Biography
BONI PUERI, the Czech Boys Choir, was founded in 1982 and has become one of Europe's most famous musical ensembles. The choirs have given more than 2500 concerts in North America, Asia and Europe, have produced 13 recordings and have been invited to participate in 20 other recordings with Supraphon, EMI, BMG and ArcoDiva. In addition, Boni Pueri has been featured on a number of television and radio broadcasts. The choirs are invited to perform regularly with eminent artists, including José Carreras and Bobby McFerrin, and with other important ensembles and orchestras around the world.
Boni Pueri has been privileged to perform in some of the world’s great concert halls including Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, Winspear Hall in Edmonton, Canada, the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Hall, Seoul Arts Centre, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, De Doelen in Rotterdam, Basilica di S. Maria Maggiore in Bergamo, Italy, Meistersingerhalle in Nurnberg, and the Rudolfinum Dvorak Hall in Prague.
The choirs have appeared at numerous international music festivals including The Prague Spring Festival (1994, 1995, 1998, 2004, 2005), Europalia (Brussels 1998), AmericaFest International Festival for Boys’ & Men’ Choirs (Minneapolis 1998, 2002), Jeonju Sori Festival (South Korea 2002). In July 2004 Boni Pueri became the first European organization to host the highly acclaimed World Festival of Singing for Men and Boys and will again host the festival in 2008. Individual members of Boni Pueri are often invited to be soloists in other performances, including The Magic Flute at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma in 2004.
Boni Pueri performs frequently with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and was featured most recently in a performance of King Roger by Szymanowski. In 2006, the choirs were invited to open the Orchestra’s Choral Concert Series in Dvorak Hall.
Other important projects of recent years have included performances of Bach’s St Matthew Passion, the Mozart Requiem, the Fauré Requiem, theatrical staging of Hans Krása's Terezín children's opera Brundibár, and a premiere recording of music by the baroque composers Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer, Pavel Josef Vejvanovský and Jan Dismas Zelenka. In 2003 Boni Pueri's recording of Zelenka's Sub olea pacis et palma virtutis received the prestigious Cannes Classical Award. In 2004, the Boni Pueri recording of Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols was named as the Recording of the Month.
Boni Pueri is also a private music school with 350 students and since 2006 has been under the patronage of the Czech Ministry of Education. Boni Pueri is a cultural ambassador of the "European Federation of Choirs of the Union".