St. Maximilian’s Parish Choir in Toruń is a four-voice mixed ensemble consisting of vocal music lovers from the city of Toruń. Most members of the choir are young; the average age ranging from 30 to 35. They display various levels of general and musical education. The choir is an entirely amateur group of people of who want serve God and people through the medium of music. The members of te choir meet twice a week to rehearse.
The group was founded on September 5, 1982 and, enjoying the patronage of St. Maximilian’s parish rector – rev. Andrzej Klemp, has been active ever since. Rev. Zbigniew Markowski was the founder and also the first conductor of the choir.
Initially, the choir was a small affair, gathering singers also active in other Toruń choirs, wchich soon evolved into a four-voice group of singers – St. Maximilian parishioners. On St. Cecil’s Day on November 22, 1985 the statuory board was created with Bernard Czajkowski as Chairman and Małgorzata Dyduch as his deputy.
In 1988/89 Henryk Klimczak took over the conductorship of the choir to be soon succeeded by rev. Zbigniew Markowski again. He successfully ran the choir until Pelplin Bishop transferred him to another parish in May, 1991.
In 1998, to celebrate the occasion of the Miraculous Picture of Our Lady of Częstochowa being exhibited in Toruń, the choir performed togrther with Toruń Chamber Orchestra, giving a concert of songs related to the cult of Virgin Mary. In 1989 St. Maximilian Choir gave guest performances in Lviv, Ukraine. To the time of the Polish Church administrative reform (March 1992) the group has been participating in the annual Festival of Church Choirs always winning recognition and favourable reviews.
Since November 1991 Czesław Grajewski has been the choir’s conductor and artistic director. He has greatly contributed to the choir’s reputation of a dynamically developing group of singers. To date the choir can boast of the following achievements:
Firstly, it has given a number of concerts and music bacground accompanying liturgy in church. From its jubilee concert in mmemorating the choir’s 10th anniversary in 1992 it has been participating in he Festival of Włocławek Diocese Choirs, taking part in Holy Masses transmitted by Polish Radio and Radio Maryja. It also took part in the ceremony inaugurating the Cultural Year of 1993, celebrations of International Year of Maximilian Kolbe in 1994, and Toruń Woivode Cup Tournament in 1995, winning First Prize in category of adult choirs.
Secondly, in 1994 some members of the choir founded the Sacred Music Pomeranian Association. Its main objective is to assist St. Maximilian’s Parish Choir in technical, material and legal matters. The association is now a legal, registered organization with its own statute.
In October 1996 the choir was invited by the Ukrainian and Polish Ministries of Culture to participate in the 1st Festival of Polish Culture in Ukraine. Our choir was the only Polish amateur choir participating in tat event. In the same month the choir gave the concert in St. Maximilian’s Church to commemorate rev. Idzi Ogierman Mański, a well-known composer and professor of the Salesian Father’s Order, who died in the Tatra Mountains in 1966. In November 1996 the choir has recorded Christmas carols on audiocasettes.
From June 1997 to January 1998 the choir was run by Janusz Galewski to be succeeded by Marian Grocholewski who has been its conductor and artistic director to date.
In 1999 the group toured abroad, firstly, in Lithuania in February, where the choir was invited by Lithuanian Polonia. The second visit abroad was the longest in the choir’s history. The tour included Sweden, Norway, Finland beyond the Arctic Circle, Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In June 1999 the group sang in the joint choir singing for John Paul II, who visited Toruń at that time (June 7, 1999).
In 1989 and 1999 the choir took part in the Festival of Toruń Diocese Choirs. It won 1st Prize for its interpretation of a musical piece about Archangel Michael. In October 2000 the Sacred Music Pomeranian Association (SMPA) established regular collaboration with the Catholic Choir from Leiden, Holland. As a part of the collaboration the choir from Toruń visited Leiden in May 2001. Exceptionally joyful and memorable event for the members of the choir was the journey to Italy during the Jubilee Year of Christianity. The choir visited Rome, Vatican City, Mount Cassino, Assisi, Padova and Venice. During that stay in Rome, the Toruń Choir and the Philadelphia Choir from the USA gave a short concert for Holly Father John Paul II at the St. Peter’s Square.
On November 6, 2004 the 1st Choir Festival Ars Liturgica took place in Toruń. The contest was held under the patronage of the Bishop ordinary, the President of Toruń with the help of the SMPA and the Maximilian’s Choir’s own effort. The Festival is being planned to take place in future, which is projected to become an all-Poland event.
In April 2005 rev. A. Klemp appointed Dr. hab. Czesław Grajewski as a conductor of the choir. He has been the conductor ever since. At the beginning of June, 2007, the choir gave concerts in Leiden, Holland. The concerts were the part of the annual cultural exchange programme between the twin towns - Toruń and Leiden.
Presently, the choir has 30 members. There have been a lot of people singing in the choir, some of whom have already passed away. In fact, all the people who have once been the members of St. Maximilian’s Parish Choir in Toruń, and who do not sing in it any more, would probably form another group of singers.
The primary objective of the choir is the presentation of liturgical music of various styles. The repertoire of the group includes the music works from the Renaissance to contemporary music. The choir performs music a capella but it is also accompanied by the organ as well as symphony orchestra and brass orchestra. The group performs music written by Polish and foreign composers, among others they are: liturgical works, Passion, cantatas and many more works of secular music. There have also been presentations of nativity plays and drama plays in the history of the choir.
On the Jubilee day of 25th anniversary of musical activity (November 11, 2007) Bishop of Toruń Dioceses, Andrzej Suski decorated St. Maximilian Parish Choir with medal “A distinguished for Toruń Dioceses”.
25 years of artistic activity of the group have been described in two thick volumes of an illustrated chronicle. The chronicle includes press articles, audio cassettes, video documentaries and photographs. This material became the source of knowledge for writing an MA thesis in Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz. Besides such famous composers as Paweł Łukaszewski, Józef Świder composed music specially for the Maximilian’s Choir and to be performed by it.