Ibsen’s classical career began in elementary school at the suggestion of his music teacher, who sent him home one day with a flier to audition for the Grammy-award-winning Ragazzi Boys Chorus in Silicon Valley.
I was like, ‘Well, if I become a singer, then I’ll be cool. If I’m cool, that means girls will like me,” Ibsen says with a laugh. “And that’s all the motivation I needed as an 8-year-old.”
As a kid who had struggled to fit in socially, Ibsen soon found that the choir was one of the few outlets where he could be himself and feel good about it. It also helped that he was very good at it.
Alumnus Jens Ibsen’s Composition Career
Ragazzi Alumnus Jens Ibsen was interviewed for The California Report Magazine, a KQED publication, about his new metal-inspired piece, premiered by the San Francisco Symphony. Ragazzi-related highlights include:
Several years later, at the age of 11, he got the opportunity to audition for the world-renowned Vienna Boys Choir.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been more nervous in my life,” he remembers.
He didn’t have any reason to be. Ibsen’s training with Ragazzi, not to mention his natural talent, prepared him well, and he was immediately offered a spot in the choir, becoming its first African-born member.
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