Celebration Concert – 20 years of Cantemus

Welcome to the Cantemus concert in celebration of the choir’s 20-year anniversary. The programme will offer a musical menu from the choir’s most memorable performances and with artists beloved by Cantemus singers and audiences alike. With music from the eighteenth century to today, the programme is also a journey through time that spans a multitude of genres. Read more about the music and artists at www.cantemus.se

SVEN-BERTIL TAUBE SCHOLARSHIP

In spring 2008, Sven-Bertil Taube guest-performed with Cantemus and sang some of Evert Taube’s most beloved songs together with the choir. For health reasons, Sven-Bertil Taube cannot take part in this anniversary concert and Cantemus has therefore chosen to honour him and his life’s work by presenting a scholarship in his name for SEK 30,000 to a deserving artist.

Sven-Bertil Taube and Mikaela Rydén’s son Felix Taube will present the scholarship at the concert. A recent interview in London with Sven-Bertil Taube, in which he greets his audience and congratulates the scholarship winner, will be shown on a big screen. The scholarship winner will be announced in the press and at www.cantemus.se a few days before the concert on 20 October.

20 YEARS OF CANTEMUS

In 1999, Göran Staxäng was tasked with leading the choral event “Toner för Miljoner” (“Tones for Millions”) in Stockholm. After a concert held at the Globe Arena with leading Swedish artists and 5,000 singers from all over the country, the choir performed a Christmas concert with Arja Saijonmaa at the Philadelphia Church. Thus the Stockholm choir in Toner för Miljoner became the Cantemus choir, which is led by Sofia and Göran Staxäng and gathers hundreds of choral singers each year from all over the greater Stockholm area, and Konserthuset Stockholm has become one of the choir’s home stages. Cantemus has regularly shown that everyone can sing and make music with classic choral pieces in all genres.

The Cantemus choir has sung all of Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, Carmina Burana and God in Disguise – and after concerts with Cantemus, Jan Malmsjö tasked the choir with recording Lars-Erik Larsson’s classic. Cantemus has regularly sung from the classic opera literature in both concert and staged performances. Cantemus commissioned Jonas Dominique to compose the opera M/S Aurora, which premiered on stage at Berwaldhallen in January 2013. Georg Riedel has also composed new music on behalf of Cantemus.

The Cantemus choir has developed its own niche with genuine and challenging choral arrangements of music by icons like ABBA, The Beatles, Elvis, Sinatra, Simon & Garfunkel and Gärdestad. Cantemus has welcomed guest artists such as Sanna Nielsen, Lisa Nilsson, Magnus Carlson, Sven-Bertil Taube, Sarah Dawn Finer, Kalle Moraeus, Janne Schaffer, Elise Einarsdotter, Lena Willemark, Olle Persson and more.