Klaus Dieter Wolff Prize goes to the University Choir

Felix Brendel, Sven Edelmann, Lea Niehaus, Niclas Schilling, Derya Uzun and Jonas Würdinger receive the Klaus Dieter Wolff Prize as the executive board of the Uni-Choir of the University of Bayreuth.

Derya Uzun took the initiative to re-found the University Choir - in the middle of the Corona pandemic. She took care of everything that was formally necessary and acts as an interface between the musical and organisational areas to ensure smooth cooperation.

Lea Niehaus takes care of internal communication, marketing, sponsoring and public relations. Niclas Schilling and Felix Brendel conduct the choir as part of a shared teaching assignment docked to the professorship for musicology at the University of Bayreuth. Niclas Schilling is in charge of "popular music" and Felix Brendel of "classical music". Both genres are part of the choir's repertoire.

Sven Edelmann and Jonas Würdinger provide the piano accompaniment during rehearsals and performances. Jonas Würdinger also takes care of the event technology at the concerts.

Currently, the more than 100 active singers (among them students, employees, but also external singers from the city and region of Bayreuth) meet every Tuesday evening for their rehearsals, which take place in the Audimax of the University of Bayreuth, the largest available room on campus, due to the lack of space.  This attendance is also special, as there is currently frequent talk of the death of choirs.

The final concert of the University Choir in the winter semester 2022/23 filled every one of the 750 seats in the auditorium and ended with a standing ovation. This enthusiasm also shows the professionalism with which the rehearsals, as well as the preparations and performances, were carried out. A piece written by Niclas Schilling himself for the university choir and arranged especially for him earned particularly high applause.

A special highlight was organised for the final concert of the 2023 summer semester: A joint concert between the Uni-Chor and the Symphony Orchestra of the University of Bayreuth took place. Once again, the number of spectators and their reactions were impressive.

The board of the Uni-Choir will use the prize money to further equip the choir and purchase sheet music, among other things. In the future, there will also be a booster club to support the activities of the Uni-Choir.