What happened during the conference “Cross the line” and the General Assembly in Utrecht?

The conference “Cross the line” and the General Assembly of the European Choral Association – Europa Cantat took place in Utrecht (NL) from November the 11th to the 13th and was co-organised by ZIMIHC, one Dutch member organisations of ECA-EC.

The weekend started for the members with the Membership Day: the members had to collectively develop scenarios and ideas related to the future of the choral world and of the association.
Lot of fun, clever and provocative contributions triggered debates and discussions for the whole week-end.
Membership Day
"On stage" dinner
Nicolas Mansfield opened officially the conference with the keynote speech“Cross the line and leave a trail”.
The participants shared a dinner “on stage” with musical surprises.
On Saturday morning the General Assembly started with a Turkish touch on the notes of“Utrecht Kasap Havasi”, and evolved around different issues, like the new project “Sing me In” and the upcoming events, including: Europa Cantat junior, a festival with a focus on children´s and youth choirs that will take place in Lyon (FR) next summer and the EUROPA CANTAT XX Festival in Tallinn (EE) in 2018.
General Assembly
On Saturday afternoon the 100+ participants of the conference were encouraged to “cross lines” in different workshops and discussions on topics such as: How does the rest of the world view the choral world? Where is the line between amateurs and professionals and how can the two sides cooperate more? How can you cross the line into other music styles and cultures singing? And how can you learn to cross the line more often with tips and tricks for cooperation?
The weekend ended with a musical wrap-up session with Merel Mertens and theinspiring concert “72 Angels” of the Netherlands Chamber Choir (NKK), conducted byPeter Dijkstra,together with the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet.

This was a fruitful occasion to collect members´ and participants´ feedbacks and outputs that will help us to structure the next conference and General Assembly that will take place in October 2017 in Tallinn, Estonia.

Read more about the conference >> here
Photos >> here

Conductors and composers:
Discover the backstage of EUROPA CANTAT Junior

Register now for the Study Tour in LYON, France, in July 2017.

Europa Cantat Junior festival opens its doors for you!

The study tour of the festival is a unique opportunity for professionals and amateurs to discover the artistic aspects of Europa Cantat Junior festival from the inside.
On your agenda:

  • Visiting the workshop rehearsals
  • Meeting with the workshop conductors
  • Analyzing the workshop scores
  • Meeting with the staff of the festival and the European Choral Association – Europa Cantat
  • Attending the concerts
  • Enjoying l’art de vivre à la Française

The study tour is supervised by Carlo Pavese, a children’s choir conductor, 1st vice-President of ECA-EC, and an active member of the Feniarco federation.

Don’t wait any longer!

July13th to 20th, 2017 in Lyon, France.
www.europacantatjunior.fr/en/study-tour

World Youth Choir – Recruitment starts for Session 2017

After the success of the EUROPA CANTAT XIX festival in 2015 the World Youth Choir session for 2017 will be held in Pécs, Hungary with a following tour in Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia and Hungarybetween 4th and 25th of July.
Auditions for the session will open by the end of November 2016 and shall last until 17th of February, 2017.
The selected singers for 2017 will have the chance to perform both classical and folk arrangements directed by conductors Zoltán Pad from Hungary and Ken Wakia from Kenya.
The organisers are looking for young (17-26 years old), talented, experienced singers from all over the world, interested in improving their skills of choral singing.
Please visit the www.worldyouthchoir.org website in order to find further details on your national recruiters and on how to prepare your audition.

The World Youth Choir needs You! Are you ready to join?

Lebanese International Choir Festival II

Beirut, Lebanon | 19 to 21 May 2017

The Lebanese International Choir Festival (LICF) is a joint initiative of Fayha Choir(Lebanon) and Polyfollia International (France) and is the first step toward promoting and developing choral singing and the composition of Arabic music for choirs in Lebanon and the Arab world through choir networking on an international scale.

Join the Festival to exchange with other choirs, demonstrate the Richness of Arabic Music and promote Choir Singing in the Middle East!

Deadline for application: 28/2/2017
Details of the program can be found on licfestival.org

Contact:
contact@licfestival.org
Lebanese Int Choir Festivla
Photo: © Beit El Fann

Creative EuropeCreative Europe applications

The European Choral Association applied for different EU fundings in November:

  • For the network project UPGRADE – CONNECT – REACH OUT” 2017 – 2021 (250.000 € per year with a total of 1.000.000 € funding for four years)

And as partners in 2 Cooperation projects:

  • “Article 32, the right to sing”, coordinated by A Coeur Joie France (total 200.000 € funding)
  • “Sing Outside the Box” Coordinated by the Estonian Choral Association (total 200.000 € funding)

Answers will arrive in Spring 2017.

News from the European / International Choral Network

International Federation for Choral Music

IFCM November Newsletter

Read the IFCM November News:
In English
In French – en français
In German – auf Deutsch
In Spanish – en español
In Italian – in italiano
From our membership

An interchange (exchange) to celebrate 50 years of good work

Barcelona, Calatonia, Spain | 1-5/3/2017
On occasion of the 50th anniversaries of both the Flemish choir federation VFJK – Vlaamse Federatie van Jonge Koren and the Catalan children’s choirs federationSCIC-Secretariat de Corals Infantils de Catalunya, SCICan interchange has been organized between three Flemish and three Catalan children’s choirs to celebrate the event.
The choirs Jong Makeblijde (Sofie D’haese), Furiakanti (Steve De Veirman) and Sjaloom (Marleen Annemans) – a total of some 120 singers aged 7 to 14 – will be in Barcelona from March 1st to March 5th, 2017.
On dates still to be determined three SCIC choirs will visit Flanders to conclude this cooperation and joint 50th anniversary celebrations.
More information >> https://www.auditori.cat/
>> www.scic.cat
From our membership

The project “Start Up for Young Conductors”

Basel, Switzerland | 8-13/5/2018

The start up-project was launched by the European Festival of Youth Choirs Basel in cooperation with the Swiss foundation Emil and Rosa Richterich-Beck Stiftung in May 2016. It offered 10 selected young choral conductors from Europe an invitation to the 10th edition of the festival and the opportunity to realize a qualified exchange project with young choirs in their home countries. One of the most interesting projects comes from Istanbul, Turkey. It is called Pangea Project and aims to bring singers from all over the world to Istanbul between May 31 and June 5, 2017 where they will unite into a single multicultural choir.
Application is now open to singers up to 35 years and ends on December 1, 2016.
More information is available on www.foliachorale.com
Start Up for Young Conductors
Photo: © Francois Badoux
Dr. Karl-Gerhard Straßl From our membership

Chorverband Österreich elects a new President:
Dr. Karl-Gerhard Straßl

Read more >> here (in German)

News from other culture networks
Culture Action EuropeCulture Action Europe

Conference “EUROPE – QUO VADIS?”

Budapest (Hungary) | January 26th to 28th 2017

More info >> here
European Music Council (EMC)

European Music CouncilMusical Reception at the European Parliament

On 11 October the EMC held a musical reception at the European Parliament hosted by MEP Julie Ward. In her passionate speech Julie emphasised the importance of the direct exchange between persons for intercultural dialogue.

More info >> here
Friends of Choral Music In Europe

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