50th Anniversary of the MGV Lyra Choir

Blogger Elke November 9, 2015 2 min read

History of the MGV Lyra Men’s Choir

A group of interested singers, including Adolf Fluested, Paul Flock, Hans Hirsekorn, Willy Pfortmueller, Kurt Schaefer, Thomas Spann and Richard Wolf, met in the Alpenclub in late 1964 to prepare the ground for the formation of a male choir, after the Alpenclub Mixed Choir dissolved. It was decided to begin in earnest in January 1965 as a group of “singing soccer players: Gerd Koenig, Hans Poggenpohl, Norbert Schottky, Willi Soehn, Eddie Ternes, Tony Ternes, and Willi Ternes, as well as the infamous group of Biltmore Musikanten, consisting of Alfred Knauer, Horst Kuehn, Wolfgang Kuehn, Otto Picha, Ewald Wiese and Harald Zimmermann, plus Alfred England, Wolfgang England, Lothar Hirt and Hans Rosenfeldt. Tuesday became the official rehearsal day, as Wolfgang England sang with another choir on Mondays. Alfred Knauer, an accomplished violinist, who had honed his skills in a Russian POW Camp, was appointed as the first conductor. During his tenure the choir acquired the nickname of “Kneaders Barden” – Bards as a result of an article written by Herbert Winter for the German newspaper.

50th Anniversary Concert

First Choir – Orpheus Choir –

$\"Orpheous$ Orpheus Men’s Choir

The Vancouver Orhpeus Male Choir is part of Vancouver Canada’s thriving community choir scene. They formed in 1992 for men of all ages who enjoy singing, popular songs from many times and lands, including Broadway Showtunes, spirituals, sea shanties and rousing male voice classics. Their concert songs were:

Sixteen Tons
Working Man
I’se the B’y
The Black Fly Song
Four Strong Winds
Northwest Passage
Hallelujah
Dear Land of Home

Concordia Choir

$\"IMG_6739\"$ Ein Likoerchen für das Frauenchoerchen – besser als ein Blumenstrauss.

The Concordia Choir Vancouver was founded in 1976, so next year is their 40th Anniversary. Their choir is decimated to share their beloved German songs and culture with others in Vancouver’s multicultural society. At the same time, they enjoy the friendships and “Gemuetlichkeit” that are so much part of their group.