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special events
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Roma e Città del Vaticano 23 – 25 maggio 2008
  Dr. Hans-Albert Courtial riceve l’onorificenza di “Ambasciatore di Roma nel mondo" dal Vice-Sindaco di Roma, On.le Mariapia Garavaglia, nella Sala della Protomoteca in Campidoglio.
 Direttore: Ulrich Walddörfer
 Direttore: M° Pablo Colino
 Direttore: M° Carma Romano
La Morte  Direttore: M° Franz Lamprecht
 Concerto straordinario in memoria del Santo Padre Giovanni Paolo II
 Concerto nella Basilica di S. Ignazio, Roma
 Direttore: M° Paul Salamunovich
 Concerto nella Basilica di S. Ignazio, Roma
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On the occasion of the Limburg Diocese pilgrimage in Rome in October, the Associazione Internazionale Amici della Musica Sacra, gave its patronage to the organization of a marvellous concert that took place in the S. Ignazio Basilica. The Limburg Diocese Choirs, under the conduction of Klaus Knubben and Carsten Igelbrink, sang in the presence of the Limburg Bishop, Dr. Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst. A large audience of Romans and foreigners attended this unique event. The choirs, accompanied at the organ by Wilhelm Gries and by a small chamber orchestra, performed the marvellous pieces of O. di Lasso, G. P. da Palestrina, F. Mendelssohn Bartholdy, C. Monteverdi, C. Villiers Stanford, H. Kaminski, R. Mauersberger e V. Miskinis.
On the occasion of the pilgrimage of the Historischer Schützen in Rome in October 2008 the International Association Friends of Sacred Music gave its patronage to a very interesting concert in the Basilica of S. Ignazio, where the Vicariate of the Vatican City Choir and the Pessoa Orchestra performed. Since 1993 this choir sings daily during the liturgies in St. Peter’s Basilica and is conducted by Temistocle Capone. The concert, which took place in the presence of His Eminence Cardinal Angelo Comastri, Archpriest of the St. Peter’s Basilica, was set up in two parts. In the first one music pieces by Perosi, Palestrina, Bartolucci and Liberto have been performed accompanied at the organ by Gianluca Libertucci, Organist of the Vicariate of the Vatican City in St. Peter’s Basilica. In the second part the Orchestra played Vivaldi’s “Concerto per due flauti e orchestra” with the soloists Annalisa Capone and Mauro Salvatori, and Mozart’s Missa Brevis “Spatzenmesse”. At the end of this extraordinary concert, the audience could appreciate the music piece “Aurea Luce” by Pietro Raimondi in a very interesting orchestral version. 
At the beginning of Autumn 2008 the International Association Friends of Sacred Music gave its patronage to two special concerts with the famous Hösel Children Choir. The choir composed of young boys and children was skilfully conducted by Toralf Hildebrandt, a very well known musician in the field of children choir conducting and choir pedagogy. The first event took place on the 29th of September in the wonderful Parish Church of Gries in Bolzano in collaboration with the Leonhard Lechner Youth Choir, conducted by Barbara Pichler and Ulrich Kössler. On this occasion the two choirs sang pieces by Elgar, Purcell, Franck, Mozart, Kodaly, parts from the Peace Mass by Chilcott and other composers. The concert has been a great success. The second event took place in the Parish Church of Laives (Bolzano) consacrated to Saint Anthony the Great and Saint Nicholas. The audience enjoyed very much also this concert, in which pieces by Elgar, Franck, Mozart, Silcher, Rabe, Maierhofer and other composers have been sung. 
In 2008 there has been a very important edition of the Festival who reached its 10th edition and taking place as usual, in one of the most beautiful cities in Europe: Barcelona. Thanks to its President, Dr. h.c. Hans Urrigshardt, many choirs decided to take part in the Festival. There has been a total of 22 choirs coming from Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia (4 choirs), Finland, Germany, Italy (7 choirs), Lettland, Poland, Rumania, Russia, Serbia, for a total of about 700 persons who have been singing in the churches and streets of Barcelona for four days in their traditional costumes. Barcelona represents the ideal city of the Festival thanks to its strategic position close to the seaside and for its marvellous atmosphere particularly suitable for folk songs. The festival allowed all choirs to experience a social and professional enrichment through a cultural exchange and the possibility to be judged and honoured for their performance. The parade of all choirs and open air concerts in the heart of the capital of Catalonia have animated the festival.
Sen. Dr. hc. mult. Hans-Albert Courtial, General President of the Fondazione Pro Musica e Arte Sacra, has been appointed “Ambassador of Rome to the world” by Rome’s municipality, represented by Rome’s vice-mayor, On.le Mariapia Garavaglia, at the hall of the Protomoteca of Capitol Hill on the 14th of January 2008. Since 2002 this award is given annually to personalities who actively promote Rome’s image in Italy and world-wide in culture, art and economy. Dr. Hans-Albert Courtial was nominated for the title in his position as the General President of the Fondazione Pro Musica e Arte Sacra, which he founded in 2002 with the objective to protect, restore, and promote Italy’s sacred artistic patrimony. 
Giuseppe Verdi’s Messa da Requiem was presented in the marvellous Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls on Saturday the 30th of June, 2007 on the occasion of the solemnity of the Roman Saints Peter and Paul: an artistic collaboration between Italy and Germany in the name of the grand composer to propose his most famous works of sacred music in a magnificent framework. The Orchester Romana Symphonia and one of the most traditional German choirs, the Stuttgarter Liederkranz founded at Stuttgart in 1824, performed conjointly conducted by the maestro Ulrich Walddörfer. This unique concert under the patronage of the Associazione Internazionale Amici della Musica Sacra, was crowned by a huge success not only due to the numerous audience but also due to the critics. This great musical event confirmed the felicitous collaboration between Italian and German artists united in the name of Verdi paying homage to the Roman City on this for the city so important holiday. Together with the choir and the orchestra the following renowned soloist performed at the concert: the soprano singer Roxana Briban, guest soloist of the National Opera and the Volksoper of Vienna, the mezzosoprano singer Carmen Mammoser, fix ensemble member of the National Opera of Stuttgart, the tenor Levent Gündüz, permanent ensemble member of the National Opera of Izmir, and the bass voice Marcel Rosca, ensemble member of the Aalto Theatre in Essen. 
On the occasion of the jubilee year of S. Ignazio of Loyola (450 years), of S. Francesco Saverio and of the Blessed Pietro Fabro (500 years), the International Association Friends of Sacred Music patronized the Christmas Concert of the Choir of the Accademia Filarmonica Romana in the Basilica S. Ignazio da Loyola, conducted by Pablo Colino. This choir belonging to the School of Music founded by the Accademia in 1961, which participates in the concert season of the Filarmonica and also in the solemn high masses in the Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican, is well known to the Roman audience, which always flocks enthusiastically to its concerts. On the occasion the choir performed the most famous Christmas songs from all over the world, Gregorian chants, Renaissance music, and a composition by Maestro Colino, Anima di Cristo. Pablo Colino conducted concerts in all Europe and in the United States, furthermore he recorded and published many CDs and DVDs. He is Emeritus Director of Music of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, and also member of the Board of Directors and of the Artistic Committee of the Fondazione Pro Musica e Arte Sacra. 
In November 2006 in the Basilica of S. Ignazio in Rome the International Association Friends of Sacred Music gave its patronage to the wonderful concert of the American choir Musicians of Saint Clare, conducted by Carma Romano – La Morte. This choir, already known to the Roman audience because of its participation in the II International Festival of Sacred Music and Art (November 2003), performs mainly Gregorian Chant and Renaissance Polyphony. In this concerts it performed music of Palestrina (Missa Tu es Petrus) and Arcadelt (Ave Maria), moreover the audience could appreciate an excellent performance of the famous Miserere by Gregorio Allegri. Furthermore the choir wanted to measure itself with the contemporary polyphony, performing pieces by Patrick Heid (American composer) and Henryk Gorecki (famous Polish author). Wishing to pay homage to the last exponent of the so called Roman School, Domenico Bartolucci, they performed his Veni Creator Spiritus. The audience, which crowded the church, appreciated in particular the masterly direction of Maestro Romano – La Morte, who, besides being a great choir conductor, is also a famous violinist and Director of Liturgy for the Archdiocese of Denver.
In July 2006 the International Association Friends of Sacred Music gave its patronage to two special concerts in Rome of the Choir of the Landesregierung Düsseldorf and Oratorien-Choir Hilden, accompanied by the Rumanian State Philharmonic Orchestra "Dinu Lipatti" from Satu Mare, united under the skilled direction of Franz Lamprecht. In the first concert, in the suggestive Church of S.S. Apostoli, they performed wonderfully the famous Coronation Mass (KV 317) by Mozart, the Ouverture from “Lobgesang” (Psalm 150 - op. 52) by Mendelssohn, and the Te Deum (op. 103) by Dvorák. In the second concert, in the famous Church S. Ignazio, they performed the Te Deum by Bizet and the Mass for St. Cecilia by Gounod. The Roman audience appreciated both these concerts and actually crowded incredibly both the churches in spite of the summer heat. The choirs and orchestra, which participated in these two events, have a consolidated concert experience, but their performance has been optimized by the direction of Franz Lamprecht, worldwide famous musician. The conductor is the principal organizer of the Festival Schloss Benrath, and also the music director of the Satu Mare orchestra. 
In November 2003 the II edition of the Festival Internazionale di Musica e Arte Sacra took place in the Roman basilicas organized by the