf. Read on »