BRIDGEPORT, CT – Joined by Mayor Bill Finch, new Executive Director of The Klein, Laurence A. Caso, announced that, as a kickoff to the 75th anniversary of The Klein, the world-renowned Vienna Boys Choir, a musical institution for more than five centuries, will perform a special concert on Saturday, December 13th at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the concert, which are already selling briskly, range from $28 to $68, and may be purchased by calling (800) 424-0160 or online at www.theklein.org.
“We are very grateful for the support of Mayor Finch today since we have deliberately chosen to designate our Vienna Boys Choir concert as the official kick off to our exciting 75th anniversary year,” Caso said. “The Mayor echoed our feelings that the choir’s international stature, rich history and wide appeal to family audiences will attract a large audience and will enhance the Klein’s reputation as a high quality performing arts center.”
“The Vienna Boys Choir will offer a rare and amazing experience. This performance will include a range of holiday and classical music from composers like Bruckner, Haydn, Mozart and Schubert, among others,” he said. “No theater in Connecticut has better acoustics for live, un-amplified music than The Klein.”
Caso added that the Klein’s board of directors is actively looking to the community and to local businesses to act as patrons, sponsors or donors to the event. The Klein will be reaching out to those entities to enhance financial support beyond ticket sales for the Vienna Boys Choir concert.
“In addition, we will appeal to our growing number of excellent and diverse Bridgeport restaurants to offer discounts to pre-theater patrons so that we can foster the tradition of enjoying a full evening of dining and entertainment in Bridgeport,” Caso said.
The Vienna Boys choir is an organization of long-standing tradition. There are four subgroups or touring choirs, giving concerts worldwide and each choir has a choirmaster and two tutors or prefects that travel with them. The choirs are named after famous Austrian composers associated with the choir’s history - The choirs still perform much of the music of these composers.
ABOUT THE KLEIN
The Klein is a 1,400-seat historic American theater and part of the Klein Foundation. It was built in the 1930s with funds willed to the City of Bridgeport by native Jacob Klein. Designed by local architect Leonard Asheim, the auditorium was built in the Art Deco style and features bronze doors, a marble lobby, inlaid wood and geometric motifs.After opening its doors for performances in 1940 - 75 years ago - The Klein has played host to programs ranging in scope to symphonies, operas, theater, folk, blues and rock concerts, local dance recitals and political debates. It also operates ASK, a tuition-free after school program where up to 100 Bridgeport students receive instruction in music, dance and drama. The Klein has been the home of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra for nearly 70 years and also to the New England Ballet.In earlier years, the Klein has hosted such luminaries as Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Fiedler, Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Jr., Paul Robeson, Milton Berle and Victor Borge, and Bill Cosby. More recently such diverse musical acts as Alice Cooper, B.B. King, Boz Scaggs, Dweezil Zappa, Herbie Hancock, George Carllin, Peter Frampton, Boyz II Men, the B-52s, and the Parris Island Marine Band have appeared on the Klein stage.