Passionate singing paired with great attention to detail, youthful spirit combined with a drive for excellence. Young singers with a great enthusiasm and energy for classical music joined with the highest level of choral craftsmanship and artistry. This is the Jugendkonzertchor Dortmund.

The Jugendkonzertchor, comprised of 70 talented, young men and women between the ages 13 and 19, is the top youth ensemble within the Chorakademie-Dortmund, Europe’s largest singing school. These young singers have grown up musically in the Chorakademie, studying singing since the age of 6 in either the boys‘, girls‘ or children’s choirs. As German ambassadors for classical music, presenting roughly 50 concerts throughout Germany each year, these kids represent the highest standard in youth choral artistry with their extraordinary and homogenous sound.

The young singers of the Jugendkonzertchor rehearse several times a week, including private voice lessons, developing not only as ensemble singers but also as soloists. Since its founding in 2012, the Jugendkonzertchor has enjoyed rapid growth and development, becoming a permanent institution in the Ruhr area of Germany. In addition to regular appearances at international choral festivals such as chor.com, the Ruhrfestspiele, the Kultursommer Rheinland-Pfalz or the Festival Klangvokal, the ensemble has also performed with orchestras such as the Dortmund Philharmonic, the Bielefeld Philharmonic, the Academy for Early Music in Berlin, as well as worked with renowned conductors such as Yannick Nézet-Séguin (Metropolitan Opera New York) and Iván Fischer (Budapest Festival Orchestra).

In May 2016, ten singers from the Jugendkonzertchor competed in the national music competition Jugend musiziert, where all were honored with a first prize and several special prizes in the categories ‚Vocal Ensemble‘ and ‚Old Music.‘ Within the scope of the Deutschen Chorfest 2016 in Stuttgart, Germany, the ensemble received a first prize in the category ‚Youth Choirs‘ and was awarded a second prize in the category ‚German Romantic Music.‘

… where the music lives and is loved

Through goal-oriented collaboration on an equal level, an enormous expertise accumulates.

Felix Heitmann studied choral conducting and music education in Detmold, Germany under the mentorship of Prof. Anne Kohler, Prof. Fritz ter Wey (choral conducting) and Prof. Dr. Bernd Englbrecht (piano improvisation). Alongside from the musical direction of the Jugendkonzertchor, Felix teaches at the Hochschule für Music Detmold (choral conducting and piano practice for the school) and is an author for Schott Publishing.