TICC

Sound magic of the Past

Renaissance choral and instrumental music by Franco-Flemish masters

With the unique harmonizations of Medieval to Renaissance Franco-Flemish masters, Frankfurt’s Trinity International Concert Choir (TICC) begins its concert season with seldom-heard gems. The nearly 40 singer choir under the musical direction of Dr. Steffen Bücher will transform the Frankfurt Kreuzkirche (Preungesheim) into a haunting scene of past musical generations. The concert will include instrumentals using music instruments from the period. In addition to the choir, which performs at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 4 in the church, the Ensemble “InAuditus”, consisting of Marion E. Bücher-Herbst (soprano), Sebastian Kausch (recorder), Yoshio Takayanagi (lute), and Uta Kempkes (viola da gamba), present music from the period.

The Franco-Flemish masters are four to six generations of composers from the Netherlands, Belgium, and France that made their musical careers in 15^th and 16^th century Italy. Included in this musical program will be composers such as Guillaume Dufay, Josquin Desprez, Orlando di Lasso, and Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck. Especially interesting will be inclusion of Gregorian plainsong which served as a harbinger to the development of this Renaissance music. The chants or so-called Music of the Monks, in simple, single melody tone sequence recreates the Biblical message or the stories of the saints. Using the same themes, the Renaissance composers created intricate three- to five-voice choral adaptions. One highlight of the Gregorian hymns is the alternation of choir to solo musical passages.

Time and venue
May 4, 2024 – 19.00
Kreuzkirche Frankfurt-Preungesheim
Weinstraße 25
60435 Frankfurt am Main

Performers
Ensemble InAuditus:
– Marion E. Bücher-Herbst (soprano)
– Sebastian Kausch (flute recorder)
– Yoshio Takayanagi (lute)
– Uta Kempkes (viola da gamba)
Trinity International Concert Choir

Director
Steffen Bücher

Tickets
15 € (students/handicapped: 10 €)
tickets@TICChoir.de
Box office at the evening performance

Intercultural understanding through sacred and secular choral music!

The experience of working together on demanding and fulfilling music unites us.

We offer a musical home for people from all over the world living temporarily or permanently in the Rhine-Main region. In the face of ongoing outbreaks of hatred and violence here and around the world, we stand as an international choir against terrorism and violence. We would like nothing more than to be able to live and sing together in friendship, peace and justice with all the people of this world.

The Trinity International Concert Choir (TICC) e.V. began as “The Messiah Project” in 2011 and has since established itself in Frankfurt as a uniquely international choir. Concert programs in recent years have included Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s St. John Passion, Dvorak’s Mass, Fauré’s Requiem, Bilder der Hoffnung (paintings of hope) by Petr Eben, Rossini’s Petite Messe solennelle, Mozart’s Requiem in the version by Robert D. Levin, Telemann’s Day of Judgement, All the Ways of a Man by Knut Nystedt and Die Geburt unsers Herren Jesu Christi by Rogier Michael. In 2023, we performed The Creation by Joseph Haydn at the Alte Oper Frankfurt in a joint project with several children’s/youth/adult choirs.

TICC rehearses at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Frankfurt, an international, English-speaking parish whose former musical director, Dr. Jerrode Baker Marsh, was the impulse and guiding inspiration for the choir. Frankfurt’s multicultural society is reflected in the composition of the choir: currently about 55 singers from 13 different nations sing together. At Christmas, we usually present mixed programs of Advent songs and carols from our members’ home countries.

After single-handedly organizing the choir for its initial project performances of “Messiah” and then building and directing it afterwards, in 2015 Dr. Baker Marsh passed the baton to Michael Muche. Through his intensive, sensitive work, the choir continued to develop and our special TICC voice emerged. After the Corona-related singing break, which was only bridged by online substitute rehearsals and exercises outside, we restarted in summer 2022 with our inspiring choir director Dr. Steffen-Michael Bücher, full of energy and creative ideas.

Meet TICC’s choir director: Dr. Steffen-Michael Bücher

Dr. Bücher really received his musical inclination from the cradle, since his grandparents were pianists, a renown piano duo heard throughout the concert and broadcasting worlds.

Already at the age of five, Dr. Bücher received his first piano instruction. In 1987 he won his first prize at the “Jugend musiziert” competition. This was followed by awards such as the “Begabtenförderung” of the city of Ladenburg, selection for MDR television recordings of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio in Halle in 1996 as well as other top prizes and scholarships.

He is a graduate in studies of piano, voice, and conducting. In addition to his artistic-academic training, Bücher completed teacher training studies in both music and physical education, completing both first and second state examinations.

His extensive studies have been rounded out by master classes with such notables as Sir Colin Davis, Helmuth Rilling (Stuttgart), Thomas Choir cantor Georg Christoph Biller (Leipzig), Peter Feuchtwanger (London), Konrad and Rudolf Meister (Hanover/Mannheim), Oskar Milani (Nuremberg), and others.

Following years of performing in recitals and concerts with various orchestras as both soloist and conductor in both Germany and abroad, Bücher made his opera debut in 2002.

Besides being a versatile musical performer, he has also been engaged in several cultural enterprises, both in directorial and management positions. He worked for the Hessian Ministry of Culture as well as for the Hessian Broadcasting Corporation, has been appointed to various committees, and is a juror for musical competitions.

He recently completed his doctorate at the neurological clinic of the medical faculty in Heidelberg.

We welcome new singers!

♬ just come along to a rehearsal, sit down and sing with us:
Thursdays, from 19.30 to 21.30
at Trinity Lutheran Church, Nibelungenallee 54, 60318 Frankfurt am Main

♬ you do not need to audition, but you should have some knowledge of Music

♬ our rehearsals are held in English, but nearly all singers also speak German

♬ if you would like more information first, you can always send an email (in any language you feel comfortable with) to Info@TICChoir.de

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