Sabine Layer

The conductor and accompanist has been a lecturer at the HMDK Stuttgart for many years and works regularly for the International Bach Academy. As part of the CD series “Chorsing made easy” (Peters Verlag), which is distributed worldwide as a professional rehearsal aid, Sabine Layer has recorded the piano reductions of all common oratorios. She has directed the Esslingen Philharmonic Choir since May 2000. In addition to oratorio literature from all eras, the choir repeatedly ventures into unusual projects, such as “4 Elements – Fire, Water, Air, Earth” (June 2013), “STIMME.PUR.” (April 2015), “OPERA!” (scenic, June 2017) or “Night and Dream” (scenic, July 2023).

In 2012, Sabine Layer was appointed musical director of the Staufer Festival Göppingen. She conducted the productions “In the White Horse” (Benatzky, 2012), “The Gypsy Baron” (Strauss, 2014), “The Bird Trader” (Zeller, 2016), “Hansel and Gretel” (Humperdinck, 2017/18). In September 2018 she directed a new production of Mozart's “The Magic Flute”. Further projects planned for 2020 fell victim to the corona pandemic. In 2021 Sabine Layer said goodbye to her Göppingen engagement with a performance of Mendelssohn's “Midsummer Night's Dream”.

The education sector has been another successful field of activity for years. The school projects of the International Bach Academy in the greater Stuttgart area are particularly worthy of mention here. Around 250 children per project performed Bach's Magnificat and excerpts from the Christmas Oratorio together with the Gaechinger Cantorey and Hans-Christoph Rademann (children's choir director: Sabine Layer). This was followed by “The Seasons” (Haydn), “Messiah” (Handel) and “Gloria” (Vivaldi), each adapted for children. The most extensive project “Creation – Earth for the Future” took place in seven cities in Baden-Württemberg in 2022/23. More than 1500 children learned about Haydn's “Creation” while singing. Sabine Layer was responsible for the rehearsals in the schools and ultimately conducted the large children's choir in the concert.