Harald Jers

Harald Jers is active as an orchestral and choral conductor of several choirs and orchestras as well as being a lecturer at the Hochschule fur Musik und Tanz in Cologne and a guest lecturer at European music universities. Over and above teaching choral conducting, singing and vocal technique in combination with musical acoustics, he holds conducting classes at international choir symposiums, music festivals and professional conferences. Furthermore, his stylistic versatility makes him a sought-after juror at international choir and composition competitions. Invitations as a guest conductor for choirs and orchestras have led to concert tours throughout Europe, Asia and the USA. While he was still a student (music and vocal pedagogy, church music and physics in Cologne, Aachen, Dusseldorf and Stockholm), Jers intensified his collaboration with conductors and composers, to achieve as true a musical interpretation as possible. He focuses particularly on the integration of his own research of choral acoustics into choral performance practice. Harald Jers applies the results thus gained to his work with choirs, with marked consequences for rehearsal methods, conducting technique, the treatment of language, vocal technique and aural sensitization. The result – a differentiated and homogenous choral sound, well-balanced musical phrasing and a high standard of accuracy in intonation – was honored with the first prize of the Acoustical Society of America as well as with the Conductor’s Grand Prix in Hungary in 2010.