|
THE CHOIR DIRECTOR
Who he is and what he does
Born in Wolfsburg, Bertrand Gröger grew up in Bremen and studied classical
music in Freiburg and Paris and Jazz in Hamburg. In his band "Tune Up" and
the classical ensemble "Trio Grande", Gröger gave concerts in Germany,
Switzerland, France, Spain, and South Africa, including radio and TV
appearances.
In 1990, Gröger founded the Jazzchor Freiburg, with which he has been on tour
all over Europe, in Japan and Korea. The Jazzchor has also achieved first place
in every single competition it has taken part in (Italy 1997, Germany 1998,
Korea 2002). Gröger received the ZMF prize from the Freiburg music festival for
his direction of the Jazzchor in 1997.
Gröger is a self-taught composer and arranger. He won a prize in the
international composition in Berlin in 1989. He arranges and composes a large
part of the Jazzchor‘s repertoire, publishes his works with Ricordi, and has
been contracted to write for the Swingle Singers, the Bamberg Symphonic
Orchestra, the WDR Radio Orchestra, and the Northwest German Orchestra.
He guest-directed the Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra for his composition
"der und die (das)" for orchestra, jazz choir and band and directed the World
Children's Choir - with 2000 members from 115 nations - at the UN's "Festival
Mondial des Enfants". Gröger conducted Bobby McFerrin‘s compositions at a joint
project within the "STIMMEM 2004"-Festival.
Gröger is a lecturer at the Pop Academy in Mannheim and directs the academy's
choir. He taught singing at the Jazz and Rock School in Freiburg for many years
and was a guest lecturer at the Würzburg Conservatory, leading courses on the
direction of Jazz/Rock/Pop choirs. He has held many workshops for choir
directors and choir singers, among others at the conservatories in Saarbrücken,
Freiburg and Frankfurt a.M., the State Academy in Ochsenhausen, as well as at
the German Federation of Young Choirs and Instrumental Groups (AMJ) and the
European Jazz Academy.
Gröger is also regularly invited to be a jury member at German and international
choir competitions. |