Sonat Vox
The men's ensemble Sonat Vox was founded by Justus Merkel in 2015. As former members of the Windsbacher Knabenchor, the singers have enjoyed a sound musical education since early childhood. In addition to the classical male choir instrumentation with tenors and basses, alto voices are part of the ensemble - an unusual, colourful sound constellation. Their own standards of musical interpretation, their shared passion for music and their well-matched voices lay the foundation for high vocal quality.

Thanks to the unusual instrumentation, the ensemble is able to perform a broad repertoire from Renaissance to modern. A special focus is on sacred a cappella music with works by, for example, G. P. Palestrina, F. Schubert or R. Mauersberger. Parallel to the sacred and Christmas concert programme, traditional German folk songs complement the repertoire.

Numerous concerts take Sonat Vox to churches and concert halls every year under the musical direction of Justus Merkel, including Berlin, Frankfurt, Würzburg, Munich and Erfurt. In addition to its regular performance schedule, the choir has already won various competitions. In 2016, for example, Sonat Vox achieved both 1st place in the male choirs category and the special prize of the Hessian Minister President at the Limburg Male Choir Festival. After the choir qualified for the German Choir Competition of the German Music Council by winning 1st place in the Bavarian preliminary round, the singers were also convincing here and secured 1st place in May 2018. Most recently, Sonat Vox won the Marktoberdorf 2022 International Chamber Music Competition with the special prize for a particularly outstanding, characteristic vocal performance.

In 2016, the choir produced its first CD "Ubi Caritas Et Amor Deus Ibi Est" with sacred a cappella repertoire. In 2019, the Christmas album "Lasst uns lauschen" followed with works arranged especially for Sonat Vox and support from the brass ensemble Motley Brass, consisting of members of various renowned orchestras.

Another highlight since Sonat Vox's inception was the collaboration with Prof. Vytautas Miškinis in summer 2018, when the musicians were given the opportunity to work with the composer on the premiere of a work composed especially for Sonat Vox.