Artistic Director
Axel Theimer
Kantorei's founder and artistic director was born in St. Johann in Tirol, Austria, where music has been part of his life from the very beginning.
It started with folksongs sung around the campfire, while hiking and at evening gatherings. His parents were managers of a children's retreat/vacation camp, operated by the health services of the city of Innsbruck. A first milestone was when an old upright piano was delivered to the farm-like setting by horse cart halfway up a 7,000-foot mountain in the Austrian Alps. Receiving piano lessons (at age four) also meant walking down into the village for about an hour every other week to see the teacher.
Dr. Theimer was a member of the Vienna Choir Boys from age seven until voice change. He received much of his training in Vienna and completed his studies at the University of Minnesota with a MFA in Choral Conducting and a DMA in Vocal Performance.
He is an active recitalist and has presented master classes, workshops and seminars for state, regional and national music conventions and conferences, and has conducted All-State Choirs, Choral Festivals, and Honor Choirs throughout the United States.
Dr. Theimer has been Director of Choral Activities at St. John's University and The College of St. Benedict since 1969. At Saint John's and Saint Ben's he directs the CSB/SJU Chamber Choir and the SJU Men's Chorus and teaches choral conducting, applied voice, vocal pedagogy and other related courses.
In addition to his professional activities with Kantorei and at Saint John's and Saint Ben's, he is founder and music director of Amadeus Chamber Symphony, a chamber orchestra for central Minnesota musicians and audiences, and is music director of the National Catholic Youth Choir. He is on the faculty, and is currently President as well as Executive Director of the VoiceCare Network. In November of 2001, the Minnesota American Choral Directors Association awarded him Choir Director of the Year. Dr. Theimer's choral compositions and arrangements are published by Alliance Publications in Wisconsin.
