The Armed Man

On October 26, the Innsbruck University Orchestra, conducted by Claudio Büchler, will perform The armed man - a mass for peace by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins at 19:30 in the Innsbruck Exhibition Center.

Karl Jenkins wrote this large-scale work at the turn of the millennium as an anti-war piece and dedicated it to the victims of the Kosovo war. In the composition, he combined parts of the Catholic mass liturgy with various other sources such as the 15th century soldier's song L'homme armé, the Islamic call to prayer, psalm texts and texts by various writers who have dealt with the horrors of war and the longing for peace. The result is a moving and stirring piece of music that is not the most frequently performed classical work by a living composer in the world for nothing.

Lisa-Marie Hilber (mezzo-soprano), Benjamin Idriz (muezzin), the Innsbruck University Choir, the choir of the Tiroler Landestheater, the school choir of the Sillgasse grammar school and the vocal ensemble Euphonie will join the University Orchestra on stage.

The Innsbruck University Orchestra and its conductor Claudio Büchler want to set an example for peace with this concert. Veronika Sexl, Rector of the Leopold Franzens University of Innsbruck, and Wolfgang Fleischhacker, Rector of the Medical University of Innsbruck, have taken on the patronage.

More information: www.uibk.ac.at/uniorchester