Ferdinando Paer
Choir
Colorno (Italy)
Director: Ugo Rolli
Named after the composer Ferdinando Paer (Parma, 1771 – Paris, 1839), the Paer Choir was founded in Colorno (Parma) by Ugo Rolli in 1974 and is still directed by him. The Association currently consists of four groups: a polyphonic choir; a male Schola Gregoriana (directed by Oreste Schiaffino); a female Schola Medieval (directed by Ugo Rolli); a recently founded Schola Antiqua (directed by Pietro Magnani). More than forty years of activity and constant study have led to the development of a rich repertoire covering all periods of Western music history; particular attention is paid to sacred repertoires, both monodic and polyphonic, from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.Among the most relevant programmes: Johannes Passion by J.S. Bach, Gloria and Magnificat by Antonio Vivaldi, Missa Aeterna Christi Munera and Lamentationum Liber Tertius, Feria V in Coena Domini by G.P. da Palestrina, Missa pro defunctis by Orlando di Lasso, Missa Doulce Mémoire by Cipriano de Rore, Libre Vermell de Monserrat. Both national and international awards testify to the artistic growth of the Association. Particularly noteworthy are the first prizes at the choral competitions of Vittorio Veneto (1984), Castiglione del Lago (1985), Riva del Garda (1990, 2002), Arezzo (1994), Gorizia (1999). A summary of the Paer choir’s monodic and polyphonic repertoire is contained in the CD Musica et Verbum (Antiqua, 1997), which was used as the soundtrack for Jacques Le Goff’s exhibition Il Medioevo europeo (Parma, 2003 – 2004). The two Scholae are also featured on the CD “Cuncti precemur. Preghiera e canto nei manoscritti medievali parmensi”, attached to the volume Vivere il Medioevo. Parma al tempo della Cattedrale (Silvana editoriale, 2006) published on the occasion of the 900th anniversary of Parma Cathedral (Parma, 2006 – 2007).The Association has also taken part in numerous important musical events, including the XV Festival International Lyrique et Médiéval du Vilar (Languedoc-Roussillon, France, 2008), the XV Rassegna Internazionale di Canto Sacro di Olbia (2009), the Ravenna Festival (2010) and the II Festival Eurocantusbourg di Bourg-en-Bresse (Burgundy, France, 2013). In recent years, the Association has organised the festivals “Ite, con- cinite” (on the occasion of the Association’s fortieth anniversary) and “Dialoghi di musica” (Dialogues of music), now in their fifth edition.
