Nordöstlicher Sängerbund of America ~ Strength in Tradition • Friendship in Song ~             Home Welcome NOSB Sängerfest Tradition The Washington Sängerbund Sängerfest Conductors & Orchestra Purchase PHOTOS Host Chorus: Washington Sängerbund ~ founded 1851 ~ 2434 Wisconsin Ave, NW Washington, DC 20007 Rehearsals: Friday at 7pm Conductors • Festdirigenten Stephen Ackert Manfred Knoop A graduate of Oberlin College (BA in religion, BMus in Organ), Northwestern University (MMus in organ), and the University of Wisconsin (DMA in organ), Stephen Ackert studied organ and harpsichord as a Fulbright scholar in Frankfurt, Germany, where his teachers were Helmut Walcha and Maria Jaeger-Jung. From 1974 to 1978 he served as a specialist in Western music for the National Iranian Radio and Television Network in Tehran. He also served as manager and musical director of the network's resident chamber orchestra. From 1979 to 2004, he served three churches in the Washington, DC, area as organist and choir director. Stephen heads the music department at the National Gallery of Art. In that capacity, he administers weekly concerts for the public and presents lectures and lecture-recitals on subjects that bring together the visual arts and music. Other venues in which he has lectured include the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, the San Antonio Museum of Art, the Austrian Embassy and the German Embassy in Washington, DC. Stephen has taught choral music, music appreciation, and music theory at the junior and senior high school levels as well as applied organ at the university level. He is currently a member of the adjunct music faculty of the Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria, Virginia. Manfred Knoop is an accomplished performer, conductor, composer, arranger and teacher born in Heiden, Germany, and he studied at the University of Münster in Germany. After relocating to the United States, Manfred received his BS and MS in Music from the prestigious Manhattan School of Music and has pursued additional studies in organ, piano, trumpet, vocal performance and conducting. Manfred is currently Music Director at the St. Elizabeth Roman Catholic Church in Wyckoff, New Jersey, the Sängerchor Newark (since 1978) and the Schwäbischer Sängerbund, New Jersey (since 1985). In 1989, Manfred formed ”Vocal Point”, a 16-member ensemble of professional vocalists, with backgrounds in Broadway, Off-Broadway, opera companies, and regional choral groups. Manfred created ”The Magic of Christmas”, a spectacular holiday show, which has been in performance for more than 10 years. Manfred has led many of his choruses on tours to Europe, with performances in Assisi, Berlin, Cologne, Dublin, Monte Carlo, Paris, Rome, Venice, and Windsor. As the owner of a professional recording studio, he is involved in the production and recording of many renowned artists from jazz to pop music. Among others, he recently produced a CD for Lionel Hampton's 90th birthday, which was released on Manfred's own jazz label: "Twinz Records". Source: Saengerchor Newark (http://cazoo.org/SCN/Director.htm) National Gallery Orchestra The National Gallery of Art Orchestra was founded in 1943 and initially consisted of approximately 25 players who were also members of the National Symphony Orchestra. Gradually growing in numbers, it eventually reached the size and status of a large chamber orchestra. The ensemble undertakes the full range of chamber and symphonic repertoire and has frequently presented first performances of works by American composers, most notably the 1953 premiere of Charles Ives‘s First Symphony and the 1991 premiere of Daniel Pinkham‘s Symphony No. 4. Since 1966 the Orchestra has presented one of Washingtons favorite New Year traditions, a concert in the manner of the New Year concerts at the Musikverein in Vienna. The orchestra has been invited to accompany the 2009 Saengerfest under the direction of Maestro Knoop as guest conductor, and Stephen Ackert, head of the Music Department of the National Gallery of Art.