About the Artists
Slogan: Experience singing!
One of the oldest secular Austrian boarding high schools (since 1854), the HIB in Graz with its attached Singing-Academy offers its pupils an international award-winning musical training (e.g. Gold Medal at the World Choir Games 2012 and 1St Place at the contemporary choir competition in San Francisco). The HIB.art.chor is the premier part of this choir-family in the south of Graz.
The main emphasis is in preparing its ensembles for choir and orchestra concerts including the classically training of up-and-coming soloists. On their international tours to such countries as China, Finland, Spain, Italy, Belgium, USA, Germany, Norway, Hungary, France, Denmark, Slovakia,… the young singers from Graz try to build a bridge from the rich Austrian choir tradition to international contemporary music.
The speciality of the singing pupils of Graz is to serenade celebrities: they have sung for the Holy Father in Rome, the European parliament, 3 Chinese ministers, the Queen of Belgium, trolls in Norway, the Football world champions 2011… and even the polar bear “Knut” in Berlin!
The artistic director of the Singing-Academy Maria Fürntratt won the national pedagogy prize for her work with the singing kids and has been teaching at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz since 2007.
