Camerata Vocale Freiburg / Winfried Toll

Camerata Vocale Freiburg
The Camerata Vocale Freiburg, founded in 1977, began its concert activity first in South Germany and soon after that in all of Germany, and abroad. Since 1988 the choir is conducted by Winfried Toll. Its repertoire ranges from Renaissance and Baroque, Classic and Romantic to contemporary music (often first performances).The Camerata Vocale Freiburg is often invited to important festivals. The 25-35 semiprofessional singers have been on tour in France, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Portugal, Mallorca, Sardinia and Brazil and recently very successfully in Canada. The Ensemble has collaborated with the “Kammerorchester Basel”, with the „Freiburger Barockorchester“, with the Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Donald C. Runnicles and Kwamé Ryan, and with the SWR Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hans Zender and Sylvain Cambreling.The Camerata Vocale Freiburg has won several prizes at national and international prestigious competitions: first prize at the regional choral competition followed by the first prize at the national competition in Stuttgart and the first prize at the international choral competition in Cork (Ireland). Since 1986 the Camerata Vocale Freiburg has been collaborating with the regional section of the national broadcasting corporation (Südwestrundfunk): This collaboration was responsible for the release of two CDs: „Dixit Dominus“ by Georg F. Handel and the „Magnificat“ by Antonio Vivaldi, and the „Requiem“ by Gabriel Fauré and the „Missa Sacra“ by Robert Schumann, both for the label “Ars Musici”. This label also recorded several a-cappella CD’s of Frank Martin, Francis Poulenc, Herbert Howells, Ildebrando Pizzetti, Johannes Brahms and a Christmas CD.
The „Badische Zeitung“ wrote: „The quality of this exceptional choir in Freiburg is well known: the instinctive phrasing, the perfect balance, it’s musicality and the intensity of it’s interpretation. The conductor ,Winfried Toll not only conducts—he shows his extraordinary abilities through a musical expression which is very sensitive and seems to flood the music with colour”.

Winfried Toll
After graduating from the Collegium Augustinianum Gaesdonck, Winfried Toll studied theology and philosophy in Münster and Freiburg (Breisgau) before he went on to study composition and music education with Klaus Huber and Brian Ferneyhough at the Freiburg Conservatory of Music. Following his examinations he studied voice with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Aldo Baldin as well as conducting with Hellmuth Rilling. At this time he taught music and voice at the Freiburg Conservatory of Music and began an active career as a concert and opera singer.
In 1988 Winfried Toll became the conductor of the Camerata Vocale Freiburg and from 1994 until 2002 he was the choral director of the Kölner Bachverein. In the Fall of 1997 Toll was called as Professor of choral conducting to the Conservatory of Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt/Main. He was also elected as artistic director of the Frankfurter Kantorei. Since 2007 Winfried Toll ist the principal artistic director of the Daejeon Philharmonic Choir in South Korea. He received numerous invitations from outstanding orchestras and ensembles as guest conductor. (Concerto Köln, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Gürzenich Orchestra Köln, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Balthasar‐ Neumann‐ Choir, SWR Vokalensemble
Stuttgart, RIAS Kammerchor). Since 1994 he has been a regular guest professor at the Musashino Academia Musicae in Tokyo, as well as in South Korea, in the Czech Republic and in South Africa.
While still at university, Winfried Toll wrote his first successful compositions: the Organ work „Wegkreuze“ received the prestigious „Altenburger Dom“ prize. In 1981 a prize for his „Psalm 13“ for choir, solos and orchestra followed. In 1985 Winfried Toll received an award from the international Bachakademie in Stuttgart for his composition „Wenn Ich Dein je vergesse“ for 16 solo voices and mixed choir. His composition „… und hat über uns Gewalt“ was premiered by the Camerata Vocale Freiburg in November 1996 as part of the 71st Bachfest of the Neue Bachgesellschaft in Freiburg. In Juli 2001 Winfried Toll was commissioned by the festival „Stimmen“ in Lörrach to compose a work for the Raschèr‐Saxophon‐Quartett and vocalensemble. This work „Reverie“ was sung in a world premiere by the Camerata Vocale Freiburg.

Discography