Leon Shiu-wai Tong

IFCM First Vice President and choral conductor

 

The 11^th China International Chorus Festival and IFCM World Choral Summit is approaching (15-12 July 2012), and lovers of choral music are looking forward to this unique international choral experience, in Beijing in China, as they join numerous choral experts and outstanding choirs from around the world. Throughout the past few months, the organizing committee has been contributing a tremendous amount of effort in order to create a choral event meeting international standards.

One of the most significant parts of the summit will be highlighted by the opening ceremony which will be broadcast on China Central Television. Apart from speeches by Zhang Yu, President of the China Arts and Entertainments Group, Michael J. Anderson, President of IFCM and Royce Saltzman, past president of IFCM, the summit will be opened with the Beijing Declaration, which will be proclaimed and submitted to the UNESCO with the signatures of the participating countries.  This declaration will emphasise the power of choral music to encourage people to live in harmony and peace as well as the need for the positive influence, value and importance of choral art to be acknowledged, and – as the country that possesses the largest number of choral enthusiasts in the world based on population – China will express its eagerness to pass on the influence of choral arts through developing choral education in China with the cooperation and assistance of IFCM.

Thirty international choral experts will join the summit as delegates; with their extraordinary experience in the choral arts, they will be prepared to share their insights with the participants: as the summit schedule shapes up, two consecutive mornings have been filled with an exceptionally rich content led by delegates. Under the heading ‘Voices in Harmony’, experts will speak on topics including ‘Technology Changing the Arts’ shared by Lawrence Cherney (Canada), ‘Building Bridges’ jointly led by André de Quadros (Indonesia/India/Middle East), Maya Shavit (Israel) and Thierry Thiébaut (France), ‘Youth in Song’ by Bob Chilcott (Great Britain) and Jennifer Tham (Singapore), ‘Supporting the Arts’ shared by Philip Brunelle (USA) and Håkan Wickström (Finland), ‘Choral Music in China’ led by Yu-bin Tien (China) and two other Chinese representatives, ‘Government and the Arts’ by Ann Meier Baker (USA) and Edusei Derkyi (Ghana), ‘The Appealing Power of Voices’ by Kaie Tanner (Estonia), Josep Vila I Casañas (Spain) and Alina Orraca (Cuba) and ‘Successful Models for Choral Associations’ jointly led by Tim Sharp (USA), Gábor Móczár (Hungary) and Keiishi Asai (Japan).

A forum will be held to serve as a platform for fruitful discussion between the audience and six world-famous representatives: Ambassador Young-shim Dho (South Korea), Ling-fen Wu (China), Bob Chilcott (United Kingdom), Theodora Pavlovitch (Bulgaria), Leon Shiu-wan Tong (Hong Kong, China) and a representative from the Chinese government. These experts specialize in different choral fields including youth choral development, government and politics, education, composition and conducting.

Five master classes will be led by choral masters from China and other parts of the world. These master classes will concentrate on practical training supported by repertoires reflecting the topics focused on by the speakers. Jonathan Velasco (Philippines) will be the speaker for the topic of ‘Development of Asia Pacific Choral Music’ with guest speakers including Lorenzo Donati (Italy) and Eui-joong Yoon (South Korea), who will speak about choral music of their countries. Fred Sjöberg (Sweden) will speak on the topic of ‘Northern European Choral Music’ with Guy Jansen (New Zealand) and Boris Tevlin (Russia) as guest speakers. Leon Shiu-wan Tong (Hong Kong, China) will talk about youth choral training methodologies in preparation for participation in international choral competitions and festivals, supported by Stephen Leek (Australia) and Maya Shavit (Israel). The other two master classes will be led by prominent choral leaders from China.

Apart from a significant list of choral leaders, another highlight will certainly be provided by the six world-class guest choirs from five continents. These choirs will not only perform in concerts as part of the festival and summit, but each will be hosting a workshop introducing some of their most successful repertoire as well as sharing their practical choral training and rehearsing methodologies with all participants. The following biographies of each guest choir highlight their extraordinary achievements and contribution to the world of choral music.

 

Gondwana Voices (Asia South Pacific)

Gondwana Voices, a choir of unbroken voices, was founded in 1997 by Artistic Director Lyn Williams OAM. The members of Gondwana Voices come from all across Australia. Many live on farms and in remote areas. Members attend the Gondwana National Choral School for two weeks in January and then rehearse for just three days before each tour. The choir usually meets three times a year for projects as varied as international tours, performance seasons with leading professional ensembles or to take part in major national events. Gondwana Voices performs the finest treble choir repertoire from across the world. They also perform frequently with orchestras such as the Sydney Symphony and the internationally renowned Australian Chamber Orchestra. A strong emphasis is placed on contemporary Australian repertoire which is reflected in the over 100 treble choir works Gondwana Voices has commissioned. A unique part of the choir’s repertoire is based on indigenous music of the Torres Strait Islands which lie off the north-eastern tip of Australia. Gondwana Voices has undertaken many international tours and performed at many international festivals including the BBC Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Polyfollia (France), America Cantat (Mexico) and Festival500 (Canada). Gondwana Voices was a participant in the first Songbridge event in 1999 at the World Symposium on Choral Music in Rotterdam (Netherlands). [Gondwana is a concept located somewhere between mythology and geology: an ancient continent that included most of the landmasses in today’s southern hemisphere, as well as the Arabian peninsula and the Indian subcontinent, which have now moved entirely into the northern hemisphere.  Ed.]

 

 

The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Choir (Africa)

The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Choir consists of 55 members, both students and alumni, who come from different walks of life. The choir prides itself in being multi-cultural in both membership and the music it performs. Since its inception in 1994 the choir has gained a reputation for its unique ability successfully to interpret both Western and African repertoire and has since become sought after at choral festivals internationally. Between 1994 and 2004 this acclaimed multi-cultural choir enjoyed numerous national and international invitations and successes, performing before President Nelson Mandela and Queen Elizabeth II and participating in the ‘FICU International University Choir Festival’, Spain, and the ‘Voices International Choir Festival’ in Norway. In 2007 the NMMU Choir performed in Jacksonville, Florida as well as with Chicago Children’s Choir and the Lyric Opera Orchestra at the Civic Theatre, Chicago, for the world premiere of Windy City Songs by South African composer Péter Louis van Dijk. The choir won the 2009 choir competition in Spittal-an-der-Drau, Austria. In 2010 they were invited to take part in the prestigious ‘La Fabbrica del Canto’ choir competition in northern Italy. Last year the choir felt highly privileged to be selected as one of 24 choirs – the only choir from South Africa – to perform at the prestigious ‘IFCM 9th World Choral Symposium’ in Puerto Madryn, Argentina.

 

 

Vokalna Akademija Ljubljana (Europe)

The Vokalna Akademija Ljubljana was established in September 2008 and consists of the most experienced male Slovenian choir singers. After a successful launching concert tour in Sardegna, Italy, in September 2009 – appearing at the ‘Concordia Vocis Festival’ in Cagliari – in 2009 the ensemble participated in the 57th Concorso Polifonico Guido d’Arezzo’ in Italy and astounded both the audience and the jury by its performances, winning first prizes in four categories. This qualified Vokalna Akademija Ljubljana, as the first male choir in the history of the European Grand Prix competitions, to take part in the competition for the European Grand Prix 2011 for choral singing.  At the ‘International Choir Competition in Tolosa’ (Spain) Vokalna Akademija Ljubljana – among five other competing grand prix winning choirs – finally won the prestigious ‘Grand Prix Europe 2010’ award, as the first male choir in the history of this competition. Afterwards, by special invitation, the ensemble successfully participated in the world-renowned festival of professional vocal ensembles ‘Polyfollia 2010’ in St. Lo, France and performed at numerous concerts. In September 2011 the Italian Ministry of Culture and the Guido d’Arezzo Foundation awarded Vokalna Akademija Ljubljana the prestigious ‘Guidoneum Award 2011’.

 

 

Young People’s Chorus of New York City (North America)

For more than two decades, the Young People’s Chorus of New York City has provided children of all ethnic, religious, and economic backgrounds with a unique program of music education and choral performance, while maintaining a model of artistic excellence and harmony that enriches the community. YPC, founded by its Artistic Director Francisco J. Núñez in 1988, has become one of the most celebrated and influential children’s choruses in the world, performing around the globe, releasing acclaimed recordings from across the musical spectrum, and collaborating with many of the most highly regarded composers, performers, and organizations of our time. YPC has received worldwide recognition for its performances on three continents, including debuts in Wales and Switzerland in 2010 followed by its third trip to Japan in a 14-city summer tour. In the summer of 2011 YPC made its South American debut with a tour of Brazil and Argentina, to be followed this year by performances in the Dominican Republican and in Stockholm, Sweden, at the ‘2012 Adolf Fredrik Choral Festival’. The chorus holds almost a dozen gold medals won in international choral competitions. YPC was among the first inductees in the WNET/Thirteen Community Hall of Fame [a public media provider based in New York – Ed.] and has been recognized for its work with urban at-risk youth by the New York State Assembly, the Mayor of the City of New York, the Manhattan Borough, and by the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities as “a national model of artistic excellence and diversity” under three administrations: Clinton, Bush, and Obama.

 

 

Schola Cantorum de Venezuela (South/Central America)

Schola Cantorum de Venezuela was created in 1967 under the name Schola Cantorum de Caracas. Schola Cantorum were quick to establish themselves as an important force in Venezuelan culture. Their exceptional performances and commitment to performing new and innovative repertoire linked the ensemble to the international choral scene. The Schola Cantorum de Venezuela has participated in various symphonic and choral productions, many of which were national premieres. The choir has also participated in opera performances. In total, Schola Cantorum de Venezuela has produced more than 12 recordings in collaboration with the Simon Bolivar Symphonic Orchestra. In September 2000, Schola Cantorum travelled to the European Music Festival organized by the International Bach Academy to Stuttgart, Germany to premiere the Passion According to St. Mark by Osvaldo Golijov, with Maria Guinand conducting. Two years later, this recording was nominated for a Latin Grammy award. Most recently, Schola Cantorum has released a new recording of the same piece and was awarded Best Recording of the Year in the Choir/Contemporary Music category at the ‘Echo Klassik 2010 Awards’. The Passion According to St. Mark was selected to open the ‘International Festival of the Arts’ at the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia in 2003. The Schola Cantorum de Venezuela and its principal director, Maria Guinand, captivated the audience for three sold-out nights. Their performance of the work was nominated for the Helpmann Award, and later, that same performance was presented with the Olivier Award.

 

 

Asia Pacific Youth Choir (Asia Pacific)
The Asia Pacific Youth Choir is original in its concept, bringing together talented young singers aged 18 – 28 years from the Asia Pacific region. The Asia Pacific Youth Choir is established as one of the most remarkable musical and intercultural experiences on offer to young singers in the Asia Pacific region. In his life’s work within Korea, Hak-won Yoon, the conductor nominated for the Asia Pacific Youth Choir’s 2012 season, has made choral singing into a national art, allowing the world to know of the greatness of Korean choral music. Through his forty years of leading the World Vision Choir, the Dae-woo Chorale, the Seoul Ladies’ Singers and the Incheon City Chorale, he greatly raised the standard of Korean choral music and made it popular with the public. Now, he is discovering young Korean composers, encouraging them to write new and ground-breaking Korean choral music and introducing it to the world, thus leading the Korean wave in choral society.

 

 

As one of the most prominent choral festivals in China, the ‘11^th China International Chorus Festival’ expects to welcome 150 to 200 choirs from China. As this is planned as an international event, we certainly wish to receive more support from outstanding choirs from south-east Asia, Europe and other parts of the world. We anticipate receiving a lot more applications by the deadline in March 2012. This significant choral festival has been organized in a unique way that does not only focus on competition; more importantly, through inspiring talks, training and concerts, we wish to encourage voices in harmony in China and the world.

For more information about the 11^th China International Chorus Festival and the IFCM World Choral Summit, please feel free to visit the following websites:

China International Chorus Festival: http://en.cicfbj.cn

International Federation for Choral Music: www.ifcm.net

Musica Connection: www.musicaconnection.com

 

 

Edited by Irene Auerbach, UK

Krakow Advent and Christmas Choral Festival

International Choir Conducting Competition ‘Towards Polyphony’

 

Andrea Angelini, ICB Managing Editor and choral conductor

 

There can be no doubt that Poland is a country with a rich culture of choral music, and our readers will remember that roughly a year ago the ICB included an extensive feature on the nation’s relationship with choral music. In particular, the period from the beginning of Advent up to Christmas typically sees a large number of very interesting events.

Returning to Poland is always a pleasure for me, and I do so whenever I am invited back there: the nation’s history, the wealth of its culture, the beauty of its cities, the kindness of its people and their love of music are all reason enough alone to visit. When the magic of the Krakow Advent and Christmas Choral Festival and the International Choir Conducting Competition ‘Towards Polyphony’ is thrown into the mix, the prospect of an unforgettable experience becomes a certainty.

The city of Krakow already enjoys a well-earned degree of fame and was the capital of catholic Poland until the end of the 16^th century, when that role was transferred to Warsaw. The city’s mediaeval centre was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. Krakow was home to the much-loved Karol Wojtyła, Pope John-Paul II, for over 40 years; he never forgot his old haunts, and loved to reminisce about the city. The people of Krakow would have liked to have seen him laid to rest in the city’s cathedral, alongside the Jagiellon and Vasa kings of Poland. This did not happen however, and there was some controversy when the honour was later conferred on President Lech Kaczyński and his wife, following their deaths in the 2010 Smolensk air disaster.

The austere beauty of the city’s churches formed the backdrop for the ‘Krakow Advent and Christmas Choral Festival’, which ran from the 9^th to the 11^th of December 2011. This year’s event saw the participation of choirs from Norway, Ukraine, Italy, Latvia, South Africa, Russia and Singapore, in addition of course to those from Poland. The contest saw First Prizes go to the girls’ chamber choir of KSSMS Lysenko, Ukraine (chamber choirs category), the Spigo choir from Latvia (youth choirs), the Ave Maria choir from Ukraine (mixed voice choirs: adults), the Dunman Secondary School Choir from Singapore (children’s choirs) and the Oriana female choir, also from Ukraine (equal voice choirs: adults). Aside from the main competition, all of the groups took the opportunity to perform in special concerts held at the various churches around the city. The only thing missing from the fairy tale atmosphere was the snow, and it would be a little unfair to blame the organisers for that! Watching over the festival to ensure that everything ran smoothly was the attentive and expert eye of Maciej Przerwa, artistic director of Polonia Cantat.

Next, an ambling train took me across Poland to Wrocław, which was to host the International Choir Conducting Competition ‘Toward Polyphony’ from the 14^th to the 17^th of December. Wrocław has a different kind of beauty from Krakow, perhaps less obvious at first glance, but it must be said that the city has given the world many famous figures. The famous conductor Otto Klemperer was born here, as was the fearless First World War fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen, better known as the Red Baron. At the prestigious venue of the Karol Lipiński University of Music, the young conductors competed in directing pieces from different periods, looking for the best way to emphasise the beauty of the music at the same time as bringing the best of their own artistic sensibilities to bear. The repertoire ranged from Monteverdi to Debussy, but also included works by Szymanowski, Koszewski, Jasinski and Łukaszewski. Of course, there was also an educational purpose to the competition that was realised through the meeting and exchange of ideas not only of the members of the panel, but also of the other competitors and experts who were following the proceedings. All of the performances took place in the University’s theatre, where the excellent acoustic qualities and engrossing atmosphere lent the right grandeur to the event.

 

 

The fifteen young competitors from Ukraine, Belorussia, Latvia and Poland strived to convey their own interpretations of the music to the three workshop choirs, whose members showed their flexibility in being able to follow the instructions of the different conductors. At the close of the competition the panel, made up of Professor Zofia Urbanyi-Krasnodębska, Andrea Angelini, Hans Jaskulsky, Janis Lindenbergs and Ryszard Zimak, awarded the winner’s trophy to Alexander Humala, from Belorussia. Two Latvians, Rudolfs Kreslins and Ilmars Millers, were awarded second and third place respectively.

 

 

Like the rest of Poland, Wrocław lived through the full horror of the Second World War, and it was one of the last major centres to be liberated by Soviet forces. Under German occupation the city was transformed into a fortress that was to fight to the bitter end: the entire population was forced to leave and the city was only surrendered following dogged resistance, well after the fall of Berlin. It was carefully reconstructed, bringing magnificent historical monuments back to their ancient splendour. Wrocław flourished in its position on the Amber Road and was known throughout Europe for its university, which occupied an enormous baroque building that was partially open to visitors. Of particular note is the Aula Leopoldina, used today as the university’s auditorium and Oratorium Marianum. It was in this very room, which once witnessed performances by legendary musicians including Liszt, Brahms and Grieg, that the winners were awarded their prizes before a packed audience and the various authorities present. The event’s success brought a big smile to the face of Marta Kierska-Witczak, festival co-ordinator and one of the workshop choir conductors.

 

 

For more information:

Krakow Advent & Christmas Choral Festival: www.christmasfestival.pl

International Choir Conducting Competition Towards Polyphony: www.amuz.wroc.pl

 

 

Translated from the Italian by Ross Nelhams, UK

Edited by Gillian Forlivesi Heywood, Italy

Theodora Pavlovitch

choral conductor, teacher and IFCM Vice-President

 

The ‘European Choral Grand Prix’ (GPE) competition began in 1988 when four of the oldest international choral competitions in Europe came together to set up this new choral event. The ‘Concorso Polifonico Internazionale Guido d’Arezzo’ (Italy), ‘Concorso e Festival Internazionale Seghizzi’ (Italy), ‘Florilège vocal de Tours’ (France) and ‘Béla Bartók International Choir Competition in Debrecen’ (Hungary) founded together the super cup of choral singing. The year after, the ‘International May Choir Competition Prof. Georgi Dimitrov’ (Varna, Bulgaria) joined and, in 1990, the group was further enlarged with the addition of the ‘Certamen Coral de Tolosa’ (Spain). In 2007, the founders welcomed the ‘International Choral Competition Maribor’, which joined the original six. The following year, the ‘Concorso e Festival Internazionale Seghizzi’ left the GPE Association and six members currently remain.

Over the last 23 years the GPE has provided the stage for many successful performances and set outstanding new trends in choral music. The following list details a history of the winners between 1989 and 2010 by country:

 

• Sweden has won the GPE the most frequently, having clinched four victories with the following choirs: St Jacobs Kammerchör in 1992, The Mats Nilsson Vocal Ensemble in 1994, Lunds Vocal Ensemble in 1999 and Allmänna Sången in 2005.
• Slovenia and Lithuania both have three winners; the former won with APZ Tone Tomšič in 2002 and 2008 and Vokalna akademija Ljubljana in 2010. The latter succeeded with the Chamber Choir of the Conservatoire of Vilnius in 1991, Jauna Muzika in 1993 and Kamerinis Koris Brevis in 2003.
• The USA and Hungary have two winners each: respectively the University of Mississippi Concert Singers in 1998 and The University of Utah Singers in 2006, and Pro Musica Leanykar in 1996 and Magnificat Children’s Choir in 2001.
• The Philippine Madrigal Singers and APZ Tone Tomšič from Slovenia have each won the GPE twice, but with different conductors (1997 and 2007, 2002 and 2008 respectively).
• The following countries have won the GPE once:
• Denmark (Kammerkoret Hymnia in 1989), Japan (Kallos Choir in 1995), Russia (Vesna Children’s Choir in 2000), Latvia (Kamer in 2004) and Argentina (Coro Universitario de Mendoza in 2009).
• One conductor, Stojan Kuret, has won the GPE twice, with Slovenia’s APZ Tone Tomšič in 2002 and Vokalna akademia Ljubljana in 2010.

 

This list clearly highlights the dynamics of international choral life. Interestingly, some of these elite choral groups are still active and successful, whilst others no longer exist. However, some deductions can be made with regard to the future, in order to analyse the GPE’s role on the world choral stage.

The 23^rd GPE took place in Tolosa on 5^th November  2011, a few days after the 43^rd edition of ‘Certamen Coral de Tolosa’. Six choirs – already winners of the six European choral competitions which form the GPE – came to put their artistic skill to the ultimate test. First to take to the stage in the Larunbata Concert Hall was the Coro Città di Roma conducted by Mauro Marchetti, which had won the ‘Grand Prix Varna’ in 2010. Formed in 1979, the Coro Città di Roma represents a new generation of Italian choirs meeting modern technical and artistic criteria, creating a new vision of repertoire and promoting and spreading polyphonic music. The choir has toured in Hungary, Spain, France, Sweden, Belgium and Slovenia, taking part in international festivals and competitions. Their new projects are impressive, involving working with composers Eric Whitacre (2011) and Javier Busto (2012). At the GPE 2011, the choir presented music by Giovanni Maria Trabaci, Hugo Wolf, Eric Whitacre, Sven-David Sandström and Michele Josia.       

 

 

One of the leaders of modern Basque choral art, the mixed choir KUP Taldea, conducted by Gabriel Baltés, took first place three times and won the ‘Florilège vocal de Tours’ Grand Prix in France in 2010. Established in 2003, the choir has had a fantastic career so far, winning prizes at three of the six GPE international competitions (Tolosa, Maribor and Tours). For the 2011 GPE competition, the programme included music by Jacobus Handl Gallus, Heinich Schütz, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Johannes Brahms, Gabriel Fauré, Frank Martin and Ko Matsushita. This choir’s excellent professional qualities are sure to attract further international recognition with every future performance on the international stage.

 

 

Another  young choir, founded by its conductor Harald Jers in 2001, also deservingly attracted a lot of attention at the 2011 GPE in Tolosa – the Consono Chamber Choir from Germany. This choir has won more competitions than are involved in the GPE: the German ‘International Chamber Choir Competition, Marktoberdorf’ in 2007 and the ‘Flanders-Maasmechelen International Choir Competition’ also in 2007, the ‘Fleischmann International Trophy Competition’ in Cork (Ireland) in 2008, the ‘Città di Gorizia’ Grand Prix in 2009 and the ‘Béla Bartók International Choir Competition’ Grand Prix in Debrecen which brought them here to compete at the GPE. These are only some of the prestigious awards the ‘Consono Chamber Choir’ has received. The choir’s most unforgettable pieces in Tolosa include Jupiter by Michael Ostrzyga and Morten Lauridsen’s Ov’è, Lass’, Il Bel Viso?

The Cantemus Children’s Choir from Nyíregyháza (Hungary) is one of the testimonials of contemporary Hungarian choral performing arts. Nurtured lovingly by its founder Dénes Szabó, this choir has won a tremendous number of awards at international competitions all over Europe, as well as the ‘Foundation for Hungarian Arts Prize’ in 1989 and the ‘Bartók Bela – Pasztory Ditta Prize’ in 1993. This choir’s evident musical quality and high-level pedagogical work have turned it into a unique school, preparing a number of musicians for their professional careers. These qualities have been displayed on many international stages where the Cantemus Children’s Choir have triumphed. The choir took part in the GPE after winning the ‘Tolosa Grand Prix’ in 2010, and sung works by Cristóbal Morales, Tomás Luis da Victoria, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and contemporary masters such as Kodály, Orbán, Szymko and the Basque music-genius, Javier Busto. Special attention deserves to be given to the performance of Confitemini Domino, a new piece by the young Hungarian composer, Levente Gyöngyösi, who never ceases to surprise with his creative musical ideas.

 

 

The Svenska Kammarkören, conducted by Simon Phipps, performed at the ‘Concorso Pólifonico Internazionale Guido d’Arezzo’ Grand Prix in 2010 in Tolosa. Founded in 1997, this ensemble has a remarkable concert life in Sweden – even performing for Swedish National Radio – and abroad, taking part in many international festivals and competitions. The choir’s high-level artistic programme included masterpieces by Tomkins, Brahms, Rachmaninov, Berio, Poulenc, Lindberg and Jan Sandström. The choir and conductor’s fine work on a variety of music styles showed true mastery and profound understanding and knowledge. After all these brilliant performances, it is not surprising that this choir was awarded the 2011 GPE, becoming the fifth Swedish winner in its history.

The next GPE will take place in few weeks’ time in Maribor, Slovenia. The expectations are as high as ever; Europe’s champion will soon be revealed. I urge you to wish all the participating choirs, and their conductors, boundless success in the new challenges they face on the great international choral stage.

 

 

An Overview of the Acoustical Environment

 

Duane R. Karna

teacher and conductor

 

In my own singing, as well as in my work with choirs and vocalists, I have experimented with and discovered how different rooms’ acoustical principles affect the singer’s use of breath management, the choice of vowel modifications, the selection of tempi, various articulations, dynamic levels and intonation.

A live acoustic with good reverberation allows a singer to use the voice more intelligently in terms of healthy vocal production with a better sense of connected breath to the vocal tone.  The voice travels better in this type of acoustical environment, allowing for better decisions to be made by singers on how to best use their voice.

All of us have observed in our choral work and solo singing how a room’s particular acoustical properties influence our choices of vocal tone and timbre.  Often a live rehearsal or performance room brightens the tone, sometimes requiring timbre shadings and vowel modifications better suited to that particular acoustical environment.  Many singers will unconsciously choose to spread their vowels in a live acoustic requiring some vowel modifications to adjust and compensate for this acoustical influence upon vowel timbre qualities and the choir’s uniformity of vowels.  An acoustically dull rehearsal or performance room also influences singers and choirs and encourages them to create vocal tone that is often pressed, strident, less bright, and lacking in resonance.

A room with good reverberation allows the vocal tone to travel more easily than in a room that lacks reverberation, and this in turn encourages singers to use their voice and supported breath control more wisely.  An acoustically dull room makes demands upon a singer’s voice, use of breath, and selected tempi that often put the singer at a disadvantage in terms of healthy vocal production.  Typically, this type of acoustical environment encourages forced over-singing, resulting in a pressed laryngeal position that places great demands upon the musculature involved in the singing effort.

Acoustical environments require singers, choirs, and their choral directors to make decisions regarding tempi, articulations, and dynamics for successful singing and performance. A room that lacks good reverberation requires faster tempi so that the singers can sing more easily, hopefully creating vocal production that is healthy, buoyant, and supported with good use of breath.  In an acoustical setting with good reverberation, singers, choirs, and choral directors will often choose slower tempi so that the resulting sound is not muddy – this being especially important in polyphonic choral works and musical compositions which have a great deal of eighth-note and sixteenth-note subdivision.

As far as dynamics are concerned, it is much easier to sing softly in a room with a live acoustic that it is in a room with little or no reverberation.  Of course, it is also dangerously easy and tempting for singers to over-sing in a room with a live acoustic.

Singers must choose wisely when determining duration of note values, type of articulation (accented, staccato, stressed, sforzando, weighted, lengthened notes, melismatic runs, tenuto, etc.), clarity of diction, use of voiced and unvoiced consonants, and the dynamic level and intensity of the articulations, because all of these musical, vocal, and textual decisions are directly related to and greatly influenced by a room’s particular acoustical properties and response.

The acoustical properties of rehearsal rooms, sanctuary spaces, and performance halls also have a direct impact upon intonation and successful choral blend.  The placement of voices within a choir contributes to how singers hear themselves in relation to other singers in their own section and in relation to the entire choir.  Choir singers need to hear both the sound of their own voice and the sound of the other choir members.

Depending upon a particular room’s acoustics, I often move around individual singers within the choral ensemble as I try to match better their vocal timbre, sense of pitch, loudness or softness of voice, and intensity of vibrato to the other nearby singers, as well as to the room’s acoustical response.  The strong need for hearing one’s own voice, called the feedback, as well as hearing the sound of the rest of the choir, called the reference, is one of the more important acoustical factors in choir singing.

 

“Sten Ternström has investigated what he terms ‘Self-to-Other Ratio’ (SOR).  This phenomenon may ultimately relate to singer preference for spacing.  In a choral situation, a singer attends to two sounds:  the sound of his or her own voice and the sound of the choir as a whole.  Choral singers apparently have rather defined preferences for the balance between self-sound and other sound.  According to Ternström’s research, when the reference sound of the rest of the choir overpowers the feedback received from one’s own voice, as might happen in a choir singing with cramped spacing between and among singers, potentially all manner of chaos may ensue:  over-singing, intonation problems, and less than ideal vocal production.  Venue acoustics, of course, can exacerbate the problem still further, especially in absorbent and overly reverberant rooms.”¹

 

Because this is a constantly changing variable in our choral work, the placement of voices within a choral ensemble is one of the most important decisions a choral conductor must make.  I believe that choral singers perform at their best when they are positioned in SATB quartets with no two similar voice parts next to each other and with a fair amount of distance between singers so that they can better hear themselves as well as the other parts that make up the choral texture.  Spacing with distance between and amongst singers leads to more independent singing, improved vocal production, an ability to hear better, and a better awareness of intonation.

With more knowledge about these relationships, choir directors can be better equipped to optimize the conditions for performance or rehearsal or both (for example, by changing the spacing between singers, the placement and position of particular singers within the choral ensemble as well as placement of the entire choir, and/or by making alterations to the room’s absorption).

 

“Results of research into this area of choir acoustics suggest very practical applications for your choir.  Position your singers with sufficient space between them laterally, ideally 18-24 inches.  If possible, grant them circumambient space as well (the equivalent of a vacant row between all rows of the ensemble).  Since all choirs and all singing venues are not alike, experimentation may be necessary to determine optimal conditions for your choir.  Consider also that research results suggest that ‘weaker’ singers may at first resist spread spacing, especially circumambient spacing.  These singers may actually have to hear themselves for the first time.  ‘Average’ and ‘strong’ singers, however, appear to prefer spread spacing.  Male voices, particularly basses, may do fine with a little less spread spacing, especially if they are positioned in the center block of the choir.  Soprano voices, by contrast, will likely do well with as much spacing as feasible.  Let your singers assist in the process of experimenting with spacing.  Not all voices emit the same acoustical power, and some individual variation in spacing may work well [depending upon your particular choral singers].  Spacing your singers is not a magic technique to solve all choral sound problems.  But it may add a desirable nuance to choral sound, while improving intonation and blend.  Spacing, moreover, is a vocally non-intrusive strategy that is relatively easy to implement with smaller and medium sized ensembles.”²

 

The final placement of singers within the choir and within a particular room space has a strong and immediate impact upon the resulting choral blend and intonation.  And, it is hoped of course, that this final placement and arrangement of the singers within the choir and within the performance space will enhance

 

“…the ensemble effect or chorus effect; [which] arises when many voices and their reflections create a quasi-random sound of such complexity that the normal mechanisms of auditory localization and fusion are disrupted.  In a cognitive sense, the chorus effect can magically disassociate the sound from its sources and endow it with an independent, almost ethereal existence of its own.  The sensation of this extraordinary phenomenon, strongly perceived inside the choir, is one of the attractions of choral singing.”³

 

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1 James Daugherty, Spacing Your Singers Can Make a Difference, Unison, 1999, p. 4.

2 ibid.

3 Sten Ternström, Acoustical Aspects of Choir Singing, Royal Institute of Technology, 1989, p. 10.

 

Adapted from ‘Acoustical Considerations for Church Choir Directors’, in The Chorister, December/January 2000.  Copyright © 2000 Choristers Guild.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

 

Bibliography for Further Reading:

Vance Breshears, Build for Sound:  Notes from a Consultant on How to Build Acoustics Into a Church, Your Church, Jan./Feb. 2000, Vol. 46, No. 1:  26-30.

James Daugherty, Spacing, Formation, and Choral Sound: Preferences and Perceptions of Auditors and Choristers, Journal of Research in Music Education, Fall 1999, Vol. 47, No. 3:  224-238.

James Daugherty, Spacing Your Singers Can Make a Difference, Unison, Washington State American Choral Directors Association Newsletter, Spring 1999, Vol. 12, No. 3:  3-4.

Duane R. Karna, Choir Acoustics, Unison, Washington State American Choral Directors Association Newsletter, Winter 1999, Vol. 12, No. 2:  7-9.

Duane R. Karna, and Sten Ternström,  “Choir.” Applied Music Psychology – Creative Strategies for Music Teaching and Learning.  Richard Parncutt and Gary McPherson, Editors.  London, England:  Oxford University Press, 2002.

David Lubman and Ewart Wetherill, Acoustics of Worship Spaces.  New York:  American Institute of Physics Inc., 1985.

Steven Powell, Choral Intonation:  More than Meets the Ear,  Music Educators Journal, May 1991:  40-43.

Scott R. Riedel, Acoustics in the Worship Space.  St. Louis, Missouri:  Concordia Publishing House, 1986.

Sten Ternström and Johann Sundberg, “Acoustics of Choir Singing” in Acoustics for Choir and Orchestra, Publication No. 52, Stockholm, Sweden:  The Royal Swedish Academy of Music, 1986:  12-22.

Sten Ternström and Johann Sundberg, How Loudly Should You Hear Your Colleagues and Yourself?, STL-QPSR, RIT, Stockholm, Sweden, 1984, Vol. 4:  16-26.

Sten Ternström and Johann Sundberg, ‘Intonation Precision of Choir Singers’ in Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1988, Vol. 84:  59-69.

Sten Ternström, Acoustical Aspects of Choir Singing,  Dissertation, Royal Institute of Technology, 1989.  Stockholm, Sweden:  RIT Library, 1990.

Sten Ternström, Hearing Myself with the Others – Sound Levels in Choral Performance Measured with Separation of Their Own Voice from the Rest of the Choir, Paper presented at the 22^nd Symposium:  Care of the Professional Voice, Philadelphia, PA., 1993.

Sten Ternström,  Kor Akustik,  Stockholm, Sweden:  Carl Gehrmans Musikforlag, 1987.

Walter Marzilli

choral conductor and teacher

 

This article appears here with the kind permission of ‘Lo Spettacolo’, published by Società Italiana degli Autori ed Editori.

 

A few centuries ago, in what might creatively be termed the history of human transformation, a truly remarkable phenomenon made its appearance. Ostensibly strictly confined to the world of music, it was destined nevertheless to have both social and ethical repercussions. In the 16^th century many small boys underwent castration in an attempt to create a new race of asexual angels blessed with celestial voices. From a strictly physiological perspective, the process involved an operation on a boy’s testicles before they began to secrete testosterone. Normally, the action of this hormone would bring about sexual maturity, and as a secondary sexual characteristic would affect the larynx, resulting in vocal change. With the release of the hormone into his system, the singer would no longer be able to reach the treble range. His voice would rapidly drop by an octave, moving towards one of the three final categories of bass, baritone or tenor. Without the drastic surgical intervention mentioned above, these changes would take place during the course of a few long years, and would be followed by a period of rest and retraining with the new, masculine voice. The surgeon’s skilled hand interrupted this long wait,[1] however, conferring a pseudo-female texture on the boy’s voice without harming it.[2] For better or for worse, the singer’s voice would retain this characteristic for the rest of his life.

Many such children came from the very poorest of backgrounds, often the latest additions to large families in serious financial difficulty, and their castration represented a chance for future riches in the eyes of some unscrupulous parents. For this reason, and owing to the tempting offers made by both court and ecclesiastical choirs, this cruel practice continued for about four centuries.[3] The goal was purely aesthetic: the creation of a new kind of voice that would far outclass those of the falsetto singers common at the time, who were simply healthy men imitating a female voice [falsetto comes from the Italian falsare, literally ‘to alter’ or ‘distort’].  

It is well known that women, where they were not banned entirely from doing so, met great difficulty wherever they tried to perform on stage,[4] just as when they attempted to sing in church choirs. A child’s voice, despite possessing its own unique texture and characteristics, could sometimes be used to substitute that of a woman. This was a way of bypassing all the obstacles associated with the existing social order, which any woman wishing to pursue an artistic career as a singer was sure to run into. But replacing women with children, while it resolved many problems, also created just as many new ones. These were linked to several factors, among them physical stature (especially with regard to the theatre), professional reliability and the fact that a child’s voice would only last until puberty, which meant a continual need to train new children. In short, it was necessary to find as convincing a substitute for the female voice as possible, while also effectively tackling the problems listed above. The solution that emerged was that of male castration. In order to obtain the illusion of a woman’s voice in a man’s body, which brought with it the added benefit of not having to break any social conventions, opera and choral music lovers of the time were willing to overlook certain shortcomings. For example, one of the nuove cantanti or ‘new singers’ filling the role of the lovesick, consumptive princess might, due to his unusual physical condition, stand head and shoulders above those around him and weigh in at something over 200 pounds.[5]

This short introduction should be enough to give some idea of the importance that has been attached to the ‘sound’ of the human voice throughout history. Almost every situation, no matter what its psychological or social significance, makes use of some form of vocal accompaniment. There is no need to list the endless occasions in which all people modify their voice, according to changes in time, place, or simply in their mood. The voice is as integral to our bodies as our arms or legs, but it is also the only part of us that can escape and reach far beyond the physical confines of the body. It is a metaphysical extension that goes further than the space occupied by mere flesh, revealing the most intangible aspect of our inner selves, a spiritual side that is as intimate as it is fleeting. It is, therefore, a priceless asset: a gift that can enrich our existence with the enormous possibilities it offers. One need only think of how easy it is to be transfixed by a voice on the radio, which all of us, unconsciously or otherwise, instantly associate with an imagined physical appearance. Somebody who is actually quite plain in appearance can be transformed into a fascinating figure simply through the power of the voice; the people we imagine when we listen to voices on the radio are the products of our idealised mental projections. This is why television, despite its much more physical, tangible nature, cannot replace radio: people will not allow it to destroy their artistic creations, incomparable masterpieces created by the power of imagination and preserved in a private mental archive.

The sheer number of possibilities for vocal communication means that so many different uses for the voice have developed, as diverse and numerous as the occasions in which they are employed. Every art that makes use of speech or song has given rise to a specific and continually evolving vocal technique, differing according to the social, cultural and aesthetic restrictions of the situation.[6] The developments that have taken place in every kind of singing are there for all to see, or rather are there for all to hear, especially in the field of popular music. For instance, a rich semi-tenor voice that made frequent use of the falsetto style, as was popular in the 1950s, would simply provoke amusement if imitated today. But behind the immutable passage of time and the accompanying inevitable changes in musical taste, a general pattern emerges which is worth taking into consideration. Observing today’s vast panorama of musical styles, it is clear that there has been a trend towards deeper female voices, in clear contrast with the more traditional high-pitched soprano. The preference now is for a strong, decisive sound, which is connected with connotations of virility. This is certainly the pattern that emerges when one listens carefully to contemporary popular music,[7] and even more so among child or teenage singers. In this sense, even karaoke can be an important analytical tool for studying the phonic tendencies of the general population, revealing an undeniable tendency towards the masculinisation of the female voice. A similar phenomenon is apparent in the field of opera, even if it seems to have been limited to a greater proportion of mezzo-sopranos among students on singing courses than was the case in the past. If anything, there is now a shortage of genuine low-contralto and bass voices.

In popular music, which has a greater impact on the market, and as such a greater impact on the social environment than more ‘cultured’ forms of music,[8] another clear pattern emerges: a particular style of vocal emission that we might describe as ‘throat voice’, in order to differentiate it from the more canonical styles known as ‘head voice’ and ‘chest voice’, is much more common. This is why, of all the characteristics of popular music, it is this ‘throat voice’ style that has come to define it, so much so that any departure from this style is now automatically labelled as ‘operatic’.

Normally, a ‘throat voice’ style of singing is simply the result of a lack of vocal technique in moving from one vocal register to another, what is known as the passaggio di registro. Such training would allow the singer to utilise the ‘head voice’ in order to produce higher notes.[9] Pop singers find themselves in a position in which they are expected to sing high notes, but without employing the passaggio di registro, the results of which would presumably bear too much resemblance to opera. This means that they are forced to invent their own techniques in order to hit the highest notes,[10] especially as they are well aware that their earnings are directly linked to their musical productivity.

Unless the performer in question is lucky enough to be anatomically suited to such vocal efforts, the most logical consequence is likely to be a hyperactivity of the vocal cords,[11] which can lead to the formation of nodules.[12] The voice then takes on a characteristic texture, easily recognisable to the trained ear, and which renders any further artistic use of it unlikely. The timbre deepens, sounds become huskier,[13] the length of time that the singer can exhale for becomes shorter, and medium-high notes become practically unreachable, or at the very least require a tremendous effort. Where it is not due to other physiological causes, this is the cause of the rasping, ‘smoky’ voices of some singers, from both Italy and elsewhere, who have managed to make of it a kind of trademark. The success of such singers bears out the popularity of this type of voice, which nonetheless lies beyond the normal critical boundaries of a purely aesthetic evaluation. It might be thought of as a phenomenon restricted to a successful elite, were it not for the amount of imitation it inspired. At times the imitation is unconscious, but in any case this vocal behaviour has spread to society at large, and across a large range of social groups.[14]

Current vocal trends are also connected with breathing techniques. Enlarged veins can often be seen not only on singers’ necks during performances, but also on those of people when they speak. If the moment in which the speaker draws breath is delayed due to the emphasis being put on the last words of an utterance, the organs involved in speech are placed under stress, and this can have an effect not only on the workings of these organs, but also on the qualities of the voice they produce. To go from recognising the results of such strain in one’s own voice to actively making use of them is not as much of a leap as one might suppose. There are now many female singers who make use of this type of vocal style. For the reasons mentioned above, clear, high sounds are the first to be lost while,[15] for the same reasons, deeper sounds are emphasised. Hyperactivity of the vocal cords can therefore be considered to be a limited cause of deepening female voices, but other, different factors can also result in a similar phenomenon.

The well-attested increase in average height, for example, may have had a certain influence on the trend towards deeper voices, in both men and women. Tall people owe their stature to an overactive pituitary gland, which controls the growth and development of the body. The length of the vocal cords is also proportional to the growth of the rest of the body, a consequence of the lengthening of the thyroid cartilage.[16] In tall people this tends to be more pronounced, allowing them to produce deeper, low-pitched sounds.[17] This can also be seen in the physical qualities that typically distinguish bass singers from tenors; the former tend to be tall, long-limbed, lean and vigorous,[18] with a fast metabolism, while tenors are generally shorter, with different physical characteristics, and are wont to put on weight due to their slower metabolism.[19]

Although it may at first seem a subject area that has little to do with the masculinisation of the female voice, it is worth lingering for a moment to consider the existence of the pineal gland, which is situated in the brain. Despite being buried deep in the cranium, one of its qualities is photosensitivity.[20] Among its other functions is the regulation of the pituitary gland, responsible for growth as well as controlling the output of testosterone by the Leydig cells. The fact that it is sensitive to light could, indirectly, mean that the pineal gland has a bearing on the subject of this essay. Through prolonged light exposure,[21] the pineal gland can be induced to stimulate prematurely the pituitary gland. The result of this would be the precocious secretion of testosterone which, as was noted previously, brings about changes in the male voice and triggers the process that leads to sexual and vocal maturity.[22]

It must also be taken into consideration that the unknowing consumption of hormones from increasingly rich and complex foods, often treated or altered through the use of hormonal substances that encourage growth and enhance appearance, including both meat and non-meat products,[23] can contribute to the precocious onset of these physical changes. Indeed, the consumption of these hormones has a direct effect on the growth of certain parts of the anatomy, and as such has a direct impact on the present investigation. The larynx, the organ that is responsible for producing sound, is also classed as a secondary sexual organ, and is extremely sensitive to the effects of hormones in the body.[24]

Once sexual maturity has been reached, teenagers find themselves in a whole series of new situations, connected to various different factors, and analysing them too closely would cause the present investigation to stray into many other fields. There is one particular area, however, that it is worth examining in more detail: the way in which adolescents show that they have reached their goal, which in their eyes at least is of huge social importance. Although perfectly evident to the individual involved, the physical proof of this alteration will, for obvious reasons, normally remain private. It is at this stage that a whole series of frequently exaggerated behavioural patterns begin to emerge, through which adolescents of both sexes seek to display the changes that they have undergone. Clothes, facial expressions, makeup, cigarettes, and in some extreme cases drugs, can all be interpreted as attempts to show off one’s maturity through messages that reach beyond the confines of the body itself, but at the same time are not a part of it. But there is one thing that truly belongs to us, that represents our own personal identity and is at the same time inextricably bound to it, that is able to send clear messages out into our surroundings and is the only part of our bodies which, as mentioned previously, is able to give shape to our inner selves: our voice[25] There is no better way, therefore, to present our own self-image to those around us.

The connection between these facts and the masculinisation of the female voice becomes apparent as soon as one considers the role models available to an adolescent girl who wishes to highlight her new status as a woman. Observing the situation as an outsider, and attempting to remain as objective as possible, it is quite clear that the image of the mature woman continually transmitted by advertisements, films, television and the media in general is one of confidence and charm, accompanied by a certain hint of aggressiveness. The other side of the female character that receives particular emphasis is that of athleticism, tenacity and courage, all on clear display in films that feature female leads. It is easy to see how impressionable young women could be influenced by, and attempt to identify themselves with, such role models. This hypothesis would certainly be in keeping with the fact that the vast majority of smokers smoke their first cigarette during puberty, the stage in life when they feel it most necessary to emphasise their own new-found maturity. In the same way it is easy to see how a natural tendency towards deeper, more virile voices has developed, as it is seen to offer those qualities that are instrumental to a woman’s success in modern society. A high, clear voice would seem absurd.

Thyroid dysfunction, already mentioned above, may also have played a considerable role in the reduced clarity of women’s voices.[26] According to recent endocrine research, an extremely high percentage of women (more than 70%) are affected by abnormalities in thyroid function, involving the appearance of nodules on the thyroid gland. The presence of these nodules[27] can lead to a notable increase in the volume of the gland, situated next to the base of the larynx,[28] just beneath the thyroid cartilage. Their location may impede the normal mobility of the larynx,[29] inhibiting the capacity of the vocal cords to vibrate and thus reducing the number of vibrations relative to airflow. Taking into consideration the acoustic laws that govern sound production, this condition too would lead to lower-pitched, deeper sounds.

It would appear that we find ourselves once again in the midst of a vocal transition similar to that of the castrati, but one that is working in the opposite direction: rather than men striving for female voices, women are trying to render their voices more masculine, even if this time, luckily, the transformation is a bloodless one. In actual fact, if one were to investigate more thoroughly, an attentive ear would also discover a contrary trend in the male voice, as higher pitched, clearer sounds offer greater penetrative power.[30] But this is an area of study for future research papers. For the time being, it is enough to remember that, from a physiological point of view, the larynx, the source of the voice, is classed among the secondary sexual organs. With this in mind, it may not be too fanciful to posit a possible parallel between the mutability of human vocal identity and that of our sexual identity, which is every bit as mobile. 

 

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[1] This was certainly not surgery as we might expect it today: carried out in secret due to the prohibitions in place, with scant regard for hygiene, and methods that bore a closer resemblance to butchery than to modern medicine. Indeed, it was due to their manual ability with knives and razors that butchers and barbers were apparently chosen to carry out these operations rather than surgeons, who were in any case much fussier and more demanding.

[2] There are no doubts, though, about the existence or extent of the psychological trauma; the lives of castrati were deeply marked by their experience. Neither great artistic success nor wealth, which were in any case only ambitions when the operation was carried out, could ever erase such a disturbing episode from their memories.

[3] The last castrati singers of the Sistine Chapel remained there until shortly after the appointment of Monsignor Lorenzo Perosi as Papal choirmaster in 1898. In 1902, it was decreed that no more castrati would be taken on. Those already in service continued until retirement. Among them was Alessandro Moreschi, who ended his castrato career in 1913.

[4] Readers are reminded that actors of the time were held in such ill repute that they were buried outside the city walls. From this one can well imagine what was thought of women who worked in the theatre, whether as singers or actors.

[5] This abnormal growth was one of the consequences of castration. Along with testosterone, the production of another important substance called inhibin was also interrupted. Inhibin counterbalances the effects of the pituitary gland, which controls growth and development of the body. It must be said that ever since then we have become accustomed to see Mimì, though supposedly dying of consumption, still decidedly ‘well-upholstered’.

[6] Actors’ voices have changed greatly in the last forty years, to the extent that a black and white film would be unrecognisable if it were redubbed today. The same process can be observed in theatre and opera.

[7] This term is used in as objective a sense as possible; questions regarding the true artistic value or cultural importance of ‘popular’ music falls outside the remit of this investigation.

[8] The use of this adjective hints at a degree of elitism, but here is intended merely to imply a certain kind of music.

[9] The passaggio di registro creates a homogeneity of vocal timbre in the transition between lower and higher notes, allowing for a smoother and more solid vocal performance across a singer’s range. Failure to use this technique is what gives all pop music tracks one of their common features; there is a notable difference between the ‘verse’, normally sung in a whispered, uncertain voice in the medium-low vocal range, and the ‘chorus’, where the singer reveals their perhaps unexpected talents by employing powerful, high notes.

[10] As with opera music, in popular music the high notes are the greatest crowd-pleasers, and as such are highly sought-after.

[11] This hyperactivity is due to the effort of emitting sound in physiologically anomalous conditions.

[12] This term refers to the tough swellings that can form on the edges of the vocal cords when they are placed under prolonged strain. It has been shown that the condition is common among teachers, particularly those working in primary and middle schools. Their voices are subjected to an abnormal level of strain, as they have to use them so often. Overuse leads to chafing between the edges of the vocal cords, and to the formation of actual callouses at the point of contact.

[13] This term is used to describe a voice that is accompanied by an audible breath sound, which is caused by the fact that some of the air passing through the vocal cords is not vibrated, and as such not transformed into sound. This in turn is due to the hardened callouses that prevent the cords from vibrating freely, meaning they cannot transform the current of air into sound waves. 

[14] The normal tendency to emulate the style of famous people, especially in the case of popular music, finds particular expression in the widespread phenomenon of karaoke, which remains popular in many countries, even if it is now a little passé here in Italy. The imitative component of karaoke is its most prominent feature, and as such those who engage in it find themselves closely copying the vocal style, for better or worse, of the original artist.

[15] In producing these sounds, the vocal cords take on their flattest shape, caused by the movement of the arytenoid cartilage. The same principle is at work in all string instruments, where the thinnest strings (in relation to their length) produce the highest, clearest notes.

[16] More commonly known as the Adam’s apple, the thyroid cartilage is one of four that make up the larynx, together with the cricoid, arytenoid and epiglottic. The cartilaginous shield of the Adam’s apple protects the vocal cords, which are stretched between the thyroid and the arytenoid cartilages.

[17] The same occurs in string instruments, where longer strings produce deeper sounds (where string thickness does not change).

[18] Though they are not necessarily slim, especially as they grow older.

[19] A recent theory has hypothesised that sound production can be improved by the presence of fat deposits in the laryngeal region. This would appear to contradict the fact that stouter singers tend to be tenors or sopranos, with high, clear voices. In the case of sopranos the vocal cords are forced to complete over 1,000 oscillations per second (soprano F5: 1396.9 p/s), an action which one might expect would be slowed down by the weight of fatty deposits next to the cords. If one considers that a small droplet of mucous on the vocal cords brings about an immediate reduction in voice function, it should be very clear just how precarious an opera singer’s success really is. In the moment of sound production the singer’s voice depends on a very delicate equilibrium within the voice box, and the smallest additional weight can be enough to break it.

The presence of fat in the chest area is different, in that it essentially contributes to the production of medium-low notes. Fat in this part of the body, if seen as a means of transmitting vibration, can increase the resonant capacity of the chest, as this capacity is directly proportional to the molecular density of the means of transmission. This is why sound travels five times faster through water than through air.

[20] More than 20 different hormones have been isolated from among its secretions. These are to be important for many vital bodily functions, and not only neurological. It is closely involved with the development of the secondary sexual organs, among them the larynx, lynchpin of the vocal organs. The pineal gland also regulates the transition between periods of sleep and wakefulness.

[21] In reality we spend most of our time indoors rather than outside. This explains why we are more exposed to powerful, fixed light sources, such as electric lighting, especially when one considers that lights in workplaces are often left on even in the daytime. These lights typically illuminate the entire working area, offering no opportunity of finding ‘shade’.

[22] This may explain the fact that in Italy, as in other countries that enjoy a sunny Mediterranean climate, Knabenchöre (treble voice choirs) have always been a rarity, limited to a few particular institutions (e.g. the Sistine Chapel and Milan Cathedral). Conversely, such choirs were always common in the countries of northern Europe. Sexual maturity and the vocal changes that accompany it evidently occurred later here, as the pineal gland was less stimulated by the harder climate and more overcast skies. The longer duration of the treble voice thus accorded greater stability to the Knabenchor in terms of its membership, encouraging its continuation and diffusion.

[23] One proof of this abnormal hormonal presence in the human body is the extremely elevated percentage of women who suffer from thyroid problems. In the last few years thyroid dysfunction has also been affecting an increasing number of men.

[24] Female opera singers are often known to avoid performing during their menstrual cycle, because of the changes that the larynx undergoes in this period.

[25] Speaking on the telephone with someone we know is much like using a videophone, in that the sound of their voice alone gives the sensation that they are physically present.

[26] It is to be remembered that the term ‘thyroid dysfunction’ refers to the thyroid gland, and not to the thyroid cartilage.

[27] They can appear in large numbers and reach considerable size, to such an extent that they are easily visible to the naked eye.

[28] In normal conditions, the thyroid volume of a woman who lives far from the coast may be as much as twice that of a woman living by the sea, due to the shortage of iodine. In these cases, a further increase in volume can cause highly visible results.

[29] This is often due to the fact that, while the thyroid is composed of a soft, pliable material, the nodules are more solid, and often coated with a kind of chalky plaster, with which the body tries to defend itself from and imprison these foreign bodies.

[30] The difficulty of finding deep bass voices was mentioned above.

 

 

 

Translated from the Italian by Ross Nelhams, UK

Edited by Gillian Forlivesi Heywood, Italy

The World Youth Choir at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremonies, Oslo, December 2011

 

Vladimir Opačić

World Youth Choir Project Manager

 

The World Youth Choir is a genuine educational and social experience that draws on many vocal traditions and aims to perform at the highest artistic level. For some 22 years now, the World Youth Choir has built bridges between young singers from diverse cultures. And for over two decades the World Youth Choir has been the meeting point for young singers from around the world. A thousand individuals have taken part and left an indelible mark on the ensemble, imbuing it with their unique talent, personality, creativity, warmth and humour.

 

 

The World Youth Choir was, is and will be a unique project which brings people from different cultures and nations together for an unforgettable moment in their lives. It is a global school of understanding, respect and unity of many different nations, speaking one language that all can understand: the language of the world’s choral music. It is a unique chance for young people to develop every part of their being and, through music, discover the essence of living. No matter how different our cultures, skin colours, religions, or languages remain, being a World Youth Choir member and speaking a choral language, shows how every one of us is important, how every one of us is the world, wherever we come from. Our choral language is unique; our choir is unique for all people who want to make the world a better place, even if it is only with the sound of music. We feel fulfilled as human beings whenever there is a place for us to be a unique cultural representative of our corner of the world. That place gives us the right to be different. With all past, present and future singers, the World Youth Choir certainly is different from any other choral projects, uniqueness in diversity is at the core of its existence.

It was a fantastic feeling to be in Oslo, in the Aula, the Oslo City Hall and the Spektrum Arena in front of the royal family and three Nobel Peace Prize winners. To be on stage in silence when a thousand people stood to greet the King and the winners was wonderful and once-in-a-lifetime experience. The World Youth Choir deserved this; its mission and motto was recognized. It produced a fantastic sound, facial expressions, smiles, energy and above all, devotion. Our hearts were beating perfectly in time: sixty beats as one, for the planet, in sound and minds.

Vladimir Opačić, Serbia (The Foundation World Youth Choir)

WYC singer 1999-2004, WCC singer 2004, 2009, World Youth Choir Project Manager 2004/05-present, Conductor, music teacher

 

 

After a tremendous winter session with the World Youth Choir in Belgium 2004, I was bursting with joy at being able to receive the choir in my own home town, Oslo, in 2011. They came with lots of musical resources, stamina, musical surplus, temperament, forbearance and lots of good humour. Unforgettable days. Thank you so much.

Grete Pedersen, conductor, Norway

 

 

After a break from holding winter sessions, the World Youth Choir once more gathered its members in snowy climes last December. Sixty singers from thirty-seven countries were invited to Oslo by Jeunesses Musicales Norway, in collaboration with the University of Oslo. The Choir assembled to perform for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony and Awards Concert, as well as for the 200^th anniversary of the University of Oslo. The choir members were honoured to perform at such prestigious events, and worked their hardest over the seven days of the session to ensure that their concerts would reflect this.

 

 

The choir went straight into a full day of rehearsals at the beautiful Opera House at Bjørvika. That morning we met our conductor, Grete Pedersen, who introduced us to the week’s music. We were to perform a full concert programme concluding a year of celebrations for the university’s 200^th anniversary, with pieces including Brahms’s Warum ist das Licht gegeben, Schoenberg’s Friede Auf Erden, Matt Van Brink’s White, Those That Stayed Still (its European premiere), Nørgård’s Dream Songs and several traditional Norwegian folk songs arranged for choir and violin by Gunnar Eriksson. The next three days were spent rehearsing at the concert’s venue, the Aula of the University of Oslo, before the concert on the session’s fourth day. During these rehearsals we also met the Norwegian violinist Gjermund Larsen, who was to perform with us. During these intensive rehearsals we began to create a cohesive sound as a choir, and bonded over our shared memories of past World Youth Choir sessions. Some of us were also brought together by mutual difficulties with Norwegian pronunciation. However, singing in a hall framed by huge Edvard Munch paintings gave us a fair amount to live up to, and thanks to Grete and Gjermund’s inspiring instruction, we were able to present a vibrant concert for the university’s anniversary.

 

 

The second part of the session saw us preparing for the two Nobel Peace Prize performances. The prize-giving ceremony was to be held at the imposing Oslo City Hall, and we would be performing in front of Norwegian royalty, the 2011 Peace Prize winners, visiting dignitaries and a considerable television audience. No small task, then. We were to close the ceremony with Eriksson’s Norwegian arrangements. We arrived on the day of the ceremony, having rehearsed at City Hall the day before, and as we got ready we watched the winners’ speeches on a screen. The three winners, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman, were chosen for their work for women’s rights and safety. All three women gave rousing and inspiring speeches, and it encouraged us to give a whole-hearted performance, which would pay tribute to their work.

After over four days of solid work, it was a treat to have some free time for sightseeing. Our hosts kindly arranged for us to see some of the city’s various cultural and sporting highlights, including the Viking Ship Museum, and the Holmenkollen Ski Museum and ski jump. It was a great opportunity to learn something more of the city’s heritage, and it left us with plenty to talk about at the official dinner to which we were invited that evening by the University of Oslo. Next day we were treated to lunch of Norwegian salmon and reindeer at one of Oslo’s restaurants, hosted by the United Nations ambassador, Madam Dho Young-shim from South Korea, admirer of the work the World Youth Choir has done in the past. Feeling suitably rested, we departed for the Oslo Spektrum Arena for our final performance at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert.

After the sound-check for we prepared ‘O Fortuna’ from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, the concert’s opening number. The choir rehearsed it several times with the orchestra, stopping only when Dame Helen Mirren, one of the evening’s co-hosts, came over to greet the choir. We were then invited to sing in the concert finale together with the other artists performing that evening. Our task was to learn the chorus to Angelique Kidjo’s infectious song Move On Up and we were asked to dance for the rest of the number, something we managed with considerable enthusiasm at the concert. Our opening piece went well. In a celebratory mood after the concert, we began to sing some of the well-loved pieces from previous sessions. Unknown to us, our singing was audible in the surrounding corridors, and it was not long before we were joined by one of the evening’s hosts, Rosario Dawson, who ended up dancing and singing along with the choir. It was a magical end to an unforgettable week, and one which none of the participating singers will ever forget.

The World Youth Choir’s trip to Oslo could not have happened without the support of several important organisations, namely the University of Oslo, the Norwegian Culture Council, Bergesens Almennyttige Stiftelse, and Skipsreder Tom Wilhelmsens Stiftelse. We as choir members are so grateful for the opportunities they gave us. We are also thankful for the help of Jeunesses Musicales Norway, and in particular to Solveig Riiser, Ingunn Sand, Eivind Lovdal, Ole Albrekt Nedrelid, Sofie Søndervik Sæther and many volunteers for their dedication to the project. We are indebted to the University of Oslo, the Nobel Institute and Committee, and the organisers of the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony and Concert for inviting us to be a part of two very important events. Finally, the session could not have happened without the hard work of two people: Grete Pedersen and Vladimir Opačić. Between them, they gave us the structure, spirit and inspiration to make the trip a success.

Final gratitude goes to all singers of the World Youth Choir in Oslo, for their tremendous work, talent, passion, devotion and above all humanity, so needed in present times. True ‘Ambassadors of Peace’ in Oslo, were:

 

Sopranos

De Gendt	Jolien	Belgium
Espedal	Ingvill	Norway
Ho	Chi Mei	Malaysia
Hoeltschi	Sarah	Switzerland
Ip	Wing Wun	Hong Kong
Kovacevic	Ana	Serbia
Maticic	Vida	Slovenia
Nangabo	Grace	Kenya
O’Brien	Clare Bridgit	Ireland
Pecze	Zsofia	Hungary
Renglet	Amélie	Belgium
Rupnik	Tanja	Slovenia
Telnov	Maria	Israel
Tschakert	Katharina	Austria
Zupanic	Sanja	Slovenia

 

Altos

Arniece	Ilze	Latvia
Bobek	Alenka	Slovenia
Chen	Wei-Ching	Taiwan
De Wilde	Carolien	Belgium
Horska	Lenka	Czech Republic
Juárez Vargas	Betzabé	Mexico
Kanter	Clara	United Kingdom
Liedbergius	Victoria	Norway
Rohwer	Katherine	USA
Ronn	Simone	Denmark
Rovira	Manuela	Uruguay
Szabo	Anna	Australia
Tshupane	Tina	South Africa
Tsushima	Kaori	Japan
Utt	Teele	Estonia

 

Tenors

Baldwin	David	Canada
Bjorn Moller	Troels	Denmark
Budday	Johannes	Germany
Degives	Geoffrey	Belgium
Gaglianello	Adriano	Italy
Gorrin	Juan	Venezuela
Kristi	Ganda Charisma	Indonesia
Lee	Shiak Yao	Malaysia
Mateos Segura	Juan de Dios	Spain
Neimark	Federico	Argentina
Reimer	Scott	Canada
Salonen	Jussi	Finland
Sequera	Pedro	Venezuela
Simko	Matus	Slovak Republic
Snarby	Kristopher	Canada

 

Baritones/Basses

Delvaux	Bertrand	Belgium
Fergusson	Timothy Alan Jack	United Kingdom
Gailey	David	USA
Guirigay	Juan Pablo	Venezuela
Hagfeldt	Daniel	Sweden
Meunier	Lionel	France
Miličević	Nemanja	Serbia/BIH
Olofson	Oskar	Sweden
Pooe	Itumeleng	South Africa
Silva Herrera	Jose Angel	Spain
Sojo	Paul	Venezuela
Svarc	Aleksandar	Serbia
Viray	Arjay	Philipines
Yajure	Jose Jonas	Venezuela

 

Clara Kanter, United Kingdom

(Session 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 Oslo)

 

 

World Youth Choir in Oslo, December 2011

Oslo through the eyes of others

Another triumphant appearance by the World Youth Choir, proving itself a unique worldwide ensemble that carries out its mission of world peace and understanding amongst nations. What had been a week of snow and cold weather in Oslo was warmed up through singing, as were the hearts of the singers, the audiences and the high profile guests at the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies. Sixty World Youth Choir singers, chosen carefully amongst the participants at the previous sessions, created a unique, well-rehearsed team of young people guided by an outstanding conductor, Grete Pedersen, a team that delivered remarkable performances during its appearances that week, offering a historically and thematically rich program, showing tremendous ability for transformation which only this ensemble could achieve in three rehearsing days, reaching the highest artistic and social success.

We were all deeply moved by the event, and by the singing. We were also touched and proud by the fact that these appearances were televised for some 300 million viewers across the globe. It was amazing to see how both in the official and in the unofficial parts of the program, the singers had a chance to deepen their friendship and to meet local people, the organizers, and renowned celebrities.

As Mr. Per Ekedahl, president of the Jeunesses Musicales International said: “The power of Jeunesses Musicales International network lies in all the thousands of activities, performances, training and concerts, that go on around the world. It lies in people’s devotion to music and youth. It lies in the energy that emerges when young people make music together – across all boundaries; it lies in the power that music has to empower.” As a symbol of all the work with music and young people that goes on everywhere in the JMI network, this appearance of the World Youth Choir was perfect in many senses.

It demonstrated involvement, devotion, excellence, and empowerment and confirmed, right on target, the ‘across all boundaries’ as being perhaps the most prestigious peace-event there is. One thing is certain. The extraordinary event at which the World Youth Choir has performed meant success for us all. The Oslo concerts are a legacy for significant development of the Foundation World Youth Choir and project in general, as well as a highlight for generations of young singers while together all are ‘building bridges between young singers from diverse cultures.’ 

The Jeunesses Musicales International is proud to be one of the three patron organizations which support the World Youth Choir, along with the European Choral Association – Europa Cantat and the International Federation for Choral Music, all joined in the newly created Foundation World Youth Choir: thanks to everyone involved in making the Oslo events come true! The World Youth Choir Foundation Board and the Artistic Committee had their meetings during this week in Oslo, offering the opportunity to the patron organizations to meet and interact with the singers and the organizers, as well.

These festive moments were a good opportunity to announce the World Symposium on Choral Music 2014 in Korea, organized by the International Federation for Choral Music. The World Youth Choir has been warmly invited to perform for the participants and for the Korean audiences. So, see you soon at the World Youth Choir Summer Session 2012 in Cyprus.

Blasko Smilevski, Chair of the Foundation World Youth Choir

Secretary General of the Jeunesses Musicales International

 

It was a weekend full of contrasts and rich impressions. In December Oslo, covered in snow, hosted the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winners, three strong women from warm countries in colourful dresses – and the World Youth Choir was there to perform.

The European Choral Association – Europa Cantat, as one of the patrons, is very proud that ‘our choir’ was chosen. It is a major aim of our organization to promote singing among young people worldwide, and we consider the World Youth Choir a remarkable contribution to world peace. Watching the award ceremony, it was wonderful to see the choir singing from their hearts, full of energy and enthusiasm, with radiant faces, happy to be performing for such a prestigious audience which included the King and Queen of Norway. One of the singers proudly presented her baby in the evening in a gala outfit: black swallow-tailed coat, white shirt and a bow tie, all hand-tailored by the baby’s grandmother for the great occasion.

The special weekend started with a concert in the Aula of Oslo University which has walls covered in paintings by Edward Munch. Behind the choir there was a huge wall-to-wall painting, which included a sun that seemed to shine on the choir or on Grete Pedersen, the conductor of the session. The first chord of the concert from Warum by Johannes Brahms was impressive and already gave an idea of the excellent quality of the choir. It was amazing to hear how in three rehearsal days, Grete had achieved a magnificent choral sound and a great musical variety.

At the end of the weekend the choir was invited to open the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in front of six thousand people. When looking at the pictures and YouTube films afterwards, we were happy to see that the singers had the opportunity to meet the hosts and other artists of the evening, and we heard that Helen Mirren complimented the choir on their performance. 

For the young singers of the World Youth Choir, awarded the title of UNESCO Artist for Peace in 1996, these days in Oslo will certainly stand out from all the other sessions and they will long be remembered. As patrons we hope that those who heard the choir will also remember it as an instrument that can bridge cultural differences and contribute to peace in the world. Or as one of our members wrote after having read the press release about Oslo, “I always thought the World Youth Choir deserved the Nobel Peace Prize”.

On behalf of the European Choral Association – Europa Cantat: Gábor Móczár, Vice-President

Jean Smeets, Treasurer – and Treasurer of the World Youth Choir Foundation

Sonja Greiner, Secretary General – and Board member of the World Youth Choir Foundation

 

For the first time in its existence, the World Youth Choir was invited to perform at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway. The invitation was an appropriate gesture considering that the World Youth Choir was awarded the title ‘Artist for Peace’ by UNESCO in 1996. This comes as no surprise for those of us who are intimately familiar with this exceptional ensemble. But for those for whom this was their first exposure to the choir, it was an eye-opener to realise that there could be a performing ensemble with this level of talent, recruited on a world-wide basis, and one that has existed for over twenty years.

The performances by the choir were extraordinary, as one would expect. However, I was most pleased by the exposure created by such an opportunity. Not since their performance at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics had the choir enjoyed such an audience. The people attending these prestigious events were singular in stature, and the television audience was immense. For global choral music I found several things pleasing, such as the attendance by the Rector of Oslo University and his insightful speech about the world and music’s place in it. Also present were many VIPs, who were probably attending a World Youth Choir concert for the first time.

The Nobel Peace Prize ceremony was attended by world leaders, many of whom could be helpful in bringing choral music to its appropriate prominence around the globe, and could help with projects like the IFCM’s Conductors Without Borders – a critical project. I was surprised by the sizable amount of money that was prominent at the event. It gives me hope for the future of raising funds and interest in our art form.

Particularly pleasing was the attendance of Ambassador Young-shim Dho, from Korea. As an IFCM Board Member and the host of the 2014 IFCM World Symposium on Choral Music, she took a detour from her travels to open a Small Library, (a project of South Korea in Africa) to attend the event and host a luncheon for the singers. It was greatly appreciated by all the artists. My hope is that more people like Ambassador Dho will recognize the levelling effect that is regularly integrated in choral music. Everyone is equal; everyone has opportunity; all succeed collectively. I feel that much of the message of the World Youth Choir is exactly that: representatives of the world bringing a positive, unified message to the world: peace.

Dr. Michael J. Anderson, President

International Federation for Choral Music

 

January, February, March, April… I am constantly watching pictures and clips from the Oslo session. I found myself wondering whether or not Oslo really happened. So many smiling faces… not only with their lips, but with their eyes, their bodies; with their souls.

Dear friends, I love you all. I am the happiest girl in the world, and I keep asking myself how I deserved to have you all in my life.

Ana Kovačević, law student, Serbia (Session 2008, 2009, Anniversary celebration 2009, 2011 Oslo)

 

The World Youth Choir is a multicultural stage which superbly teaches us the importance of diversity and how much it enriches human existence. We raise our voices as a clamour for new world citizens willing to understand and appreciate differences and to stop misjudging so unfairly. While singing for the Nobel Peace Prize laureates I represented Venezuela, but I also felt responsible for representing every nation on earth, for those which call for understanding and peace.

Paul Sojo, student, Venezuela (Session 2008, 2009, Anniversary celebration 2009, 2010, 2011 Oslo)

 

The World Youth Choir performing at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony culminates what this project has been doing for over two decades – being Artists for Peace. Just like the World Youth Choir itself, these experiences will never be matched, replaced or duplicated. I wish for bigger and better things for the World Youth Choir in the future.

Arjay Viray, Philippines (Session 2008, 2010 and 2011 Oslo)

 

The Oslo session of the World Youth Choir was an amazing experience.  Being a part of the Nobel ceremonies and concerts was the chance of a lifetime. I will cherish the memories of singing in such important events with such beautiful people forever.

David Baldwin, Canada (Summer and winter 2005, summer and winter 2006, 2011 Oslo)

The World Youth Choir has given me the opportunity to make music and friends with the most promising and wonderful persons and musicians around the world. Wherever I go, I can be sure to have a friend for life. To make music at a professional level in an early stage in life is the most wonderful thing a musician can do. I will never forget this for the rest of my life.

Daniel Hagfeldt, Sweden, Student of Speech-Language Pathology
(Session 2008, 2009 and Anniversary celebration, Oslo 2011)

 

I thought I would never get a chance like this again, because I had almost reached the World Youth Choir’s upper age limit, but when I saw the email from Vladimir Opačić, I was ecstatic. So I decided that I would go back and sing with the best choir in the world – both musically and in the human sense. I spent that week with old friends and new ones, making amazing music, seeing different cultures. But then dreary life seemed to call us back from heaven and sent us spiralling back down to earth. What an honour for us all to be in Oslo, for such a magnificent occasion and for me to attend and perform in these events. The World Youth Choir has always had a positive impact on my life. Just by mere association with the name, I find that people here are in awe and give you a second chance, especially when I mention that I was in the Nobel Peace Prize Concert with all those other artists.

Grace Nangabo, Kenya (Summer session 2008, 2011 Oslo)

 

If I have to describe with one word the last two World Youth Choir sessions I was able to attend it would be ‘amazing’. It simply was an amazing musical experience, one that changed my life in the best of ways. I am happy that I could be a part of this wonderful choir and hope that many young people can have the same experience in the future.

Sarah Holtschi, Switzerland (Summer 2010, 2011 Oslo)

 

Since I joined the World Youth Choir in 2004, it has been very important to me in many ways, on a personal and professional level. From a singer’s point of view, I have come to know many interesting choral works and it was fascinating to work with so many talented conductors, learning new ways and methods of choral singing. It was a unique opportunity to work with Grete Pedersen in Oslo, one of the best choral conductors I have ever worked with. But the thing I cherish most about the World Youth Choir, is the profound and warm relationships one gets to build with singers from all over the world. It has broadened my vision of the world and has given me some of the best friends in my life.

Carolien De Wilde, Belgium (Summer 2004, summer 2005, summer 2008, 2011 Oslo)

 

The December 2011 World Youth Choir session in Oslo, Norway was a celebration of people coming together and making the world a better place. By sharing quality music and incredible experiences, young people from 37 countries across the globe learned better what it means to be a human being.

David Gailey, United States of America, High School Choir Director (Sessions 2006, 2007, 2009 Anniversary celebration, 2010, 2011 Oslo)

 

When I became a member of the World Youth Choir I was totally fired by its energy. It is a great opportunity for making new friendships and broadening horizons, and is altogether a top level musical experience. What more could a young musician wish for? When I was invited to take part at the Nobel Peace Prize session 2011 I felt honoured and proud. Working with Grete Pedersen, making music with friends, singing for the Nobel Peace prize laureates in front of the royal family and the incredible audience has been an unimaginable honour and will remain an everlasting memory. I am so grateful to all the people who make this project possible and bring such great opportunities to young singers.

Vida Matičič, Slovenia, final year voice student (Session 2005, 2005/2006, 2006, 2007/2008, 2011 Oslo)

 

Being part of the historical moments in Oslo was incredible. It was extremely emotional. The World Youth Choir was and is important; I just hope that in the future, thanks to this event and our singing in Oslo, the World Youth Choir will see brighter days. Someone once said that the the World Youth Choir changes your life forever. It is true for me and for many others. It summarizes really well why this project was and is important and will continue to be important for a long time for younger generations. We are ‘Artists for Peace’.

Geoffrey Degives, Belgium, freelance singer (Summer 2003, 2004, 2008, 2010; winter 2004/2005 – 2007/2008; World Chamber Choir 2010, 2011 Oslo)

 

I had many beautiful moments in Oslo. Realizing how important our presence at the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony was, as representatives of peace united by music itself, and the honor of sharing our joy in music as a gift of peace to the laureates, took away my breath and left me in awe.

Juan Pablo Guirigay, Venezuela (Session 2009, Anniversary celebration 2009, 2010 and 2011, Oslo)

 

When I was invited and heard that the World Youth Choir was going to sing at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies, I thought it incredible. But then I realised that the presence of the World Youth Choir at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies is exactly what the choir stands for. The World Youth Choir is truly special, bringing together different people, cultures, and backgrounds, creating understanding through music, and ultimately, peace.

Ingvill Espedal, Norway (Session 2010, 2011 Oslo)

Singing in the World Youth Choir fuels a passion for music. It is an incredible experience for the development of a choral singer and conductor. It creates an opportunity to sing with distinguished conductors and work within a broad field of proficient musicians from around the world, allowing us all to experience an extremely rich intercultural exchange. It is a blessing that this choir exists.

Scott Alexander Reimer, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

School teacher/construction worker (Session 2009, 2010 and Oslo, 2011)

 

The World Youth Choir unites people from all over the world. I believe it could announce a new era, an era of peace. I see the Nobel Peace Prize events as an occasion where the World Youth Choir fits in perfectly. Perhaps the World Youth Choir project might win a Nobel Peace Prize some time in the future.                                              Sanja Zupanic, medical student, Slovenia (Session 2008 and Oslo 2011)

The World Youth Choir has been a special experience in my life. It breaks down the walls which separate us and strengthens the bond between various races and peoples. It is a chance to change, to learn, to love, and to compromise, sharing with others but receiving the same in return. No matter which corner of the world you are living in, it is an opportunity to entertain, to educate, to ease pain, and to increase confidence among all the souls we touched – all this through music. The World Youth Choir has inspired me to be a better man in every aspect of my life. But what gives a choir life and value? Individual characters sharing the same vision and belief I would say. During this process, we learn to accept others, to lead, to follow, to help, and to support. It lays the foundation for a better tomorrow for humanity. The Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony gave me the courage and determination to continue serving the world with what I do best, knowing there is a whole world of support behind me. There is a great saying in the World Youth Choir’s system: ‘the World Youth Choir will change your life forever’. It has indeed changed the lives of many over the past twenty-two years. May the choir continue to blossom forever, for young people and for the betterment of the world. 

Lee Shiak Yao, Malaysia, Choral director; Orchestra and Symphonic Band conductor;Vice president Malaysia Choral Federation (Session 2004, 2004/2005, 2005/2006, 2007, 2009 World Chamber Choir and Anniversary celebrations, 2011 Oslo)

 

Singing in the World Youth Choir and at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies 2011 was like a dream come true. Not only because of the event, but also because of the opportunity I had to sing among sixty excellent singers chosen from around the world. It proves to me and to the others as well how important these passionate singers are for the World Youth Choir project. The World Youth Choir has indeed expanded the borders of my knowledge, culture and experience. I hope the World Youth Choir will be able to help more young people to have a chance like mine.

Ganda Charisma Kristi, Indonesia, church choir member and choir conductor (Session 2010 and 2011, Oslo)

 

It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to sing for the three Nobel Peace Prize awardees, amazingly brave and altruistic women –it rarely happens these days that people think first of others rather than of themselves. And for some millionth time already, the session of the World Youth Choir reminded me how beautiful and universal the language of music is.

Ilze Ārniece, Latvia, EU Structure Fund Project Manager (Session 2000, 2008, 2009 and 2011, Oslo)

 

Being part of the World Youth Choir gave me a heartfelt connection to the world, to people whom I otherwise would not have met, and to countries I otherwise would not have seen. The Oslo session gave me new perspectives and enriched my life. I am proud to have been there.

Katharina Tschakert, student, Austria (Session 2006, 2007, 2007/2008, 2011 Oslo)

 

From the very beginning, the World Youth Choir was something very special for me. Finding new friends all over the world, sharing the same passion with them, and spreading the message of peace around the world is a unique experience in life. To perform with the World Youth Choir at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies was a real summit. In times where money unfortunately plays the most important role in keeping such projects alive, I wish the World Youth Choir a very long future. Money should not have the last word. It is so important to spread the message of tolerance. May the project remain alive and gather more and more young singers to live the experience.

Johannes Budday, Germany, Mathematician (Session 2002, 2002/2003, Anniversary celebration 2009, Oslo 2011)

 

The participation at the Nobel Peace Prize Concerts was an unforgettable moment of my life, to meet, work and exchange different views with musicians of similar age from all over the world. It was an honour to work with Mrs. Grete Petersen from whom I learned much in both musical and human ways. This is the best human, social, live choral school for young musicians and singers all over the world. I was able to understand a different culture, see Norway past and present. To share a stage with Helen Mirren, Rosario Dawson, Jill Scott and Janelle Monáe will remain a life-time memory. And I was glad to represent my country, Hungary, at these great events.  Good luck for the sessions in Cyprus in 2012.

Zsofia Pecze, Hungary (Summer 2010, 2011 Oslo)

 

What could I do for the world as an artist for peace? My goal in life has always been to contribute to world peace as a singer-song writer, participating in the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony as a member of the WYC was a big step towards achieving it.

Kaori Tsushima, Japan (Session 2005, 2006, 2007, 2007/2008, 2009, World Chamber Choir and the Anniversary, 2010, Oslo 2011)

 

There are moments in life when you feel at the right place at the right moment. And being with the World Youth Choir for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies and concerts was one of them. Could there be a better place for this choir to be present to send the message of peace? Fantastic organization by the World Youth Choir and Jeunesses Musicales Norway, great music, and a world-class conductor looking after talented individuals is almost impossible to describe in words. This was simply one of the best weeks I have ever had. Watching the performance now at the Nobel Peace Prize award giving ceremony, I realize just how much this choir can give, not only to its members but to listeners the world. The World Youth Choir changes the life of each of us, both as a musician and as a human being. Long live the World Youth Choir.

Lionel Meunier, France, Professional singer & Artistic director of the ensemble Vox Luminis (Summer 2002, 2003, 2004; winter 2002/2003, 2003/2004, 2004/2005, 2006/2007 and Oslo 2011; World Chamber Choir 2004, 2006, 2007)

 

 

Edited by Aaron Kircher, USA, and Gillian Forlivesi Heywood, Italy

Do come and sing with us!

 

Vladimir Opačić, World Youth Choir Project Manager

 

“Dear friend, we are happy to announce that you have been selected by the International Jury to take part in the World Youth Choir session….” The dream has begun!

 

Dear ICB reader,

You probably wonder why I start this article with such a peculiar sentence. Well, it is hard to explain, actually, and hard to understand either if you are not a musician or a choral singer.  Wherever you live, whatever your citizenship, the name of your country, the color of your skin, none of those things is important; they all disappear immediately after reading the sentence above. The name World Youth Choir changes everything, makes details of your origin irrelevant!   I first read that sentence from the World Youth Choir management in 1999.  I keep remembering it and asking myself, how many times have I received it?  How many times has this simple, innocent phrase changed my life?

What is the World Youth Choir and why is it so important to us musicians – singers, choral lovers, conductors, international youth, in short, the global choral world?

Well, I will try to explain it to you.  One thing is certain, you will be surprised and provoked; you will want to receive the same sentence in your inbox; you will wish to see and hear us live, to have one of our CDs, to follow us on the net, to organize one of our sessions, to host us in your country or region. You will wish to support this genuine idea in every possible way. So, when you are done reading, make a decision and you will experience ‘the world’ of music, humanity, multiculturalism, and equality. You will be in the world’s largest choral wonderland for youth.

You may ask, who am I and why am I writing this? Well, my name is Vladimir Opacic, former World Youth Choir singer and current World Youth Choir project manager.

Why do I write this to you? Because I was and still am happy, living the Word Youth Choir dream.

That introductory sentence has reached me four times in my life.  It changed my perspectives in 1999, coming from a country at war at the time, living under bombardment for three months, without permission to cross any borders. From that moment on, I observed the world with different eyes; the sentence enriched my life with different people, cultures, languages, styles, and music…basically everything. It taught me friendship, independence, respect, patience and professionalism. It ‘educated’ me (and still does) while singing at eleven summer and winter sessions, representing three different countries…first Yugoslavia, then Serbia and Montenegro, and last Serbia.  It is funny, but actually irrelevant when you are living this project. I became and still am a citizen of the world thanks to the World Youth Choir. History disappears there. Boundaries and politics are not part of this world.

People who sing and perform together share a unique experience and a unifying feeling that comes from the common ambition to create musical expressions and achievements. These feelings are something that can never be taken away from you. Communicating through music, through singing, is something that can reach deep within us and touch issues that neither singers nor audience members can express in words. The actual and symbolic value of gathering together young and highly skilled singers from all over the globe, creating these great musical performances, combined with all the energy and enthusiasm of the young musicians, cannot be overestimated.

 

 

People ask me how I can describe the project, its message, goals, and history, its importance for myself, my friends and the global choral community. You can not actually. You need to live it.  It is hard every time…especially if you want to skip the ‘facts’ and be a bit creative in order to reach the sophisticated souls and minds of musicians, to provoke them to read the text to the end. But let me try. 

Many articles and reports have been written, many stories told, many video and audio files recorded and presented to the world in the past twenty-three years.  And then there’s the philosophy of the ensemble, its value from the artistic, social, pedagogical and human sides. 

There is always the question of how to present the various past and present projects and events of this wonderful human, social and professional choral experience, how to describe this ‘child’ born in 1989 from a group of choral lovers and enthusiasts, led by the ideas of equality and historical quest for multicultural diversity.

Diversity is the peace of our souls. Our immune system is made of tolerance; an unimaginable creation global society is striving for. It is an inner legacy, given to all of us by birth, to be found during our short lives and serving to balance our outer selves and our deep inner selves. To be used for our development, for our professional and human goals. Diversity has been the ‘land’ of the World Youth Choir for twenty-three years, a ‘land’ with ‘skies’ made of the most wonderful, youthful sounds of the international choral repertoire, ‘landscapes’ of high artistic achievement, ‘mountains’ of world-renowned choral leaders and conductors, ‘clouds’ of artistic and organizational professionalism, ‘nature’ of most profane and sensitive human personalities, ‘colors’ of youth from all over the globe.  The ‘land’ without borders is all of us who have lived in it these past twenty-three years, more than 800 young singers, conductors, organizers, recruiters, choral enthusiasts, with borders made of dreams and beyond dreams, speaking the language of the cultural simplicity of each of us.

 

 

And there it is. Simple lives; a global network of singers, conductors, fans, and audiences in every corner of the globe; two decades of living the World Youth Choir dream – and still dreaming it.

The World Youth Choir is one of the most original and important choirs in existence today.  For 23 years, it has built bridges between young singers from diverse cultures, offering them a genuine educational and social experience drawing on many vocal traditions and aiming at the highest artistic level.  This phenomenon is unique in the world of music.

Comprised of young singers between the ages of 17 and 26, the World Youth Choir is original in concept, bringing together talented young singers from all over the world to summer or winter sessions organized in a different country each year. Artistically speaking, it is a unique experience for young singers to develop their musical and vocal talents by interacting with internationally recognized conductors and performing challenging repertoires at a professional level.

 

 

In a social context, the World Youth Choir contributes to the raising of new generations of ‘Citizens of the World’. Many of the countries represented in the choir and repertoire emphasize the World Youth Choir as a school of understanding between different cultures, people, music and traditions. Beyond the artistic project, which in itself is a major achievement, the World Youth Choir represents a unique experience in personal relationships for its members.   

Regardless of political or cultural differences, approximately 100 young people with a common passion for music and a love for singing share one month of life together, thereby allowing work, play, conversation and debate. This community life creates a genuine spirit of friendship, a group with a unique cohesion and vitality that amaze those who attend World Youth Choir concerts. Without speeches or banners, the World Youth Choir provides its message of music, and by its presence, its message of international peace, brotherhood, and the vitality of life itself. This is the reason why UNESCO honored the project in 1996 with the title ‘Artist for Peace’, recognizing its double mission, social and artistic; its success as a platform for intercultural dialogue through music.

 

 

The World Youth Choir is sponsored by the ‘International Federation for Choral Music’, IFCM (www.ifcm.net), ‘Jeunesses Musicales International’, JMI (www.jmi.net) and ‘European Choral Association – Europa Cantat’, ECA-EC (www.eca-ec.org). The World Youth Choir: a remarkable synthesis of ideas, action, enthusiasm, devotion, and youth; past, present and future.

What do the social and political imperatives of healing and peacemaking have to do with singing in a choir?  Just about everything. Thinking of the World Youth Choir, past, present and future, its recruitment partners, singers, conductors, session organizers, and faithful audience, I realize how blessed we all were, are and will be to live this experience. If you have never attended any World Youth Choir projects or if you are not a musician and especially a choir singer, you can not truly understand the meaning of these words.

Those who have attended World Youth Choir concerts will understand and approve the words above. It has everything to do with the project’s meaning and message since its creation in 1989.   For those who have experienced the World Youth Choir or similar projects, those words are a philosophy of life.  They describe what makes the World Youth Choir unique, namely its message of young singers developing an international ‘choral’ language, their own language of social and cultural understanding and respect despite global social turbulence, a language telling us: ‘This is the world as it should be.’

 

 

For 23 years the World Youth Choir has proudly demonstrated through its sound and presence why UNESCO honored this project with the title ‘Artists for Peace’ in 1996. I believe this legacy will remain in the minds and souls of generations of singers to come.   

 

 

Highlights of the project’s history include:

1990 – World Youth Choir performs at the Second Symposium on Choral Music in Stockholm

1992 – World Youth Choir performs at the Olympic Gala in Barcelona

1996 – World Youth Choir is honored with title ‘Artist for peace’ by UNESCO

2002 – World Youth Choir performs at 6^th Symposium on Choral Music in Minneapolis

2002 – World Youth Choir is awarded the prestigious Robert Edler Prize

2003 – World Youth Choir documentary film, session 2003, Switzerland

2007 – World Youth Choir DVD, live concert in Pretoria, during summer session in South Africa and Namibia

2008 – World Youth Choir DVD documentary, Hong Kong, Macao and mainland China, Guangzhou

2008 – World Youth Choir performs at the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Equestrian Games in Hong Kong

2009 – 20^th Anniversary celebration, festive week in Sweden, in cooperation with SWICCO

2009 – 6 CD pack published; ‘The BEST OF’, celebrating 20^th birthday

2010 – World Youth Choir documentary DVD, session in Canary Islands and Iberian Peninsula

2010 – December, the Foundation World Youth Choir opens its principal office in The Hague, Netherlands

2011 – World Youth Choir performs at the Nobel Peace prize award giving ceremony, Nobel Peace Prize concert, and the final concert of the 200^th celebration of the University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.

 

Each summer the World Youth Choir, comprised of half new, half re-invited singers, meets in a different country of the world for two weeks of intensive rehearsals of a new repertoire with two different conductors and contrasting programs.  This is followed by a two week tour through the host and neighboring countries, presenting their music in major concert halls and prestigious cultural centers. During the Tour, the choir seeks to enhance its social and pedagogical mission by interacting with local schools, choirs and the population in general in order to share THE WORLD with them through master classes, workshops and clinics. Sometimes the World Youth Choir meets during the winter as well, for sessions with strong pedagogical impact on singers, through specially chosen repertoire, focusing on different epochs in the history of music; or meets for projects based on special invitations for annual or major world events.

The World Youth Choir has been privileged to perform in more than thirty countries around the globe under the baton of world renowned conductors:  Anton Armstrong, Frieder Bernius, Filippo Maria Bressan, Michael Brewer, Peter Broadbent, Bob Chilcott, Peter Dijkstra, Peter Erdei, Eric Ericson, Gunnar Eriksson, Gary Graden, Georg Grün, Maria Guinand, Aharon Harlap, Florian Heyerick, Felipe Izcaray, Sidumo Jacobs, Robert Janssens, Tonu Kaljuste, Eric Klaas, Anthony Leach, Eduardo Mata(†), Albert McNeil, Denis Menier, Theodora Pavlovitch, Grete Pedersen, Johannes Prinz, Robert Shaw(†), Ole-Kristen Ruud, Fred Sjöberg, Stefan Sköld, Paul Smith, Robert Sund, Ward Swingle, Nobuaki Tanaka, Andre Thomas, Jonathan Velasco, Michele Weir, Hak Won Yoon, Steve Zegree, Johan Duijck, Ana Maria Raga, Ragnar Rasmussen and Josep Vila I Casanas.

 

 

Winter or summer sessions have been organized in over 25 countries:

1989 – Sweden; 1990 – Belgium; Sweden; 1991 – Hungary; 1992 – Spain; 1993 – Norway; 1994 – Uruguay and Argentina; 1995 – Canada; 1996 – Estonia, Latvia, Finland Sweden; 1997 – Japan; 1998 – Taiwan; 1998/1999 – Winter session, Belgium; 1999 – Slovenia; 1999/2000 – Winter session, Belgium; 2000 – Spain; 2000/2001 – Winter session, Belgium and South Africa; 2001 – Venezuela; 2001/2002 – winter session, Belgium and Italy; 2002 – United States of America; 2002/2003 – Winter session, Belgium; 2003 – Switzerland; Austria, Slovenia; 2003/2004 – Winter session, Belgium and France; 2004 – South Korea, Japan; 2004/2005 – Winter session, Belgium; 2005 – Israel; 2005/2006 – Winter session, France; 2006 – Italy, France, Switzerland, Belgium; 2006/2007 – Winter session, Belgium, Germany; 2007 – South Africa and Namibia; 2007/2008 – Winter session, Belgium, Netherlands, France; 2008 – Hong Kong, Macao and mainland China (Guangzhou); 2009 – Belgium, France; 2010 – Canary Islands, Balearic Islands and Iberian Peninsula; 2011 – Oslo, Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies.

 

The World Youth Choir is open to all interested singers from around the globe between the ages of seventeen and twenty-six; are passionate and highly experienced choral singers or soloists; have a basic or semi-professional music education; are ready to accept the diversity of world cultures; are eager to learn in a multicultural environment; seek a different professional knowledge and are ready to spend one month with great people, meeting new friends and world-renowned conductors. Applications for a live audition are made available by national recruitment organizations in September of the year before each planned session (where no possibility exists for an audition in one’s home country, apply directly to the World Youth Choir management; more info at www.worldyouthchoir.org). If selected by a national jury, singers receive the right to represent their country before an international jury panel, where the final selection of singers is made.  There is no participation fee.  Chosen applicants (after an international audition) only have to cover their own travel expenses to and from the host country.

Since the end of 2010, the World Youth Choir has been is run by the World Youth Choir Foundation, with a new head office in The Hague, The Netherlands, which was set up with support from the Choir’s three patron organizations.  The Foundation will be responsible for the future of this magnificent ensemble, for the young singers who would love a ‘piece of the cake’ and for future session organizers who would like to experience, live, everything the World Youth Choir represents. 

From where I stand today, I see that the project has evolved, and all of us have evolved with the project, but some things stay the same all these years: the artistic quality, the wide spectra of the most challenging international choral repertoire performed by the World Youth Choir with the highest musical interpretation, and the singers with their passion, their personalities and the diversity of their cultures. Simple, young, pure human beings, unspoiled by the modern world they live in! They are the thread which connects the past with the present and ensures the future. That is why many of us, more than eight hundred singers since 1989, come back every year.  The World Youth Choir was our ‘runaway’ shelter, a world we have dreamed of, a world to be educated in, to grow up in, and a place to become better musicians, professionals, or at least, better human beings, The singers’ souls are rich with talents that ‘oil’ this machine and ensure it will never stop.

Well dear ICB reader, I hope you have understood what the World Youth Choir project means for all of us who had a chance to live it, for all our faithful recruitment partners in more than sixty countries, for the singers who have auditioned over the past twenty-three years, for all musicians privileged to create unique musical and social moments with the ensemble, for all organizers who had a chance to host ‘the world’ in their respective countries.

 

Interested? Provoked? Would you like to join? Would you like to be part of the next generation of World Youth Choir singers? Would you like to host the World Youth Choir in your country in 2013 and beyond?  Visit www.worldyouthchoir.org, read more and contact us.

 

Meanwhile, stay tuned, listen to us and watch our performances at:

www.worldyouthchoir.org/Home/Jukebox.aspx

www.worldyouthchoir.org/Media/Video.aspx

www.youtube.com/user/worldyouthchoir09

www.facebook.com/worldyouthchoir

 

Although the World Youth Choir is already mature, we will stay as youthful as we are today. Here’s to all our futures.

 

Vladimir Opacic, Serbia

Project manager

manager@worldyouthchoir.org  

 

 

Edited by Anita Shaperd, USA

‘Placebo’ premiered at the Choregie Festival in Maribor

 

Graham Lack

composer and ICB Consultant Editor

 

It is an infantile superstition of the human spirit that virginity should be thought a virtue and not the barrier that separates ignorance from knowledge.[1]

François-Marie Arouet Voltaire

 

The profound effect that religious belief has on mankind is hard to dispute. Exactly how religions come into being and the specific nature of their most powerful mechanisms are more difficult to quantify. Where belief systems impinge on art, it is useful perhaps to examine how individuals are impacted and to what extent any change of heart or mind has taken place. In an issue entitled ‘Belief Special’, the New Scientist recently queried very similar statements in order to ascertain just why we believe what we believe. As Robin Dunbar pointed out:

 

“Religious belief is a conundrum. In our everyday lives, most of us make at least some effort to check the truth of claims for ourselves. Yet when it comes to religion, studies show that we are most persuaded by stories that contradict the known laws of physics. Tales of supernatural beings walking on water, raising the dead, passing through walls, foretelling the future, and the like, are universally popular. At the same time, however, we expect our gods to have normal human feelings and emotions. We like our miracles, and those who perform them, to have just the right mix of otherworldliness and everyday characteristics. Why are we humans so willing to commit to religious beliefs we can never hope to verify?”[2]

 

Well, not on this earth and not in this life, many would argue where verification is concerned. Be all of this as it may, any examination of how art – in the present case contemporary music theatre – can effectively explore religion will perforce rely on the examination of a physical space, one in which belief is enacted and where artistic thought mirrors such at times obdurate convictions. The virtual space was the International Festival of New Music Theatre, ‘Choregie’, held from 8 to 13 January 2012 within the actual confines of the Union Hall in Maribor, Slovenia, as well as at other venues, in the Cathedral of Ljubljana for example. This was the third year that an obviously innovative series of events has taken place.

The reason for hanging this particular article conveniently on the journalistic peg of religion is a new work of music theatre by the founder of ‘Choregie’, Karmina Šilec, called Placebo – Is There One Who Would Not Weep.

The piece was the final offering of five elaborately staged events (the others being Oriana, La licorne de la vierge, Women’s delights and Who’d have thought that snow falls) and must be seen against the backdrop of a devoutly Catholic country like Slovenia. Presented as a ‘stage concert in 14 tableaux’, Placebo, like the other pieces, explores ostensibly the theme of virginity as related in the Bible and other annals of Christianity. A number of what the festival programme calls ‘virgin superstars’ act as an exegetic gloss on a subject that, far from being taboo, constantly reoccurs throughout the history of the Christian faith. The figures range from Sponsa Christi, the Virgin Mary, the Daughters of Jerusalem, Queen Elizabeth I, the Unicorn Virgin and, somewhat bafflingly at first glance, but by extrapolation one assumes, Rand Abdel-Qader.[3]

Karmina Šilec explains that there are: “…virgin lamas, hamsters, moles, rats, elephants, chimpanzees, lemurs, whales, and so on”, and adds that any such appreciation of virginity makes a “lot of sense”, because Jesus was “interested in eunuchs of all kinds [and] soon after his death, for the next 500 years, the idea of a Christian approach to the subject was developed”, concluding that this development, of monotheism in this case, included “various misogynist and erotophobic treatments – using guerrilla celibacy tactics” to transform virginity into “the highest moral value”.[4] So much is clear.

Šilec’s musings may, in turn, be seen within a certain literary milieu, one in which:

 

“A turn in feminist theory … began to lay the blame for childhood neuroses squarely on the mother. Their feminist world was neatly divided against itself: plenty of feminists still wished to state their objection to patriarchal society, but other feminists took a step back from the campaign for equality. Postmodern readings of Nietzsche have highlighted the similarity between Nietzsche’s thoughts on femininity and those of biological feminists like Luce Irigaray … By the end of the twentieth century, a biological feminism of the type abhorred by Simone de Beauvoir reasserted itself: it became modish to believe that woman had a different nature to man, spoke with a different language and inhabited a different sphere. Irigaray has been at the forefront of attempts to put theory into practice by ‘writing her body’, not always very intelligibly.”[5]

 

The implications for a piece like Placebo are inherent. In the first part, which can largely be described as Marian, femininity is subsumed under the mantle of maternity and the ordering of this maternal libido is carried farthest into a connexion with the theme of death. The Christian concept of the virgin mother is transformed into a metaphor for women’s ‘becoming’. As the most significant religious image of the Western world, the Virgin Mary is lent, albeit unofficially, the status of a Catholic goddess but, as Mother Mary, proves to be a social construct and thus part of historical reality in that she is an instrument of supervision and control. In the second part, several fundamental features converge in the figure Mary, who emerges as the New Eve. She is an object of imaginary love, and a substitute for suppressed male libido.

 

 

The vehicle that transports the ideas discussed so far is, naturally enough, music. And Placebo draws extensively on the Stabat Mater by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736) with its iconic and moving texts ‘Stabat Mater Speciosa’ and ‘Stabat Mater Dolorosa’ by Jacopone da Todi (1230/1236–1306). The work was not penned by the composer, but, as the contemporary Italian novelist Nicola Lecca claims, by “God who merely used Pergolesi”.[6]

The passage of time has not, it would seem, affected the sexual ambiguity in Pergolesi’s piece. But reception history is a fickle thing, and some feminist writers such as Julia Kristeva[7] have encountered problems when linking the music to new feminine ethics. We are dealing with a paradox, where the Virgin gives birth to God but “owes fealty to him”, reigns as “Queen of Heaven but kneels before her son”, and enjoys the privilege of being without sin but “renounces her body to remain so”.[8]

As Richard Will points out in an incisive essay on the composer where, among many other prevalent notions, he examines Kristeva’s views:

 

“The young Pergolesi … was dying of tuberculosis when he wrote his immortal Stabat Mater … Man overcomes the unthinkable of death by postulating maternal love in its place. Like eighteenth-century resentment of Pergolesi’s ‘femininity’, this celebration of maternal warmth in the Stabat Mater may suggest that its political import is feminist.”[9]

 

There is unfortunately not space here to discuss the descriptive and supplicatory passages in the work, suffice it say that the key scheme would seem to be deliberate. The doctrine of the affections is perfectly harnessed as E flat major gives way to D Major, and F Major to F minor. Five of the six movements, moreover, begin and end in the same key. At a local level, there is little respite in terms of dissonance. A mother is marked by pain. But to continue with some of the categories suggested by Kristeva:

 

“Despite her valorization of motherhood, identifying it with the embodied expression of unconditional love opens the way to the same kind of coercion that Liguori practised on the Virgin Mary. How much agency can a mother have when, lacking the critical faculty of language, she can respond to pleas for immortality only with a physical embrace?”[10]

 

The score of Stabat Mater was sympathetically vocalised by the girls’ choir Carmina Slovenica and the Slovenian Chamber Choir, and expertly rendered by Marko Hatlak (accordion) and Karmen Pečar (violoncello), along with the four members of Musica Cubicularis on a viola da gamba and baroque violins. This music was interspersed with other items, including Antonio Vivaldi’s own setting of the Stabat Mater, a Stabat Mater Dolorosa by one Jacob Cooper, the ‘Gramatam čellam’ from the String Quartet No. 4 by Peteris Vasks, Adnan Songbook by Gavin Bryars, Chocolate Jesus by Tom Waits (arr. Martin Ptak), and a Maronite hymn, Wa Habibi (arr. Karmina Šilec). Any dramaturgical significance was subsumed in the flow of the music, in indeed, the “flow of the project”, based as it is on the idea of “slow listening”.[11]

Curious if benign Sapphic moments intermingled with naughty ones – Tom Waits was never one to mince his words, and high camp seemed out of place here – but often it was the at times deliberately spastic choreography allotted to Carmina Slovenica which provided welcome visual distraction. If this managed to avoid any immediate clichés traceable to, say, Maurice Béjart or Merce Cunningham, then it certainly managed to pay at least gentle homage to the Ballet Rambert[12] of the 1970s and its much-loved sur la demi-pointe style.   

The Union Hall in Maribor is a difficult space to light. And the person entrusted with this task, Andrej Hajdinjak, might well have preferred a church venue, forced as he was into a situation in which the audience was lit seemingly as much as the singers. But ‘Choregie’ is only in its third year, and such comments are in a way niggardly. A certain thread does run through the tissue of events: Virginity, as deliberated in the documentation to the festival itself. And the tactics of guerrilla celibacy do much to sponge off the stain of biological feminism. It is a process of canalisation, a process in which a solid cord turns into a canal. And when the last step is taken (we are talking of course about the formation of the female body in the womb), the vagina is at last given an outlet. This is what:

 

“… creates the hymen … the same stuff that forms the inner layer of the rest of the vagina. It is a thin, flexible, smooth, hairless, mucous membrane. Just like the inside of the mouth or nose or the side of the eyelid that touches the eyeball, it is moist and very soft. Unlike the rest of [the] vagina, however, the hymen has no muscular tissue underneath that thin smooth upper layer … It possesses few nerves or none at all. Hymens offer a wide and colourful variety of configuration and shape. A hymen might be fragile and barely there, or resilient and rubbery, it might be so scanty as to be overlooked, or appear in plentiful, tender, flowerlike folds that double over on themselves. The hymen is part and parcel of the vagina … Like the top of the instep of the foot … Virginity reflects no known biological imperative and grants no demonstrable evolutionary advantage, nor has being able to recognise it in others been shown to increase anyone’s chances of reproduction or survival.”[13]

 

Such literary flight remains imperforate. It leads us to believe that:

 

“… contesting the hymen as a site of surety can stand as a paradigm for the problematic epistemology of the female body”.[14]

 

So, if the New Eve is really to emerge within a discourse of hymenology, this must be reflected in both the theatrical and the anatomical. This would seem to be stretching a point.

 

---

[1] The original runs: “C’est une des superstitions de l’esprit humain d’avoir imaginé que la virginité pouvait être une vertu.” Notebooks (ca. 1735–ca. 1750), taken from the Leningrad Notebook, or ‘Le Sottisier’, published posthumously.

[2] Robin Dunbar, ‘How Evolution found God’, in New Scientist, Issue 2536, 28^th January 2006, p. 30.

[3] An Iraqi teenage girl brutally murdered by her father on 16th March 2008 in an ‘honour killing’ after she had fallen in love with a British soldier in Basra.

[4] Karmina Šilec, ‘The Importance of Being a Virgin’, in Programme Book to ‘Choregie’ Festival 2012, translated from the Slovenian by Saša Požek, pages unnumbered.

[5] Carol Diethe, ‘Nietzsche Emasculated: Postmodern Readings’, in Ecce opus: Nietzsche-Revisionen im 20. Jahrhundert,  ed. Rüdiger Görner & Duncan Large, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Band 81 der Reihe ‘Publications of the Institute of Germanic Studies’ (University of London School of Advanced Study), Göttingen, 2003, p. 53.

[6] Quoted above the anonymous essay ‘About Music’ in Programme to Placebo, ‘Choregie’ Festival 2012, pages unnumbered. The passage is spoken by one of the characters in his Hotel Borg. The author is grateful to the writer for this information.

[7] Two extensive quotes, presumably from her essay ‘Stabat Mater’ are included in the Programme to Placebo, ‘Choregie’ Festival 2012, but see fn. 8, below.

[8] Julia Kristeva, ‘Stabat Mater’, in Tales of Love, trans. Leon S. Roudiez, New York: Columbia University Press, 1987, p. 257.

[9] Richard Will, ‘Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and the Politics of Feminine Virtue’, Musical Quarterly, Vol. 87 (Fall), Issue 3 (2004), p. 608.

[10] Ibid., p. 608.

[11] Anon., ‘About Music’, in Programme to Placebo, ‘Choregie’ Festival 2012, pages unnumbered.

[12] Now the Rambert Dance Company.

[13] Karmina Šilec, ‘Hymenology’, in Programme Book to ‘Choregie’ Festival 2012, translated from the Slovenian by Saša Požek, pages unnumbered.

[14] Marie H. Loughlin, Hymeneutics: Interpreting Virginity on the Early Modern Stage, Bucknell University Press, Lewisburg, PA, 1997, p. 31.