Choirs of the International Study Center
Franz Wassermann receives the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon
A major honour for our conductor: Prof. Franz Wassermann has been awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon in recognition of his many years of service. For over three decades, he has led the choirs at the International Study Centre of Heidelberg University, bringing together students from all over the world through music. In her laudatory speech, State Secretary Sabine Kurtz paid particular tribute to his contribution to integration and the promotion of a sense of community. We offer our warmest congratulations on this well-deserved honour!
Click here for the university's newsroom article.
Foto: Franz Wassermann (Mitte) with State Secretary Sabine Kurtz and Prof. Dr. Bernhard Eitel, former Dean of Heidelberg University. Photographer: Philipp Rothe.
Good and evil in classic and pop
The GSG9 Ensemble presents ‘Good & Evil in Classical and Pop’ on Saturday, 13 June 2026 at 8 pm in the auditorium of the Old University, Heidelberg, Universitätsplatz.
Works by Gastoldi and Fanny Hensel-Mendelssohn conjure up the dangerous water spirits that drag the unsuspecting into the depths; Carmen sings the Habanera as a warning; Star Wars and the Dance of the Vampires make an appearance; and perhaps the gardener is always the murderer. But there is no shortage of good things either: ‘Joy’, the beautiful ‘Götterfunken’, as well as the joy for which ABBA gives thanks to music, and the comforting ‘You Raise Me Up’.
Our vocal ensemble GSG9, conducted by Franz Wassermann, presents these and many more pieces on this theme of contrasts, and we warmly invite you to join us on this musical journey through the highs and lows of existence. Best of all: admission is free! However, donations are welcome.
Click here for more information.
W. A. Mozart: Great Mass in C minor, K. 427
Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor has remained an unfinished work – and there has been much speculation as to the reasons for this. The first serious attempt to complete the work was made exactly 125 years ago, in 1901, by the Dresden Kapellmeister Alois Schmitt. Schmitt’s version clearly demonstrates how Mozart’s style developed, and how, through his engagement with Bach and Handel, he transformed the predominantly playful form of his earlier works – without losing his joy in melody – into a serious, weighty composition.
The Capella Carolina Grand Choir will present the Heidelberg premiere on Sunday, 12 July 2026, at 7 pm in Peterskirche Heidelberg, Plöck 70.
Tickets – with concessions starting from just €10 – are available online in advance (coming soon here), at Dürninger (Heidelberg, Sophienstraße 9), and from 6 pm at the box office.
Further information is available here.
Choral music from the Baltic Sea: Ešenvalds, Gade, Pärt, Miškinis, Loewe and others
On Sunday 28 June at 7 pm in St Peter’s Church, Heidelberg, Camerata Carolina will take you on a musical journey around the Baltic Sea: to Denmark, Sweden, Finland, the three Baltic states, Poland and finally Germany. A sense of discovery is guaranteed: many little-known gems will be presented; composers of the Romantic era – Gade, Loewe, Moniuszko, Stenhammar, Sibelius – and of the present day – Éšenvalds, Pärt, Vasks – are equally represented. The programme features both contemplative pieces and rhythmically rousing works.
The Camerata is renowned for presenting a choral sound that is as transparent as it is warm in its finely crafted interpretations. And we have another special treat in store for you: our ‘special guest’ is the internationally renowned alto Nils Wanderer, who will be singing in our concert; he is currently a guest at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Tickets – from €10 for students! – will soon be available via our website, at Dürninger (HD, Sophienstraße 9), and from 6 pm at the box office.
Join us on a journey to the Baltic Sea! Click here for the concert page.
New singers wanted!
For the summer semester, our two ensembles Capella Carolina (Large Choir) and Camerata Carolina (Chamber Choir) are looking for new singers in all voice parts.
This semester, Capella Carolina will perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Great Mass in C Minor. Rehearsals take place on Thursday evenings. Good vocal fundamentals are required; choral experience is welcome but not mandatory. Interested singers can simply attend one of the group auditions before the first rehearsals in the summer semester (see right column).
Camerata Carolina is preparing a program of choral music by composers from the Baltic region, including works by Ēriks Ešenvalds, Niels Wilhelm Gade, Arvo Pärt, Vytautas Miškinis, and Carl Loewe. Rehearsals take place on Tuesday evenings. Choral experience and an individual audition are required for the Camerata.
Further details on rehearsals, auditions, and registration can be found in the right column.
Camerata Carolina on tour in Japan
Wa! Germany, the inscription on the German pavilion, welcomed us on our first day after our arrival in Osaka on 22 September 2025 at the World Expo in this city. The Expo's motto, ‘Designing Future Society for Our Lives’, can also be applied to our Japan project. The Camerata Carolina has written a travel report about our encounters and experiences with the universities of Mie, Kyoto and Nara, and the concert in Osaka.
For more information on the project and the extensive travel report, click here.
Our conductor has received the french medal "Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres"
The award honours Prof. Franz Wassermann's extraordinary services to cultural cooperation between France and Germany. It is awarded to personalities ‘who have distinguished themselves through their work in the artistic or literary field or through their contribution to the promotion of the arts and literature in France and the world’.
The French Minister for Culture writes: ‘We admire your remarkable career and your ability to pass on your knowledge across borders. We pay tribute to your talent and your ability to take music around the world with this honour, which we are proud to bestow on you.’
During a ceremony in the Senate Hall of the Old University, the French Consul General Gael de Maisonneuve presented Prof Wassermann with the insignia of the order.
In his words of thanks, the honouree emphasised that, in accordance with its motto ‘Semper apertus’, Ruperto Carola appreciates and supports the successful musical work in the Carolina Choirs, which expands knowledge and skills. This fills him with deep gratitude.
Learn more here.
© Universität Heidelberg – Kommunikation und Marketing (Foto: Rothe)
