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The Feral Voice


Phil Minton’s Feral Choir in Cologne

Feral Choir (the wild, untamed choir) is the name that Phil Minton, British jazz and free-improvising singer, has chosen for a series of vocal workshops, resulting in performances, which he’s been holding in many different places around the world.

It appeals not only to singers, but to “anyone who takes a delight in the freedom to experiment”, including people who think they cannot sing. Minton is convinced that “anyone who can breathe is capable of producing sounds that give a positive aesthetic contribution to the human condition”.

“I encourage participants to take a vocal leap and explore all vocal possibilities through exercises and improvisations… The human voice is capable of so much more than is generally understood.” Since the first Feral Choir in Stockholm in the late 1980s, Phil Minton has been ever developing this idea further on.

This short film was shot during the Feral Choir workshop in Cologne in December 2011.


Feral Choir Köln:
Phil Minton, Judith Bisping, Dagmar Boecker, Gernot Bogumil, Hinnerick Bröskamp, Maria Carreras, Christine Dinkelbach, Monika Gand, Bernhard Gehrke, Thomas Gläßer, Iouri Grankin, Chriz Hart, Julia Ippen, Ulrich Jonas, Hae Soon Kim, Susanne Krieg, Karl Krützmann, Brigitte Küpper, Barbara Luft, Audrey Milstein, Käte Naumann, Jonida Prifti, Lourdes Redondo, Benedetta Reuter, Hansjörg Schall, Margareta Schlipf, Marion Schüller, Wiebke Techentin, Andreas Techler, Stefano di Trapani, Ansgar Wallstein, Susanna Welsch, Norbert Zajac


A Pavel Borodin / Zentrum für Aktuelle Musik production

Camera operators: Pavel Borodin, Yuri Brodsky, Victor Ferin

Sound recording by Guido Conen

Produced by Pavel Borodin, Brigitte Küpper and Thomas Gläßer

Directed and edited by Pavel Borodin

In cooperation with StaTTmuseum Köln and ZAM – Zentrum für Aktuelle Musik

Sponsored by Landesmusikrat NRW, Ministerium für Familie, Kinder, Jugend, Kultur und Sport and Kulturamt der Stadt Köln


Year of production: 2012
Duration: 18 minutes