In Celebration of the Human Voice - The Essential Musical Instrument

The Pirkanpojat Boys' Choir

Male Choral Chorus from Tampere, Finland.

Boys Choir, based in Tampere, belongs to the elite among Finnish choirs. In their repertoire, one may hear a classical music tradition executed with the crystal clear skill by which the choir is known both nationally and beyond the Finnish borders. Founded in 1970, Pirkanpojat Boys Choir is a classical boys' choir with a mixed choir form, and collects singers from throughout the Pirkanmaa province of Finland.

The choir's repertoire is diversified and multi-disciplinary. Large church music productions, Finnish folk music, contemporary Finnish music, popular music, operas, and patriotic music are all included. In the past few years the boys have been acquainted with W. A. Mozart's Requiem, J. S. Bach's "St. John Passion" as well as hit songs by The Beatles. The singing has also been enriched by choreography and theatrics.

Pirkanpojat Boys Choir has made 12 albums, the latest being "Kaikki tiet vievat Roomaan" (All Roads Lead to Rome) CD, released in November 2009. Previously the Alba-label has published Suurinta maailmassa (Greatest in the World, 2009), Pirkanpojat Goes Pop (2008) ja Ovi auki (The Door is Open, 2006). In addition, the choir sang on the Christmas CD released by the Finnish Red Cross in 2004, and on the CD produced by The Children's Center.

Pirkanpojat Boys Choir is currently undergoing a period of growth and development, and many recent competitive successes give evidence of this. In 2005 the choir received a golden stamp in the national choir festival, Tampereen Savel. In the Madetoja men's choir competition in 2005, an international competition, the young men's choir of Pirkanpojat was awarded 3rd prize. In April 2006 in Neerpelt, Belgium, the Pirkanpojat Boys Choir placed 3rd. In June 2006 the choir received first prize in the Klemetti choir competition.

Finnish National Radio gave Pirkanpojat the title of Youth Choir of the Year in 2006-2007. This was the first time a boys' choir had received this title. In the midst of all this activity, the Pirkanpojat Boys Choir continues to keep the guiding principle of its founding, that being to give boys an opportunity to participate in the preservation and development of the sensitive and unique qualities of boys' choir as a form of cultural expression.

Discography

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The Pirkanpojat BoysÕ Choir : The Door is Open

Review: Founded in 1970 The Pirkanpojat Boys' Choir is now one of the leading boy's choirs in Scandinavia. Emphasizing the education and training of the young male voices at the ages of 6 - 9 the boys enter the Perita choir from which they move after auditioning to Concentus and the A-Choir. They begin as sopranos or altos and later they join the male voices. Teaching score reading and voice training run parallel with choir work. Their present choirmaster Master of Music Jussi Kauranen began as a soprano singer in the choir in 1979 and became their Artistic Director in 1995. This recording features many works commissioned by the choir of contemporary Finnish composers and was recorded at their 35th anniversary concert at the Tampere Hall. Finnish lyric poetry is second to none and is expertly demonstrated both in the compositions and the boys singing on this fine recording.

Songlist: The Woodpecker, The Way of the Sword, Then the Aged Vainamoinen, A Blood-stanching Charm, The Origin of the Serpent, The Sky is Blue and White, On Tammerkoski Bridge, Maiden Fair, Wooing, From Kankaanpaa I Am, Saturday Evening, On a Rock, on a Hill, On a Rock, on a Hill, The Song of my Heart, I (How sweetly the squirrel), II (From its chamber up on high), III, IV (What a carefree life it leads), V (There the twitchy-tailed one slumbers), VI, The Forest Man, On the Highest Tree-Top, The Song of Finland, The Finlandia Hymn