Cor Mio

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Rumour has it that the Norwegian chamber choir Cor Mio – old Italian for “My heart” – was conceived by three people in a twin bed, in a suburb outside of Oslo. To their grave dismay, they found that they had passed the age limit for membership in Oslo Youth Choir, and were forced to retire. What now? Life without singing in a choir appeared as grey and unpromising as a long winter’s day, and held no future.  

The three former choir members didn’t have to ponder for a very long time before the obvious solution was found: To form a new choir. They gathered together a motley crew of choir afeccionados, and started rehearsing.

The rest, as they say, is history. 43 years later, Cor Mio is going as strong as ever, under the sometimes fierce, but mostly friendly leadership of maestro Alfredo de la Nuez, who despite his Spanish sounding name is a true child of the fjords. At present, Cor Mio consists of 23 male and female singers, who all live up to the true meaning of the word “amateur” as “one who loves”. Science has proved that the hearts of singers in a choir will start beating at the same rate as soon as they start singing, so the name of the choir is no coincidence.

Our repertoire spans from medieval and renaissance to contemporary music, and from religious music to folk songs and jazz. Consequently, we are as equally at home in the pub as in the church. Our motto is a quote from Shakespeare: If music be the food of love, sing on.