THE CZECH BOYS’ CHOIR ‘BONI PUERI’
One of Europe’s Leading Ensembles from Prague
Wednesday May 8TH AT 10:30 a.m.
State Department
The Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide (AAFSW) cordially invites you to join us for a unique and wonderful performance by the Czech Boys Choir Boni Pueri, one of Europe’s leading ensembles, which will take place on Wednesday, May 8 at 10:30 a.m. in the Dean Acheson Auditorium at the State Department in Washington, DC
Founded in 1982, the Czech Boys Choir Boni Pueri is one of Europe’s leading ensembles, carrying on the tradition of a choir that has been active in the Metropolitan Chapter of St. Vitus in Prague since 1252. The present choir, which has 200 members ranging in age from 4 to 19, has performed more than 3,000 concerts not only in the Czech Republic, but also on tours in Japan (Tokyo Bunka Kaikan concert hall, St Mary’s Cathedral), the United States (Grace Cathedral in San Francisco), Canada (Francis Winspear Centre for Music, Edmonton), South Korea (Seoul Arts Centre), China (National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, Shanghai Oriental Art Centre), the United Kingdom, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Netherlands (Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, De Doelen in Rotterdam), Denmark, Finland, France, Italy (Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo), Monaco, Germany (Meistersingerhalle in Nuremberg), Poland, Austria, Russia (Svetlanov Hall and Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow), Spain (Basilica Santa Maria del Mar in Barcelona), Switzerland, Ukraine and the Vatican (Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore).
Boni Pueri also performs at important state events and international meetings and conferences (including the Czech national award ceremony for Sir Nicholas Winton, the state visits of German President Joachim Gauck, Austrian President Heinz Fischer and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the enthronement of Cardinal Dominik Duka) and has appeared alongside numerous distinguished artists (José Carreras, Bobby McFerrin, Thomas Hampson, Pavel Šporcl and others). The choir has made recordings for television and radio and worked with important ensembles and orchestras the world over, and released more than 30 CDs.
Boni Pueri also works closely with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2010, the choir participated in monumental performances of Mahler’s 8th Symphony—the “Symphony of a Thousand”—under the conductor’s baton of Christoph Eschenbach (Prague, Hanover, Hamburg). In 2017, the choir accepted an invitation to participate in a several-year music project titled “Czechs Masters in Vienna” and collaborated with the famous Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester to perform Johann Stamitz’s Missa solemnis.
The choir is part of a unique arts school for boys’ voices, the first of its kind in the Czech Republic. The Boni Pueri choir received the 2012 Award of the Czech Choirs Association for its exemplary promotion of Czech culture abroad, and in 2015 the choir was given the title of Cultural Ambassador of Europe by the European Federation of Choirs.
Please RSVP by Thursday, May 2 to office@aafsw.org or 703-820-5420 to register. All attendees without a State Department badge will need to provide a driver’s license or passport number and their date of birth to submit to the Office of Security at the State Department. The charge for the program is $10.00 per person to cover catering costs. Please send your information and a check (made out to AAFSW) to our headquarters at 4001 North Ninth Street, Suite 214, Arlington VA, 22203.
Please come to the C Street entrance of the Department of State. As you enter, rather than reporting to the main desk, please go to the table to your right where one of our members will check you in.
The closest metro is Foggy Bottom (Blue, Orange, Silver lines).
Parking: Columbia Plaza – on the corner of Virginia Avenue and 23rd Street. Columbia Plaza may be entered from Virginia Avenue or E Street. Expensive – $24 for more than 2 hours.
There is a small parking garage at 2112 F Street NW, which is less expensive than Columbia Plaza, but space is limited.
We will have an informal coffee (and tea) social time, which begins at 10:30 a.m., followed by the program, beginning at 11:00 a.m.
We look forward to seeing you.
Sheila Switzer
AAFSW Program Chair