News
🥰 Working with Rhiannon Randle on her sublime O Nata Lux was an absolute pleasure.
👉🏼 Learn here why you should listen to our first single release tomorrow.
Berlin Classics
5 days ago
Check out the amazing artwork for our upcoming album! Big thanks to Berlin Classics for the great work! First single out this friday! 🥳
Rhiannon Randle Marcus Paus The Zurich Chamber Singers
6 days ago
I am delighted to announce the exclusive partnership between The Zurich Chamber Singers and the label Berlin Classics. Our new album «O nata lux» will be out on November 13th, first single release on October 16th. 😍
7 days ago
About
Christian Erny (*1988 in Winterthur) completed his studies at the Zurich University of the Arts, the Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington (USA) and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.He studied orchestral conducting with Howard Arman and Christof Brunner, choral conducting with Markus Utz and piano with Hans-Jürg Strub and Jean-Louis Haguenauer. He received formative inspiration as a scholarship holder at the Jiri Hlinka Piano Academy in Bergen (NO) from Leif Ove Andsnes and Eldar Nebolsin.
As a pianist Erny has recorded works by Beethoven, Clementi, Lourié, Debussy and Liszt. His recordings have been nominated for the German Record Prize and the Opus Klassik and have received further awards such as the Gramophone Editor’s Choice. In 2015 he received a prize for the best interpretation of a work by Arnold Schönberg at the Île de France International Piano Competition. He gives concerts in Europe, the USA and South America.
Christian Erny is founder and artistic director of the vocal ensemble The Zurich Chamber Singers, which has been under exclusive contract with the label Berlin Classics since 2020. He has also conducted orchestras such as the Lucerne Festival Strings, the baroque orchestra Les passions de l’Ame, the Sofia Symphony Orchestra, the Ruse Opera Orchestra and the Young Philharmonic Orchestra of Central Switzerland. He made his opera debut in 2019 at the Lucerne Theater. In the summer of 2019 he was one of three selected young conductors who had the opportunity to work with the Bavarian Radio Choir for one week in a conducting forum. He was employed as musical assistant to the choirs of the Winterthur Conservatory from 2012 to 2018.
In 2019 he was awarded the Cultural Achievement Prize of his home town Winterthur for his artistic work to date.
The broad education that Christian Erny received from the age of six at the conservatory of his hometown Winterthur gives him the opportunity today to convince in the most diverse musical areas and to radiate a great stylistic diversity and confidence. His repertoire ranges from the vocal polyphony of the Renaissance to Baroque opera and symphonic music of the 20th century.
Christian Erny is a passionate pedagogue and lecturer for piano at the Basel University School of Music and the Pedagogical Seminary Kreuzlingen. As a guest he has taught at the Renaissance Arts Academy in Los Angeles and at the Collegio Suizo in Santiago de Chile.
Schedule
Recording Session, NWD Philharmonie
Minden (DE), Stadttheater, NWD Philharmonie, Beethoven / Clementi
Herford (DE), Stadtpark Schützenhof, NWD Philharmonie, Beethoven / Clementi
Christian Erny conducts the Orchestra of Europe – Darius Milhaud (1892-1974) – La création du monde
Tanz vor der Bundeslade (Nr. 16) | A.Honegger – König David (The Zurich Chamber Singers)
Christian Erny plays Arthur Lourié (1891-1966) – Cinq préludes fragiles, op. 1, No. 5 – Affabile
Christian Erny plays Arthur Lourié (1891-1966) – Gigue
Christian Erny – Liszt – Sposalizio
Passio
The Zurich Chamber Singers
Ars-Produktion
Opus Klassik (Nomination, 2019)
«… Den Motetten und Chorälen von Purcell, Tallis und Bach stellen die Zurich Chamber Singers die eindringliche Komposition De profundis des 27-jährigen US- Amerikaners Kevin Hartnett gegenüber. Das ist Musik von betörender Schönheit, in klanglicher Perfektion dargeboten.» Kulturtipp, Juni 2018
«Hervorragendes Vokalprogramm aus Zürich. Die gute Balance zwischen kristallinen Oberstimmen, weicher Mittellage und warmer Tiefe sorgt für eine klare Gestaltung von Wort und Musik.» pizzicato.lu, April 2018
Arthur Lourié (1891-1966)
Piano Works
Ars-Produktion, 2018
Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik (Nomination, Bestenliste 2018)
Gramophone Editor’s Choice
Opus Klassik (Nomination, 2019)
Diapason 5*
Pizzicato 5*
«Les parfums, les couleurs et les sons se répondent…» Piano works by Liszt and Debussy
Solo Musica, 2016
«… Verspieltheit, grosse dynamische Kontraste, eine technische Brillanz, die nie kalt wirkt…» SWR2- Kultur, 2016
«Christian Erny leistet mit seinem klärenden, feinnervigen, technisch in jeder Hinsicht souveränen Spiel einen imponierenden Beitrag.» Peter Cossé, Klassik Heute
Christian Erny is founder and artistic director of the vocal ensemble The Zurich Chamber Singers. Together with the ensemble he is under contract as an exclusive artist with the label Berlin Classics. In the 20/21 season the choir collaborates with artists such as Ian Bostridge and Roberto Gonzales Monjas and with orchestras such as the Musikkollegium Winterthur, Cardinal Complex and the Orchestra of Europe. The ensemble will also release two new albums for Berlin Classics.
With a combination of outstanding vocal work, innovative programming and a modern appearance, the vocal ensemble has been attracting increasing attention since its founding in 2015. The Kulturtipp praises the choir’s „tonal perfection“, the Aachener Zeitung judges it simply with the rating „magical“. The New Listener magazine is enthusiastic about the choir’s „directness and immediacy“.
The Zurich Chamber Singers were founded by Christian Erny and Emanuel Signer together with ten singers who were friends of theirs. In the meantime, the ensemble has grown to a pool of more than thirty singers and has earned itself an excellent reputation as a sought-after and flexible ensemble. The ensemble devotes itself to choral works from the Renaissance to the modern age, whereby the small number of singers requires a great deal of individual initiative from each member. Soloists step directly out of the ensemble. The Zurich Chamber Singers are particularly committed to cultivating contemporary vocal music and promoting young composers. To date, they have collaborated with composers such as Marcus Paus (NO), Rhiannon Randle (GB), Patrick Brennan (GB) and Kevin Hartnett (USA).
The Zurich Chamber Singers have been guests at various festivals and concert series. They received widespread praise from the international press with the release of their debut CD Passio, which was released in 2018 by Ars-Produktion.