in
Eisenach on 17 May 2007 , 2008 Although the choir's main musical field traditionally consists of the vocal works of
Johann Sebastian Bach, the repertoire comprises pieces from different eras, from the
Renaissance to contemporary music.
Andreas Reize is the 18th Thomaskantor since Bach. The
Forum Thomanum is the campus of the choir in the Bach quarter of Leipzig. It was inaugurated in 2012 and includes the
Thomasalumnat (boarding school), kindergarten, primary school, high school, choir rehearsal space, Luther Church, youth hostel, administration buildings, gym, a rehearsal hall and more amenities. Some critics contend that the Forum Thomanum project will change the way that the
Thomaner are instructed and recruited. Most of the members of the live in the on Hiller Street. The boys are separated into so-called rather than school classes. Each is not only a sleeping room, but also an administrative entity with a closed hierarchy and a clear assignment of tasks. One or more older choir boys live with the younger ones in each in order to create a hierarchy and didactic relationship. Hence, the upbringing in the Thomanerchor is provided primarily by the older members, and the educators play a smaller role. Therefore, it is possible to have 90 boys living under one roof, supervised by only five educators. The are redistributed every year in order to maintain the age groupings and also to influence the social order in the . The have only lockable wardrobes () and one table for each boy. The rooms also have other furnishings, namely shelves for books, newspapers and satchels, radios, plants and chairs. Televisions and computers are not allowed. Each
Stube consists of at least four rooms and a washroom with two showers, and each room has two to three beds. The also has a gym, a rehearsal hall, and a dining hall where all boys eat together three times a day, a shop where the tailor sews the boys' suits for the concerts, an archive, a wing of the building for the teachers who live there, a room for the band, a model railway room, a fitness room, a living room for the older boys, a "press room" for the school's newspaper, a sauna, a library with computers and internet, an infirmary, and a television room. Communal restrooms are located on the hallway of each . The Thomanerchor gives concerts across Germany (at least two major tours a year) and abroad. The choir also sings three times a week in the
Thomaskirche, "Motette" every Friday evening at 6 and every Saturday afternoon at 3, service on Sundays at 9 o'clock. The choir also sings at Protestant festivities. The children have vacations during the summer school vacations. The tour of 2012, the choir's 800th year, presented a program of Alessandro Scarlatti's , Kyrie and Gloria from Palestrina's '''', Bruckner's motets and , and Bach's motet . It was performed, for example, on 6 July in the
Eberbach Abbey at the
Rheingau Musik Festival. ==History==