Carsten Seyer-Hansen

Among Denmark's leading choral conductors, Carsten Seyer-Hansen is cantor of Copenhagen Cathedral and Kapellmeister of the Copenhagen Boys' Choir. He has also collaborated with various classical and jazz musicians and is a significant educator. Seyer-Hansen was born in Denmark on September 1, 1971, and grew up on a farm near Givsud Mark in southern Denmark. His father was a craftsman. Musical influences came from his mother, who played the piano and listened to classical music on the household record player. She set up lessons for her son with local pianist Egon Pedersen, and he began his studies at age six, continuing until he moved away for conservatory training. Seyer-Hansen began his career as founder of the Aarhus University Choir in 1995, and he remained its conductor for ten years. In 1997, he founded the vocal group Concert Clemens (also known as Vokalgruppe Concert Clemens); he remained its conductor and artistic director as of the mid-2020s. In 1998, he joined the faculty of the University of Jutland, building and teaching in a choral conducting program. He also established the vocal education program Sangkraft Aarhus, which provided conducting lessons to young choral singers from around the peninsular Jutland region. He became cantor at Aarhus Cathedral and also established its Boys' Choir, remaining the director of both groups until 2020. With Concert Clemens and the Aarhus Cathedral Choir, he released his debut album, featuring the Requiem and other works by Maurice Duruflé, on the Danacord label in 2012. That recording won the prestigious Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (German Recording Critics' Prize). Seyer-Hansen has collaborated with various groups outside his primary places of employment. These include the DR (Danish Radio) Vocal Ensemble and the choir of the Aarhus Bach Society, with which he has led an ongoing complete cycle of Bach's major choral works. Seyer-Hansen has also worked with the Aarhus Jazz Orchestra and composer/trumpeter Jakob Buchanan in music that expands the interface between improvisation and classical vocal music; his recording of Buchanan's Requiem won a prize for Danish Jazz Release of the Year. In 2020, Seyer-Hansen became cantor of Copenhagen Cathedral (the Vor Frue Kirk or Church of Our Lady) and conductor of its choir, the Royal Copenhagen Chapel Choir, and also of the Københavns Drengekor ("Copenhagen Boys' Choir"). He remained that group's director as of the mid-2020s. Seyer-Hansen helmed several more recordings with Concert Clemens, including, in 2023, on the OUR Recordings label, one of Hugo Distler's a cappella oratorio Die Weihnachtsgeschichte.
© James Manheim /TiVo