St. James's Church (Vienna, Austria)
St. James's Church
St. James's Church (German: Kirche St. Jakob) is one of two Roman Catholic churches in the parish of Heiligenstadt in the 19th district of Vienna, Döbling. It stands at the Pfarrplatz and is dedicated to James, son of Zebedee (Saint James). The church is sometimes wrongly called St. Jacob's. The confusion arises because German, like many other languages, uses the same word for both James and Jacob.
The Wiener Vokalensemble (WVE) - which emerged from the Canisius youth choir - was founded in 1975 by Manfred Linsbauer, who was the artistic director of the choir until 2013. In the summer of 2014, the WVE was taken over by Michael Wahlmüller , who has been the choir's artistic director ever since. After the WVE moved from the 9th district of Vienna to the parish of Heiligenstadt (St. Jakob) in the 19th district of Vienna in spring 2005, it found its new home and location there.
The WVE currently consists of about 60 members of all ages who are closely connected through their joy in singing and their common personal commitment. In the last few decades, many beautiful and sometimes unforgettable performances and concert evenings have been successful. The repertoire includes secular and sacred choral music from the Renaissance to the present and also includes folk songs from home and many other countries. Choir-orchestral music and mass compositions from the Baroque and Viennese classics are also performed. One focus in recent years has been the cultivation of contemporary choral music, including world premieres.