CANTORES MINORES

About the Artist

Cantores Minores is the Warsaw Boychoir of St. John the Baptist Cathedral and was founded ten years ago by its present American-born-and-trained conductor Joseph A. Herter. For the past nine years it has been affiliated with the Basilica Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in WarsawÆs Old Town. During the past decade, the choir has concertized in fourteen countries, taken part in sixteen festivals both in Poland and abroad, performed with such prestigious orchestras as the National Philharmonic in Warsaw and Sinfonia Varsovia, and taken top prizes in choral competitions in Moscow and Lecco, Italy. The choir received international attention when it was one of two European choirs to perform in a concert in the VaticanÆs Sala Nervi in January, 2000.

Conductor Joseph Herter was born of Polish descent in 1945 in Detroit, Michigan. He is a graduate of the School of Music at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he studied conducting with Elizabeth Green, Thomas Hilbish, Maynard Klein and Gustav Meier. He continued his studies in choral conducting at Westminster Choir College with Robert Shaw in 1981, and in orchestral conducting at the Berkshire Music Institute in Tanglewood, with conductors Seiji Ozawa and Kurt Masur in 1984. He has twice been the recipient of fellowships from the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York.

Since 1974, Herter has lived in Poland, where he first worked as music director at the American School of Warsaw. During the past thirteen years, he has been guest conductor at the National Opera, Polish Radio Theater, numerous festivals and with many orchestras throughout Poland, including the Warsaw National Philharmonic, with whom he recorded the sound track of the Polish feature film and TV serial "Alchemik."

Past Performances

July 9, 2001

The Warsaw Boychoir of St. John the Baptist Basilica Cathedral, Cantores Minores, specializes in a cappella and accompanied choral music.

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