Events

Conference “Sing outside the box“, November 2018, Turkey

Turkey

November 2018

organised in collaboration with Koro Kültürü Dernegi / Choral Culture Association

Continuing the line of conferences discussing hot topics of the choral world, we organised the 2nd edition of the public conference “sing outside the box”. We set up an exciting programme focusing on “different” ways to perform, to interact with (new and younger) audiences, and cooperation with other art forms. The musical programme included concerts in unusual venues and a “musical walk” through the beautiful Pigeon Valley.

Find all the infos on the conference

On the dedicated page:

https://europeanchoralassociation.org/activities/conferences/conference-2018/

Dwonload the conference report: https://europeanchoralassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/conf_report_FINAL_website_reduced.pdf

The sessions of the conference

Make your singers co-creators! | Dóra Halas

In a traditional choral approach, singers are sometimes reduced to being passive instruments of the conductor, who is in charge of all the artistic decisions. There are however other ways that empower the members of the collective at different stages and levels of the creative process. How is this at all possible even with larger groups, what results can it yield in your work, what are the joys and pitfalls of this approach? Based on her experience, Dóra Halas presented how the involvement of your singers can turn into a lively and productive adventure.

Sonic choir for non-singers | Greg Gilg

Can everybody sing? Of course they can! Gather a random group of non-singers in a random place. Now, how do you deal with the situation? Complain about the poor acoustics, their lack of musical expertise and of time available? Or decide that this is a unique chance to create, with your singers, something unique and relevant to them, the location and the audience? Greg Gilg shared his stories of building new sonic, scenic and social experiences with and for participants.

Cellist, singer, composer, conductor, Greg Gilg has travelled many musical fields, from rock to jazz, dance and theatre. One foot in popular music, the other in experimental forms, he focuses since 2015 on collective singing projects. He is a member of Guy Reibel’s Centre Européen du Jeu Vocal, associated artist at the Apejs in Chambery, France and conductor of choirs like “Oh!” or the “Grand Larsen”

Add some spice, break the ice! ECA-EC Youth Committee

Singing is always fun! Singing brings people together! Sing and you will make new friends! But getting to know people can be difficult in a traditional choir setting. The Youth Committee of ECA shared and discussed some activities that can help break the ice. Even if singers know each other really well already, these games can add some spice to the atmosphere. They have participated in a lot of choirs and tried many games over the past few years. After testing them additionally at the Europa Cantat festival in Tallinn, at the EuroChoir and at YEMP this year they have selected a carefully curated selection of successful methods, games and group-building activities that work with singers of all ages. This atelier can make a difference in a concert or rehearsal.

Classical Music Scene in Turkey Cemi’i Can Deliorman

An insight on the envolvente classical western music in Turkey since the foundation of the republic. The strong tradition of classical music in Turkey dates back to the Ottoman Empire and to the milestones that happened throughout centuries in these lands. The conductor of the Presidential Symphony Orchestra, Cemi´i Can Deliorman, summaries the journey of Turkish classical music.

Traditional Singing Techniques of Anatolia | Ömer Faruk Belviranlı

How the famous micro tonal singing techniques unfold in Turkish classical music? Led by the mystic music expert Ömer Faruk Belviranlı and accompanied by a western conductor Cemi’i Can Deliorman, the session focused on bridging traditional musical values of Turkish music for the European ears and minds.

Belviranlı is an acclaimed religious music singer in Turkey. He is an expert on mystic singing techniques and he has been serving as the director of the Konya Religious Music Ensemble since 2003. Belviranlı is also the vice-director in Ministry of Culture Fine Arts Directorate.

EUROPA CANTAT XX in Tallinn, 27.07.-05.08.2018, Estonia

Estonia

27.07.-05.08.2018

The EUROPA CANTAT festival is the triennial meeting point for the whole European choral world, a place where 5000 singers, conductors, composers and managers are trained, the best ensembles perform, where debates and networking flourishes, where cooperations are born. Participants bring back inspirations, contacts, repertoire and skills; and the event triggers many new programmes across Europe.

The Europa Cantat programme included 20 atelier concerts, 14 regional concerts outside Tallinn, 37 open-air concerts, 38 concerts by participating choirs, 26 special concerts with invited choirs, 38 concerts at the Choirs´ Night and 19 Promenade concerts. A total of 25,000 tickets were printed for participants and 2,500 tickets were sold to the general public. Of which many were dedicated to the themes of current project. 

The Music Expo featured 25 businesses and organizations, including music publishers, music event organizers, and other music industry professionals.

The highest number of guests came from Germany (500), Israel (444) and Switzerland (426). There were 170 volunteers from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Lithuania, France, Hungary, Slovenia, South Africa, Ireland, Finland and many other countries. Participants ate 30,430 festival meals during the week.

The programme included concerts and appearances by the The Swingles (UK), the jazz choir Vocal Line (Denmark), Inner Mongolia Youth Choir and many others. There were also concerts by the cream of Estonian groups – the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, the Estonian National Male Choir, Vox Clamantis, Estonian Voices and others. 

The festival highlights included the Opening concert at Liberty Square, the „Happy Birthday, Estonia!“ concert at Tallinn´s Song Celebration Ground, Arvo Pärt´s «Te Deum» by the nearly 300-strong choir and the National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of the Grammy-award winning conductor Tõnu Kaljuste, and the Choirs´ Night in the courtyards of Tallinn´s Old Town.

The festival programme included ateliers for singers, a conductors and composers programme, seminars, workshops and round tables, a training course for young event managers, showcases, concerts and public sing-alongs. There was also the Music Expo where publishers, music event organizers, organizations and other music industry professionals presented their products and services and the work that they did.

Many of the daily activities such as ateliers, workshops and concerts were illustrating the theme “Sing Outside The Box”. The list of activities directly related to “Sing Outside The Box” can be found here. 

The international music festival Europa Cantat was initiated by the European Choral Association. It takes place every three years and it is one of the key events in the choral world. The first festival was held in Passau, Germany, in 1961, and the previous one was in Pécs, Hungary three years ago. The next Europa Cantat will be held in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2021.

You can watch the highlights of the Europa Cantat XX festival here 

EuroChoir 2018 – Helsinki, Finland and Tallinn, Estonia

Organized by Sulasol.

After a careful audition, the EuroChoir offers the opportunity to 50 young singers between 18 and 30 from all over Europe to get together to rehearse a challenging programme with two renowned conductors, improve their vocal skills and present the results of their work in public concerts.

This year, after a week of rehearsal and concerts in Helsinki, Finland, the choir crossed the bay, and join the EUROPA CANTAT Festival for several concerts, and presentations by the conductors!

The conductors of this edition will be Maria van Nieukerken (NL) and Mikko Sidoroff (FI).

Follow the EuroChoir on the Facebook page:www.facebook.com/theEurochoir

Conference “Sing outside the box” Tallinn, Estonia | 6-8 October 2017, Estonia

Estonia

6-8 October 2017

Continuing the line of conferences discussing hot topics of the choral world, we are organising the public conference “sing outside the box”. We are setting up an exciting programme focusing on “different” ways to perform, to interact with (new and younger) audiences, and cooperation with other art forms. On Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, you will discover new ideas, exchange along practical sessions and maybe even sing (outside the box, of course…).

EuroChoir 2017, Utrecht, Netherlands

Utrecht, Netherlands

General Information

In 2017, 50 singers (ag 18-30) joined in Utrecht to be part of the EuroChoir 2017. The choir was conducted by Maria van Nieukerken (NL) & Lorenzo Donati (IT).

Want to know how the singers experienced the choir? Check the video one of them made and posted on Facebook.

Concerts 2017
5 July – try out Akoesticum (Ede),
7 July – Waalse kerk (Amsterdam)
8 July – Pop up concerts in city centre (Utrecht)
8 July – AMUZ (Antwerpen)
9 July – Musicstand De Klanksteen, festival A Lazy Sunday Afternoon (Utrecht)
9 July – Geertekerk (Utrecht)

About EuroChoir
The EuroChoir is organised each year in a different country in Europe. It is a project choir with 50 singers aged 18-30 from all over Europe. EuroChoir is a concept of the European Choral Association – Europa Cantat (ECA-EC).

The EuroChoirs 2016, 2017, 2018 are a joint venture by three organisations. In 2016 the EuroChoir was organised by Feniarco (IT), in 2017 by ZIMIHC (NL) and 2018 by Sulalsol (FI). Conductors for these EuroChoirs are:
2016: Mikko Sidoroff (FI) & Lorenzo Donati (IT)
2017: Lorenzo Donati (IT) & Maria van Nieukerken (NL)
2018: Maria van Nieukerken (NL) & Mikko Sidoroff (FI)