2025 Tour: Travelogue 3 - Leipzig & Dresden
Dear Friends,
After a deeply moving concert in the heart of Hannover and a warm farewell to new friends, the boys of the Georgia Boy Choir turned their attention southward toward a city where music feels like a birthright: Leipzig, once the home of J. S. Bach, Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Richard Wagner, among many others.
It was a long drive, but the moment they stepped into the Nikolaikirche, they knew the next chapter of the tour would be something special. Towering palm-like columns, soft afternoon light, and the rich acoustics of one of Germany’s most historic churches awaited them. With barely time to rest, the Choir moved straight into rehearsal. They explored the space with their voices, testing how sound bloomed beneath the vast arches and up into the painted ceiling.
Later, a guided tour of the church gave the boys a deeper understanding of its significance—not just as a musical venue, but as a symbol of the Peaceful Revolution. In 1989, the Nikolaikirche became a gathering place for prayer and peaceful protest during the fall of the East German regime. 250 years earlier, the person in charge of the church’s music was none other than Johann Sebastian Bach. For the Choir now to raise their voices there in praise and beauty was a humbling and meaningful moment.
That evening, the concert drew an appreciative crowd. The program unfolded as day faded to dusk, and the boys’ voices filled the space with warmth and clarity. One of the songs the Choir was most excited about singing was the first movement of Bach’s Cantata No. 74, “Wer Mich Liebet” written by the great master exactly 300 years ago. It was a night steeped in legacy. As they exited the church into the Leipzig evening, their hearts were full.
The next morning, they paid a visit to the Monument to the Battle of the Nations, a massive structure built to commemorate Napoleon’s defeat in 1813. From the top, the view of Leipzig was breathtaking, and from the ground, the monument served as a stark reminder of how hard-won peace can be.
After lunch, the boys split into two groups for a visit to the Bach Museum—a worthy pilgrimage for any serious musician. Standing in the very place where Johann Sebastian Bach lived, worked, and composed some of the greatest sacred music in Western history was a quiet thrill. They explored original manuscripts, historical instruments, and artifacts of daily life from Bach’s time. The other half of each group took time to stroll through shops and streets, giving them a taste of Leipzig’s lively modern rhythm.
The day closed with a classic GBC-style unwind: frisbee in Rosental Park. With music, history, and laughter all in a single day, the Leipzig chapter ended most satisfactorily.
A 90-minute drive southwest found the boys in Dresden, a city of considerable beauty reborn and rebuilt from the ashes of World War. After lunch in the city center, the Choir arrived at the renowned Kreuzkirche, or Church of the Cross - the home of the Dresdner Kreuzchor, one of the most celebrated Boy Choirs in the world. The Americans were welcomed not just as guests, but as brothers in song. The rehearsal was focused and reverent. The two choirs, accompanied by the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, blended beautifully, and a quiet sense of occasion settled in. Just before the performance, both choirs gathered—not for music, but for fellowship. Introductions were exchanged. Smiles shared. Musicians met as equals.
That evening’s Vespers service was unforgettable. The two choirs, singing side by side beneath the soaring stone arches of the Kreuzkirche, offered music that was both technically excellent and emotionally transcendent. Following the final notes, the boys stepped outside the church to sing once more - this time, folk songs for the large crowd that had gathered on the plaza despite the rain which subsided just in time for the two Choirs to sing as part of the city’s Pfingsten (Pentecost) celebrations. The GBC sang first to thunderous applause and were followed by their colleagues, the Kruzianer. What a delight it was to participate in this centuries-old tradition!
NEW VIDEO!
The Georgia Boy Choir – Selig sind die Toten (Schütz) | Kreuzkirche, Dresden
The next morning, the boys returned to the Kreuzkirche for the Pentecost Sunday service. They shared the duties once again with the Kreuzchor and the Philharmonic, this time from positions in the choir loft high in the rear of the church. And, once again, the mutual respect was evident as the Choirs alternating singing by themselves and in combination. The glorious sound echoed through the packed church that had survived wars, regimes, and rebirth.
Alas, when morning came again, it was time to say, “Auf wiedersehen” to the beautiful country of Germany. Ahead, though, lay the storied city of Prague and more exciting adventures. But as they crossed the border into Czechia, the echoes of Berlin, Hamburg, Hannover, Leipzig and Dresden remained with them, still ringing softly in their hearts.
Until next time,
The Georgia Boy Choir Germany, Czechia & Austria Tour Team
