Vinzenz Arnold
Vinzenz Arnold was born in the Ötztal valley. He completed his studies at the Pedagogical Academy in Innsbruck and has been working as a German and music teacher at the Anton Auer secondary school in Telfs since 1988. He also studied vocals (concert discipline), took individual lessons (bass baritone) with Johannes Stecher and completed several advanced choir music training courses. Vinzenz Arnold is a member of the advisory board for the Tiroler Sängerbund (Choral Association for Tyrol) National Committee and he has been directing various choirs for many years: The Sölden Church Choir since 1985, the MGV Gurgl since 1992, the Sölden Youth Choir since 1989 and the “Abu onso” Choir in Pfaffenhofen since 2000. He has been working with the Wilten Boys’ Choir since 2001.
Albert Frey
Albert Frey was born in Mindelheim, Germany and studied at the Leopold Mozart Centre in Augsburg. First, he completed his French horn studies (concert discipline) and then he turned to church music. Among his professors were Karl Maureen (organ) and Jack Meredith (French horn). In 1991, he started working at the St. Mang parish in Füssen, Bavaria, as their organist and choirmaster. As such, he is responsible for all their church music for liturgies and concerts. He conducts the church choir, the church orchestra, the “Motettenchor Füssen” (the Füssen Motet Choir), which he founded, as well as the Gregorian Schola of St Mang. In 1994, Albert Frey was entrusted with the position of Deanery Choirmaster for the Augsburg diocese. Artistically, Albert Frey focusses on vocals. As a countertenor, he has performed in numerous national and international concerts. As an organist, he mainly dedicates himself to organ music composers from Southern Germany, as his parish is home to four historic organs from the 18th century by Andreas Jäger, as well as the great organ of St Mang. Since the 1992/1993 academic year, Albert Frey has been working as a state teacher for organ and French horn at the Reutte music school. From the winter semester of 2002 until 2004, Albert Frey taught at the Augsburg department for the Nuremberg University of Music. As the First Chairman of the “Verein zur Förderung Alter Musik St. Mang Füssen e.V.” (Association for the Promotion of Early Music for St. Mang Füssen), he was the Artistic and Organisational Director for the event series “Tage Alter Musik im Königswinkel” (Days of Early Music in Königswinkel) and “Internationaler Orgelsommer Füssen-Breitenwang” (International Summer of Organ Events for Füssen-Breitenwang). The most internationally renowned project he led was the International Organ Contest, which has taken place twice in 2000 and 2002. In the autumn of 2003, he received the main Bücher-Dieckmeyer Foundation prize in recognition of his service to church music in Bavaria.
Johannes Puchleitner
Johannes Puchleitner was born in Kitzbühel in 1973. His first musical experiences were as a choir boy in Salzburg and he later studied horn under Hansjörg Angerer at the Tyrolean State Conservatory, as well as school music and instrumental music education at the University Mozarteum Salzburg with the horn (Hansjörg Angerer) and vocals (Christoph Rösel) as his artistic subjects. After graduating, he began his vocal studies in concert singing at the School of Music and Performing Arts in Munich under Adalbert Kraus. He completed his artistic diploma examination as a concert singer and studied at the Management Center Innsbruck (Tyrol state music school management and training programme for management musicians). From 1994 to 1998, he acted as Assistant to Howard Arman and his Innsbrucker Capellknaben boys’ choir. From 1993 to 1999, he taught horn and vocals at the St. Johann in Tirol state music school, and between 2003 and 2004, he was the Artistic Director for the Innsbrucker Capellknaben boys’ choir. As a concert organiser, he has been the Office Manager for the Jeunesse St. Johann in Tirol since 1999/2000 and the Office Manager for the Jeunesse Wörgl since 2004/2005. As a freelance singer, his main focus lies on songs and oratorios in Austria and abroad, and he specialises in early music, as well as contemporary music. He is a soloist and ensemble member of the Neue Innsbrucker Hofkapelle orchestra and participated in several CD recordings. He has been the headmaster of the Wörgl state music school since 1999. Since November 2006, he has also been teaching at the Tyrolean State Conservatory as a vocal trainer for the Wilten Boys’ Choir. www.johannes-puchleitner.com
Martin Senfter, BA
Martin Senfter grew up in Innervillgraten in East Tyrol. He completed his architecture studies at the Technical University of Innsbruck, music education studies for voice and instruments (IGP), as well as his studies for soloist vocals at the Tyrolean State Conservatory in Innsbruck (under Karlheinz Hanser). He took master classes with Brigitte Fassbaender, Elisabeth Howard, Frieder Bernius, Eric Ericsson and Colin Mason. From 2001 to 2010, he was a music teacher at the Telfs music school. Since Autumn 2006, he has been a vocal trainer for the Wilten Boys’ Choir and has been leading a vocals class at the Tyrolean State Conservatory. His performances as a soloist include song recitals and oratorios. Furthermore, he plays the trombone for the “Musicbanda Franui”. Since 1993, he has been regularly taking part in major festivals and concerts, such as the Salzburg Festival, Vienna Festival, Vienna’s Burgtheater, Vienna State Opera, Tyrolean Festival Erl, Bregenz Festival, Handel Festival Hall (Saale), Herrenhausen Festival, Ludwigsburg Festival, Pèlerinages Weimar Arts Festival, The Ruhrtriennale, The Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg, The Berlin Radialsystem or at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus theatre in Hamburg, Germany. He has recorded numerous broadcasts and CDs, as well as music for radio plays in collaboration with Haimo Wisser, Peter Suitner, Gunter Schneider, Felix Resch, the Neue Innsbrucker Hofkapelle orchestra, as well as Andreas Schett, Sven-Eric Bechtolf and the Musicbanda Franui, to name but a few.
Britta Ströher
Britta Ströher was born in Gießen, Germany, and completed her vocal studies at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts under Gunnel Tasch-Ohlsson and at the conservatory in Mainz under Claudia Eder. Various guest appearances have taken her to the Pfalztheater theatre in Kaiserslautern, the Gießen Theatre, the Mecklenburg Theatre in Schwerin, the Frankfurt Opera, the Mainz State Theatre and the Mannheim National Theatre. From 2003 to 2007, she was part of the ensemble at the South East Bavarian Theatre in Passau, where she performed in La Traviata, Lucia di Lammermoor, Zerbinetta, Adele, Olympia & Musetta and many more. Furthermore, she sang the Queen of the Night, Blonde, Konstanze, Marzelline, Gretel and Zerlina.In addition to performing at theatres, her repertoire includes various song programmes, as well as religious and contemporary music. In 1997, she won the 14th International Erika Köth Singing Contest in Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Germany. In 1999, she was one of the finalists at the International Enrico Caruso Contest in Milan and she won an award at the International Coloratura Contest in Luxembourg in 2000, as well as at the 2002 International Singing Contest in the festival city of Passau. From 1998 to 2001, she received a scholarship from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation. She took master classes with Sylvia Geszty, Brigitte Fassbaender, Peter Konwitschny and Elio Battaglia. Since 2009, she has been working as a lecturer at the Tyrolean State Conservatory in Innsbruck.