Forum Thomanum

The Forum Thomanum (styled forum thomanum) is a music educational campus developed from 2002 in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany, as the new home of the Thomanerchor which was founded in 1212. It was conceived in 2002 by Georg Christoph Biller, then Thomaskantor, and others, to provide an internationally oriented innovative campus for a future of the traditional choir which was defined until then by Thomaskirche and Thomasschule.

Forum Thomanum
Villa Thomana, part of the campus
Motto
glauben singen lernen
Motto in English
believing singing learning
Type
Established2002 (2002)
FoundersGeorg Christoph Biller a.o.
Students1,200
Location
Leipzig
,
Saxony
,
Germany

51°20′13″N 12°21′41″E
Websitewww.forum-thomanum.de

The campus was inaugurated in 2012, where up to 1,200 boys and young men are given cultural education based on a religious foundation, social competence and democratic standing.[1][2]

History
Biller (right) as conductor of the Thomanerchor with Robert Schneider at a reading at the Thomaskirche in 2008

In 2002, Georg Christoph Biller, then Thomaskantor, and others conceived the plan to broaden the education of the Thomanerchor which was founded in 1212 and conducted by Johann Sebastian Bach from 1723.[3] The boys were until then educated at the Thomasschule with boarding facility, to perform mainly in the Thomaskirche. Besides Biller, Stefan Altner,[4] Roland Weise and Christian Wolff[5] were instrumental in planning Forum Thomanum as a campus for music education (musischer Bildungscampus), an internationally oriented institution[3][6][7] to care for the future of the traditional choir investing in education. Historic buildings were to be modernised and expanded, and new buildings added. An association to promote the project was founded in 2002.[5] Members included Biller, Klaus Lindner, Burkhard Jung (then mayor of Leipzig) and Christoph Michael Haufe.[5]

From the 2000s, the project was realised in steps.[4] In 2003, the Leipzig architects' firm Weis & Volkmann was included in the planning.[5][4] The first by-law was drawn by the jurist Frieder Schäuble, and a concept for new institutions was presented,[5] for a bilingual day care centre, a primary school and a middle school, a music academy, and the Lutherkirche as a building with several functions.[8] They were to be connected to the existing Thomasalumnat and sports facilities.[4] A project of the city of Leipzig, it has been recognised as innovative and unique in Germany.[3][9] The city estimated the total investment as Euro 30 million.[10]

The campus was inaugurated in 2012, for the 800th anniversary of the Thomanerchor. Its motto is "glauben singen lernen" (believing singing learning).[11] Up to 1,200 boys and young men are taught with the goal to raise culturally educated young people with a religious foundation, social competence and democratic standing ("mehr kulturell gebildete, religiös gebundene, sozial kompetente, demokratisch gesinnte Menschen") for a better society.[1][2]

The idea of a campus became a model for similar projects of city development (Stadtentwicklung) in Bremen and Nürnberg which were supported by the Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Bau und Stadtentwicklung from 2007 to 2015.[12]

In 2012, the Thomanerchor was awarded a special prize of the Echo Klassik for its international education campus.[13]

Campus

Source:[14]

  • Day care center
  • Elementary school and after-school care[15][16]
  • Middle school
  • St. Thomas School
  • Thomasalumnat, boarding school
  • Villa thomana
  • Academia
  • Lutherkirche, Leipzig[17] at the edge of Johannapark

References
  1. Finger, Evelyn (8 November 2012). "Thomaner gibt es nur einmal". Die Zeit (in German). No. 46. p. 66.
  2. Biller, Georg Christoph; Rothlisberger, Rod (August 2013). "In the Footsteps of Bach: an Interview with Georg Christoph Biller". The Choral Journal. 54 (1): 40–43.
  3. Mundus, Doris (2012). 800 Jahre Thomana: Bilder zur Geschichte von Thomaskirche, Thomasschule und Thomanerchor (in German). Leipzig: Lehmstedt. ISBN 978-3-94-247321-7.
  4. Bartetzky, Arnold (14 May 2009). "Raus aus dem alten Kasten". FAZ. No. 111. p. 31.
  5. Christian Wolff: forum thomanum – ein Bildungscampus für die Musikstadt Leipzig. in Stefan Altner/Martin Petzoldt (ed.): 800 Jahre Thomana, Festschrift zum Jubiläum von Thomaskirche, Thomanerchor und Thomasschule., with the University of Leipzig (faculty of music history (Helmut Loos) and the Museum of Musical Instruments of Leipzig University (Eszter Fontana), Stekovics, Wettin-Löbejün 2012 pp. 400–409, ISBN 978-3-89923-238-7.
  6. Orbeck, Mathias Orbeck (13 August 2016). "Richtfest beim Forum Thomanum". Leipziger Volkszeitung (in German). p. 19.
  7. Rey, Lucienne (24 December 2007). "Gesang als Lebensschule". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  8. Wiegand, Ursula (2007). "Thomanerchor Leipzig – neue Bildungschancen durch das "forum thomanum": eine Initiative mit Signalcharakter für Deutschland". Forum Kirchenmusik. Vol. 58, no. 1. pp. 14–19.
  9. Steinitz, Margaret (March 2007). "Forum Thomanum". Bach Notes. London Bach Society: 6.
  10. Wirtschaftsbericht 2015 (PDF). Leipzig Dezernat Wirtschaft und Arbeit, Amt für Wirtschaftsförderung. March 2015. p. 101.
  11. Glatthaar, Louisa Esther (26 August 2015). "Lutherkirchen-Restaurierung läuft". Leipziger Volkszeitung (in German). p. 18.
  12. Stadt Leipzig, Der Bürgermeister (ed.): koopstadt – Stadtentwicklung Bremen, Leipzig, Nürnberg: Konzeptstudie, Leipzig 2009, pp. 29, 34
  13. News, in: Österreichische Musikzeitschrift, Bd. 67, No. 5 (2012), pp. 117.
  14. "forum thomanum". Bach-Archiv Leipzig (in German). Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  15. "Grundschule forum thomanum". Leipziger Volkszeitung (in German). 30 January 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  16. Schumann, Lars (16 April 2019). "Grundschule und Hort forum thomanum Leipzig feiern 10-jähriges Bestehen". Leipziginfo.de (in German). Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  17. Julke, Ralf (26 August 2015). "Restaurierung der Lutherkirche beginnt jetzt mit der Sanierung des Kirchendaches". Nachrichten aus Leipzig – Leipziger Zeitung. Retrieved 3 February 2022.

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