In 1912 in Tartu, Juhan Simm (1885- 1959) who studied in the University of Tartu, founded a university male choir (now Tartu Academic Male Choir). Almost hundred years old, this choir is still rocks the world with positive energy and wonderful songs.
Juhan was a student and differently from many other fellow students, for whom humming together with fraternity brothers was the end of musical aspirations, his desire was to make beautiful choral music. As a future mathematician, he understood the combination of factors needed to get a combination of pleasant harmony and united singing. Despite the opposition of many students and student associations, a male choir was established in the beginning of 1912 with sufficient number of singers from several student organizations. Success came fast – a complicated repertoire was performed in the first concert some months later… From this point on, a lack of singers was never a problem.
Conductor Simm eventually run out of energy, which he needed to devote to Vanemuise orchestra and conducting several choirs. Therefore, in 1924 a professional singing pedagogue Leenart Neuman took over the conducting of the choir with its almost 100 members.
Which songs do the singers of TAM love to perform? It seems that when singing the softer side of otherwise tough men is revealed. Men love to sing about the sea, storm, pirates and gunmen, but at the same time they are dissatisfied when songs about fatherland and mother tongue are not included in the repertoire. And although not all men have passed philosophy courses at the university, they can nevertheless perform music tackling the eternal themes in Golden Beach, A Song Unsung, and The Singer’s Winter Solitude in an inspiring manner… The songs which are loved throughout times speak about home and fatherland, looking for and finding, love, children, fathers, mothers and ancestors. [Source of the text: http://tam.eu/en/?cat=24&target=]
Listen/watch them perform “Koit” by Tõnis Mägi.
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