The beginnings of Musica Sacra International

The beginnings of Musica Sacra International

A conversation with Prof. Volker Hempfling, Thomas Rabbow and Jeroen Schrijner

Musica Sacra International" took place for the first time in 1992. Founder Dolf Rabus invited 28 ensembles from five religions and many different countries to the first festival. The idea for the festival arose, among other things, because of the disputes between Protestants and Catholics in the Northern Ireland conflict.
The concept of inter-religious dialogue was hardly known at the time. The idea of a multi-religious music festival was new and unusual. Prof. Volker Hempfling, Thomas Rabbow and Jeroen Schrijner were involved from the beginning.
We are pleased that they have come together for a conversation. A conversation about the beginnings of Musica Sacra International.

Volker Hempfling
Born in Saarland in 1944, Volker Hempfling studied church music, orchestral conducting, organ and singing in Herford and Cologne. In 1968 he founded the Cologne Kantorei. From 1972 to 1997 he was cathedral organist and cantor of the Protestant parish of Altenberg, where he served as church music director and director of the Altenberg Cathedral Choir. In addition to his intensive choir work, he is an internationally sought-after guest conductor and lecturer and regularly participates as a juror in important choir competitions such as Regensburg, Marktoberdorf, Graz, Linz, Cork, Maribor, Tours, Legnica, Busan, Preveza, Tolosa, Budapest and Vilnius.

Thomas Rabbow
After 5 years with the International Bach Academy Stuttgart, Thomas Rabbow succeeded Dolf Rabus as Managing Director of the German Choral Competition at the German Music Council in 1983 and headed various projects there until 2014, most recently the German Music Competition. From 1990 to 2010, he volunteered as General Secretary and First Vice-President of the International Federation for Choral Music. In these functions he already worked intensively with Dolf Rabus and was part of the festival team as head of protocol since the founding of the MOD Festivals in 1989. In the years following Rabus' death, he also served as Artistic Director of Musica Sacra International.

Jeroen Schrijner
Jeroen Schrijner's life is marked by international music promotion and encounters. In 1995 he became managing director of the International Chamber Choir Competition Marktoberdorf and the music festival of world religions Musica Sacra International in Allgäu, in 1999 director of the Netherlands Choir Institute and its successor institution Unisono. From 2003 to 2009 he was president of the European choral organisation -Europa Cantat. Since 2011, Jeroen Schrijner has been managing director of the Zürcher Sing-Akademie, a professional choir he co-founded and is based in Switzerland. Since 2018, he has been vice-chairman of the association MODfestivals e.V.