The Arion Choir (Men's Choir Arion) was founded in 1893. For many years, Arion was the artisan association's choir, and numerous concerts were held in the Craftsmen's Guild. In 1898 the choir for the first time appeared for charitable purposes for the benefit of the survivors of the victims of a terrible train accident in Gentofte, with 33 people killed and many injured.
Tasks from the first year include participation in the large combined choir at the opening of the national exhibition in 1909 by none other than Carl Nielsen as conductor. At a concert in Vennelyst in 1916 soloist Lauritz Melchior participated. - 1920 was a great year. Craftsmen organized a citizen dinner where King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine were guests of honor. The Arions sang at the occasion a set of patriotic songs. - In 1934, the Arions splendid voices for the first time were transmitted via Statsradiofonien (Danish National Radio).
Various donations made it possible for the choir before the war to acquire a rental property in Langelandsgade - ie, the choir was now householder.
At the inauguration of Aarhus City Hall in 1941 Arion starred with the performance of Hartvig Seedorffs festival cantate. The Crown prince and princess were present at the initiation ceremony.
The postwar years held many good experiences. Friendships occurred across borders. Initially Bergen, but soon came Flensburg, Hamburg and Goslar. In addition to several radio transmissions, also in North West Deutsche Rundfunk, came television baptism in 1957.
After some years the rental property was sold and an older property in Aabyhoej acquired and furnished as a house for the singers.
A very special inauguration of the house was made a few years later. The choir's president invited The Wienerphilhamonikers world-famous conductor, professor Willy Boskowsky who stayed in the city. He accepted the invitation and of course also directed choir. The house in Aabyhoej was sold and the residence moved to Risskov, where the choir still is housed.
As mentioned the choir several times participated in Charity Concerts, partly several church concerts, but also "Flygtning 81" in Vejlby-Risskov Hall, and at the concert the following year in favor of the Red Cross' humanitarian work. Arion has also been involved in concerts with The Aarhus City Orchestra and Aarhus Symphony Orchestra.
Major concerts in recent years include the choir's participation in the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra's performance of Frantz Liszt's "Faust Symphony" and Schubert's "Gesang there Geister über den Wassern" with Norman Del Mar conducting. In addition to the already mentioned destinations include music city of Vienna, Amsterdam and the Nordic capitals Oslo and Stockholm. The crown of the long series of concert tours was the trip to the United States in 1989, where the choir appeared in "Disney World".
The 100th birthday in 1993 was magnificent, both in reception and banquet, and with a well-attended anniversary concert in Aarhus Concert Hall Great Hall. A superbly equipped anniversary dinner was also on the program.
After the anniversary, the choir has not been quiet, there have been exchange visits to and from Stockholm and Goslar in Germany. A charity concert in Aarhus Concert Hall Great Hall with the assistance of professional soloists who gave a nice profit to an orphanage in Vilnius, Lithuania and the "Epiphany Concert" resulting in a CD, have been among the biggest tasks.
The last great experiences was the choir's two trips to China in 2001. Only a singer meeting in Beijing with a local choir in China's culture ministry, which later resulted in an invitation to participate in a large-scale international choir festival in Jiangmen in south China, where Arion song for very large audience. In addition to television broadcasting to the area's 40 million. Residents were shown selection to the national television, with an audience of 1.3 billion, it was a very great experience.
In autumn 2005 the choir again were on the road, this time to the beautiful city of Prague, where the choir sang in Nejsvetejsi srdce Pane, a very large, modern church with an amazing fine acoustics.
The spring of 2007 he went to Goslar, where our venskabskor MRLs Arion, celebrated the 140th anniversary with a big concert in Stephani-Kirche, Goslar comprehensive four choirs with a total of 110 participants.
The summer of 2009 went to: Festival di Canto Corale "Verona Garda Estate 2009", to which the choir was invited to participate. Choirs from several countries participated, and Arion Choir participated in a total of four evening concerts.
After several invitations the choir in the early summer of 2012 tried something completely new: In connection with a choir festival in Krakow, Poland, to participate in a singing competition in which the choir among other first argued conductor Brian Stenger Poulsen's choral work "Laudate". While achieving the choir, in addition to participation in the competition, in just over a week to give 5 concerts around the capital's beautiful, gilded churches. The event also included a visit to an abandoned salt mine. It was a very special experience, 150 meters underground in a church carved in salt making: "I Østen stiger Solen op". And the competition? - It was a third place.
For years, the choir, like in September, appeared on the "Elsinore Theater" in the Old City, with performances, built around different themes, under the title: "Musical Salon". In 2014 built a similar performance at Aabyhøj Amateur Theatre's stage, built the same way, with kornumre and instrumental entertainment, replaced by soloist performances. Again, it was a success to be retried at this level.
Fall season 2014 kicked off with a visit to Goslar. The occasion was a rare friendship anniversary, the two Arion Choir in May had passed the 60th anniversary of the first contact, in 1954. There was, of course, partying, and also held a joint concert in the local "Stephani Kirche".
Ole Bade
