Jazzchor Freiburg - Sacred (2025)

With their new album Sacred, the Jazzchor Freiburg invites listeners on an extraordinary musical journey of discovery. Beyond conventional categories, a world unfolds where contemporary a cappella singing, jazzy harmonies, and sonic subtleties blend into a unified experience. Under the direction of the highly acclaimed and award-winning Bertrand Groger, the choir once again demonstrates its stylistic range, creative innovation, and emotional depth.

Sacred means not only "holy" in the literal sense but here refers more broadly to what moves, touches, and connects people. The album's repertoire explores moments of fulfillment, doubt, wonder, and inner vastness - without being bound by religious denominations. In times of searching for orientation, the choir creates soundscapes that combine meditative depth with joyful lightness.

The pieces on Sacred are inspired by legendary musical encounters: collaborations with artists such as Bobby McFerrin, the New York Voices, and Torun Eriksen have left their mark - audible in Groger's sensitive arrangements, which feel both playful and thoughtfully composed at the same time. Influences from Ellington's Sacred Concert and Bernstein's Mass also resonate, finding unique choral interpretations during the songs.

The Jazzchor Freiburg sings of a Garden of Eden full of rhythm, tells of the search for meaning, of hope, and of a love greater than anything else. Effortlessly, the ensemble moves between dynamic energy, ethereal soundscapes, and intimate vocal artistry. Supported only by a vocal percussionist, the choir reveals an impressive diversity - at times surprising, at times deeply moving.

Sacred is a musical offering, open to all who are willing to immerse themselves in a richness of voice that seeks not to preach, but to move. The music on Sacred invites reflection, dreaming, smiling - and perhaps also a new way of hearing the seemingly incomprehensible. Simply music that stays with you.