The chamber choir cantamus dresden was founded in 1995 by Martin Lehmann - the new acting director of the Dresdner Kreuzchor since 2022 - and dedicated young musicians. All of the choir's active singers today have a sound musical education, with many of the male choristers able to draw on many years of experience from their membership of the Dresdner Kreuzchor. Dresden conductor Robert Schad has been the choir's artistic director since March 2019. In recent years, the kammerchor cantamus dresden has developed into a renowned ensemble that is highly praised by audiences and the press for its warm and particularly clear choral sound and stylistically confident program diversity.
The ensemble regularly makes guest appearances in the major German music centers and has been repeatedly invited by important festivals such as the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and the Leipzig Bach Festival. Successful concert tours abroad, including to France, Great Britain, Malaysia, Austria, Poland, Sweden, Singapore and Switzerland, testify to the high quality of the choir. In addition, the kammerchor cantamus dresden has won several prizes at international competitions.
Programmatically, the chamber choir focuses on a cappella music from the Renaissance to works of the 21st century, with the Central German musical tradition shaping the dramaturgy of the concert programs in a special way. Joint projects with well-known orchestras such as the Dresdner Kapellsolisten, the Leipzig Baroque Orchestra and the Prague ensemble Collegium 1704 round off the choir's musical profile.
The CD recordings "Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes - Psalm settings from five centuries", "Korrespondenzen - Barock und Moderne" and the CD "Dass Du ewig denkst an mich" with arrangements of German and international folk songs also provide a representative sample of the ensemble's extensive work. In January 2024, the choir will add another completely new facet to its repertoire when it joins the Dresden Philharmonic Choirs for the "Harry Potter" film concert.
The kammerchor cantamus dresden is a co-signatory of the "Initiative weltoffenes Dresden", an association of Dresden cultural institutions that repeatedly set an example for an open society, tolerance and solidarity through targeted events.