Diversity of Voices III
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| Access to the exhibition areas at a special price of 9 EUR / reduced 0 EUR |
| For people of all ages |
| Humboldt Forum |
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Voices, halls, sounds, cultural belongings: nine choirs from Berlin encounter the spectacular rooms and collections from around the world at the Humboldt Forum with their songs. Classical, jazzy-pop, queer and feminist ensembles alternate in short concerts throughout the building with Arabic, Bulgarian, African and Latin American songs. The highlight of the festival is the joint singing of all choirs in the Grand Foyer – repeated four times. More than 200 voices create an unforgettable experience in the extraordinary architecture of the foyer. Visitors who enjoy singing have the opportunity to try their hand at music in open workshops in the Mechanical Arena. For the third time, the Humboldt Forum, in cooperation with the Berlin Choir Association, is inviting a colourful selection of Berlin choirs to discover the building through music, offering the audience new and unusual perspectives on the premises, the various collections and the exhibitions on display at the Humboldt Forum. The 2026 festival will focus on a musical exploration of the Humboldt Forum’s current annual theme, ‘Family Matters’. Vielstimmig III is part of the programme celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Berlin Choir Association. |
The choirs
Founded in 1904 as the ‘Berliner Volks-Chor’ (Berlin People’s Choir), the Berliner Oratorien-Chor has been performing choral symphonic works for over 120 years. Collaborations, guest performances and regular performances at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall shape the concert calendar. Between 1958 and 2008, the choir established itself in Berlin’s musical life under the direction of Gert Sell and was honoured with the Zelter Plaque in 2004 for its cultivation of choral music. Thomas Hennig has been artistic director since 2008. Under his leadership, innovative programmes are created, characterised by a diverse combination of secular and sacred music, new works, including world premieres, and well-known older oratorios, masses and choral symphonies.
The choir currently consists of around 80 active members, representing a wide range of generations and professional backgrounds.
Bulgarian Voices Berlin is an international women’s ensemble that combines the primal power of traditional Bulgarian folk singing with contemporary performance practices. Under the direction of Boryana Velichkova, the choir has been bringing together singers of various nationalities since 2009. The choir takes its audience on an emotional journey through all regions of Bulgaria: from the humorous, dissonant duets of the west to the melancholy of the Rhodope Mountains and the complex ornamentation of the Black Sea coast. With captivating rhythms and powerful melodies, the music touches the soul and provides palpable energy.
The Bulgarian Voices have performed at the Berlin Philharmonic and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. International tours, prizes at prestigious competitions, and the release of several albums of their own underscore the ensemble’s success and cement its reputation as a leading vocal ensemble that masterfully translates Bulgaria’s rich singing tradition into the modern age.
The Coro Contrapunto, led by Catalina Restrepo Amaya, was founded in Berlin in 2008 and is still led by her today. It is an a cappella choir with an international line-up. Many of the approximately 30 singers come from Latin America or have lived there for a while. Catalina Restrepo Amaya is from Colombia and has lived in Berlin since 2004. Coro Contrapunto gives regular concerts in Berlin and internationally, in churches, concert halls and social institutions.
The choir’s repertoire is wide-ranging and includes contemporary and traditional pieces from Latin America as well as arrangements of classical music.
The Joliba Friendship Choir is based in Kreuzberg and is part of the Joliba Interkulturelles Netzwerk in Berlin e.V., an association that works with Afro-German and African families. Since 2021, the choir has been led by Djatou Touré (Ivory Coast), who shares her musical experience in a practical way.
The choir singers come from four continents. With its African song repertoire, the Joliba Friendship Choir creates musical meeting places where cultural diversity can be experienced and mutual understanding promoted.
The focus is on communicating African musical traditions. The choir currently sings in more than a dozen languages, including Bambara, Zulu, Swahili, Ewe and Mandinka. It learns in the traditional African way, by ear and through repetition, without sheet music.
The Joliba Friendship Choir sees itself as a bridge between cultures and a place of exchange, friendship and encounter.
The Pet Shop Bears choir emerged in 2014 from the queer party series of the same name that took place in the Berghain canteen. The a cappella ensemble, which now has 25 members, combines different musical traditions: its repertoire includes classical works for male choir from the Renaissance to the present day, as well as specially arranged cover versions of songs by artists such as Björk, Kate Bush, Grace Jones, Freddie Mercury, Joe Jackson and Rufus Wainwright. In addition, the Pet Shop Bears regularly collaborate with musician friends, giving concerts with US singer-songwriter Jon Campbell, Canadian indie pop band The Hidden Cameras and, most recently, Hamburg accordionist Bernd Butz. Traditionally, the choir spends the Whitsun weekend in the Piedmontese village of Colma di Valduggia; the final concert now attracts audiences from across the region. Since 2024, the Pet Shop Bears choir has been directed by Christian Höffling.
The Singing Shinks are the only choir in the world consisting exclusively of psychiatrists, psychologists and neurologists – and have been for over 25 years. Whether in village churches, at Berlin’s TIPI am Kanzleramt alongside Eckart von Hirschhausen, or at the Waldbühne for ‘Halleluja Berlin’ with Rainald Grebe – the Singing Shrinks embody the emotional and psychological power of choral music.
During the day, they care for people in mental crises. In the evenings, they draw on their repertoire of songs from the 1920s to pop songs by Die Ärzte, Rosenstolz and The Beatles. For most of them, singing is one thing above all else: therapy from therapy. Because they know one thing for sure: singing is healthy for the body and soul. It activates positive emotions, regulates stress hormones and promotes social connectedness.
Siren is a Berlin-based feminist choir that uses music as a means of protest, solidarity and social change. Founded out of an urgent need to draw attention to the ongoing violence against women and girls, Siren raises voices where they are all too often ignored.
The choir explicitly sees itself as a protest choir. At the heart of its work is the collective voice as an expression of resistance, solidarity and hope. Siren uses music to make the strength, vulnerability and resilience of women audible – loud, polyphonic and unmistakable.
Siren presented its first release on 8 March 2025, International Women’s Day, with a premiere on YouTube. The choir’s performances and projects often take place in the context of feminist action days, especially around the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November.
Siren stands for an artistic practice that takes a stand: against violence, against silence – and for a more just society based on solidarity.
We are a choir of around 25 singers and see ourselves primarily as a pop choir. However, our repertoire is characterised above all by its great stylistic diversity. Regardless of the genre or origin of the pieces, we sing with high musical quality and a palpable love of rhythm, melody and harmony. Our arrangements and interpretations have thrilled and inspired our audiences on many occasions. Since 2015, the choir has been led by the passionate choir director Ilja Panzer.
We sing in many voices, poetically, emotionally and dramatically, with a love of unusual harmonies and moving lyrics. Authentic expression and closeness to our audience are particularly important to us, and we invite them to join us on this musical journey and even sing along. A cappella, authentic and extraordinary: the Berlin choir Spirited stands for swinging and precise pop melodies. Familiar songs sound new with us – unfamiliar ones become a listening experience.
The Women in Harmony choir, which emerged from the Arabische Musik Initiative Berlin e.V. (Arab Music Initiative Berlin), is now an important part of Berlin’s vibrant Arabic music scene. The choir brings together women from diverse backgrounds who express their personal stories of migration, culture, and identity through music. Their singing encompasses the entire Arabic repertoire—from classical maqamat to contemporary songs—and combines traditional ornamentation with polyphonic choral singing.
More than that, however, the choir is a space for empowerment, self-confidence, and community, where women support each other and thus also grow artistically. Through concerts, collaborations, and festivals, they act as cultural ambassadors, connecting Arab musical heritage with Berlin’s diverse cultural life. The Women in Harmony Choir is therefore not only sound, but also an expression of female voices that resonate and build cultural bridges.
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