International Harald Andersén Chamber Choir Competition

[Gabriel Jackson]

For those who are interested in European choirs the prestigious International Harald Andersén Chamber Choir Competition is going on in Helsinki right now. The final can be streamed live, and performances from the 1st round and the final can be watched again at http://yle.fi/aihe/tapahtuma/2016/09...ational-harald

No British choirs taking part of course

[ardcarp]

Thanks Gabriel. Will listen.

[Beresford]

This was very enjoyable, and many of the performances can still be seen (and heard). From the "gala concert" the pieces sung by the New Irish Choir and the Latvian Kamer Choir sounded superb to me, but I am no expert.

[Gabriel Jackson]

This was very enjoyable, and many of the performances can still be seen (and heard). From the "gala concert" the pieces sung by the New Irish Choir and the Latvian Kamer Choir sounded superb to me, but I am no expert.

I had not come across New Dublin Voices before and was very impressed. Kamēr… are wonderful of course - their performances in the 1st round and the final are worth checking out. Fantastic singing!

[Alain Maréchal]

No British choirs taking part of course

Why "of course"? I thought you had many excellent choirs.

[Gabriel Jackson]

Why "of course"? I thought you had many excellent choirs.

British choirs tend not to enter international competitions. And when they do, they tend not to be successful.

[ardcarp]

This is possibly not the right place for mentioning Judith Weir's Ascending into Heaven. It was performed on this morning's Essential Classics...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07wrbk8

(quite early on) by the amazing choir of Gonville and Caius under the equally amazing Geoffrey Webber. Now that would have been a strong contender in any choral competition...but sadly, such choirs do not have the luxury of attending such things. Pity.

However, it's on a Delphian CD

https://www.cai.cam.ac.uk/recordings/judith-weir-choral-music

[Oldcrofter]

Picking up on Gabriel Jackson's point, "British choirs tend not to enter international competitions. And when they do, they tend not to be successful."

I've mentioned the girls' choir Cantamus before in this context with a whole series of prize-winning entries in international competitions from 1971 to the present.

https://cantamus.com/achievements/

Of course, international competitions in school and university term time are out of the question - as would be the Helsinki competition mentioned above.

Cantamus is based in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire - certainly not a particularly affluent area - and the girls, parents & friends raise the money in a whole variety of ways. I'm not sure how to interpret Ardcarp's comment "such choirs(i.e. the "amazing choir of Gonville and Caius") do not have the luxury of attending such things. Pity."

Yes, in a sense, I suppose it is a "luxury" - but the effort of raising the funds, travelling to competition venues, meeting singers from all over the world, seeing different countries, experiencing the thrill of performing and so on - all these provide an experience which lasts a life-time and a sense of achievement that brings self-confidence and maturity.

[mopsus]

The choir of Clare College, Cambridge took part in a competition in Arezzo several times in the 1980's.

[ardcarp]

The choir of Clare College, Cambridge took part in a competition in Arezzo several times in the 1980's.

Tell us more! The college terms are very short, but G&C does do a 'tour' or a foreign visit from time to time. (Geoffrey took a very enterprising one to Bulgaria, where the choirmembers were astonished by local singing...very throaty and gutteral...and by the relative poverty of the hospitable locals.)

[Gabriel Jackson]

I've mentioned the girls' choir Cantamus before in this context with a whole series of prize-winning entries in international competitions from 1971 to the present.

Cantamus are pretty unique among British choirs, aren't they, in that they have regularly entered international competitions and have regularly been successful in them?

Of course, international competitions in school and university term time are out of the question - as would be the Helsinki competition mentioned above.

All the people I know who took part in the Harald Andersén competition either took time off work, or university, or school.

I'm not sure how to interpret Ardcarp's comment "such choirs(i.e. the "amazing choir of Gonville and Caius") do not have the luxury of attending such things. Pity."

I don't understand that either. What is the luxury, I wonder, that a choir from one of the world's most elite universities doesn't have, but choirs from some of the poorest countries in Europe do?

[mopsus]

Tell us more! The college terms are very short, but G&C does do a 'tour' or a foreign visit from time to time. (Geoffrey took a very enterprising one to Bulgaria, where the choirmembers were astonished by local singing...very throaty and gutteral...and by the relative poverty of the hospitable locals.)

I wasn't in Clare choir so my knowledge is largely derived from seeing posters in Tim Brown's rooms when I auditioned for his Consort. But here's another competition that he must have entered. Under 'Inghilterra' you can find the names of some other British choirs which took part at some time; the King's College Choir is of course King's College London. They entered the competitions during the long vacation in the summer.

[jean]

The choir of Clare College, Cambridge took part in a competition in Arezzo several times in the 1980's.

After they got tired of doing it, they sort of passed it on to Clive Wearing and the Europa Singers, and we went to the Concorso Polifonico Guido d'Arezzo one year, I can't exactly remember when. It was great fun but we didn't win anything.

We did however, after discovering we'd practised the wrong pieces, sight-read our way through the right ones, to the amazement of all who knew what we were doing.

[Gabriel Jackson]

But here's another competition that he must have entered. Under 'Inghilterra' you can find the names of some other British choirs which took part at some time; the King's College Choir is of course King's College London. They entered the competitions during the long vacation in the summer.

That's not a competition though, is it?

[mopsus]

That's not a competition though, is it?

Oh no, I see now it isn't. I was hoping to find online info about Arezzo in the 1980's. I think Clare were prizewinners at least once.