About Guldberg's
The Guldberg Academic Choral Society was founded on the 8th of May 1916 in Kristiania (Oslo).
Today, Guldberg's comprises around 70 singers, led by our conductor, Sigurd Engesnes. The choir seeks to carry forward the proud traditions of male choral singing, while also seeking inspiration in more contemporary music. Our repertoire thus ranges from major classical choral works to cheerful drinking songs, from national romanticism to popular culture. Throughout, our ambition is to delight our audiences and to remain among Norway’s leading male choirs.
"The winter storms had passed. There was spring in the air. Everything beautiful burst into bloom. So did the Guldberg Academic Choral Society."
- from Guldberg’s Chronicle, 1921
Ansgar Guldberg.
Credits: Unknown
The Guldberg Academic Choral Society was founded on 8th of May 1916 in Kristiania (Oslo).
Lofty cigar smoking, punch, and academic repartee were never elective subjects at the Academy of Music, nor were they likely recommended by any singing teacher as prerequisites for refined musical interpretation. Nevertheless, Ansgar Guldberg, Sophus Brochmann, H. P. Blix, and Paul Gjesdal, together with some twenty fellow singing enthusiasts, convened this Monday for a constitutive meeting that would mark a new turn in Norwegian choral history.
The newly established choir was to be of high quality, with musically dedicated members combined with a strong spirit of conviviality.
Ansgar Guldberg had previously served as conductor of the Norwegian Student Choral Society (Den Norske Studentersangforening), but had been in ongoing conflict with the choir, mainly due to artistic differences between the board and the conductor. In the spring of 1916, he therefore broke away with the ambition of starting something new. The vision proved sound, and G.A.K. quickly became a highly esteemed choir in Scandinavia, fully on par with (and at times surpassing) DNS and the Swedish Orphei Drängar.
The first photo of the choir, spring 1917
Credits: unknown
Guldberg Academic Choral Society, 1920
Credits: Unknown