Assens Boy Singers arrive from Denmark

The Assens Boy Singers of Denmark will be in Sri Lanka to perform a series of concerts in various parts of the island. They will perform at St Joseph’s College, Colombo, on February 17 at 3 pm and on February 18 they will perform in Negombo while on February 20 they will hold a show at Trinity College, Kandy at 6 pm. Another show will be held in Good Shephard Convent, Nuwara Eliya at 4 pm.

The group performs about 20 concerts a year. The choir is directed by Organist/Choirmaster Finn Pedersen. Concert tours to many European countries as well as Brazil and Canada/USA. The Assens Boy Singers consist of 20 boys between the ages of nine to 14 years, and 18 young men and adult singers. The choir was established in 1856.

However, the tradition of having boys sing at Our Lady’s Church in Assens goes back to the 15th Century. The choir is the oldest boys’ and men’s choir in Denmark.The boys rehearse twice a week and participate in church services at Our Lady’s Church in Assens on Sundays and holidays.

On their Sri Lanka tour the choir will perform traditional church music from 1500 and until now, with music by composers such as Palestrina, Hassler, Tallis as well as Mozart, Handel and Cesar Franck. Half of the programme performed by the Assens Boy Singers will be music from the Danish choral tradition.