Coburg – singing is medicine, says gunter freitag, and he speaks from decades of experience. "Where there is singing, people come together and make friends. This harmony is what makes singing", the chairman of the coburg-kronach-lichtenfels choral society is convinced of this. Gunter freitag celebrates his 65th birthday today. Birthday. He is no longer an active sanger, because his duties as chairman of the sangerkreis take up too much of his time. And half-heartedness, even when singing, is not his thing.
Gunter freitag was born in bamberg in 1948. He spent his childhood in the main valley and later attended high school in bamberg. In his day, he says, music was still important as a subject in school. His parents had given him the joy of singing in his cradle. His father was the chairman of the local choir, where his mother also sang.
Interest in choral singing vanished
As life goes, gunter lost his taste for choir singing and piano playing during puberty. "This is a time when young people are trying to grow up and are interested in anything but regular commitments." After completing his vocational training, freitag lived in rodach, where he joined the sangervereinigung at the age of 26. It didn't take long for him to become chairman.
Gunter freitag had not been involved in the singing circle until then, which is why he was surprised when he was asked if he wanted to take over the office of deputy district chairman. Three years later, in 1995, he was elected district chairman of the association.
One of his first official acts was the change of name. After all, choral groups from the neighboring counties of kronach and lichtenfels had already belonged to the coburg choral district at that time. And now these should also be named as sangerkreis coburg-kronach-lichtenfels. He did not come to choral singing anymore: "if you do not practice consistently, there is no point. It's only fun if you are also vocally confident." The people of bad rodach had to do without the baritone.
Gunter freitag is not worried about the future of the singing movement. Of course, the choral landscape is changing, and many choruses have become obsolete. Gunter freitag does not accept only lamentation. "For decades, people have neglected to take care of the next generation." To the joy of the passionate chorus friend there are however also again each quantity of new beginnings. "It is encouraging when choruses that have already been abandoned are awakened from their dormant state or when young people get together to sing." The "old" choren advises freitag to also look around for merger possibilities in the neighboring area.
The district chairman sees a refreshing potential for performance in newly founded choirs. When he thinks of performance, he also thinks of concert trips, such as with the hassenberg choir and the performance in hungary, the windheimer choir and the singing in petersdom, the singing club niederfullbach and the trip to salzburg, among other things. These, he says, are choruses that are really fun, because the joy of singing comes across so refreshingly here. The best proof that the sangerbewegung still stands in the blood of its years, says freitag, was probably the common appearance of over 600 singers on the coburger albertsplatz in the past year to the 150-year jubilaum of the german chorus federation.
At the kreissangertag on 10. March in weitramsdorf elections are coming up again. "If I am elected again", announces friday "I will gladly take over the office again, but only for three more years." Then he wants to enjoy his retirement completely, to have more time for his wife evi, who has stood by him all these years and decades, for walks with lupus, his faithful friend on four paws, for hiking and for his children and grandchildren, who give him a lot of joy.
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