Report of the Seventh Choral Competition for Children’s Choirs ‘Il Garda in Coro’

Enrico Miaroma, Artistic Director of the Music Association ‘Il Garda in Coro’

This event took place in Malcesine, Italy, the charming resort on Lake Garda, on the border between Veneto and Trentino Alto Adige, between 23 and 26 May. Several choral groups of children aged up to fifteen years, from all over Italy, took part.

Against all the odds and for the first time ever, over twenty-eight choirs came to take part in this year’s competition, the highest number of participants since 2001, the year the event was first held. The youth choirs came to Malcesine from eleven different regions: from the more distant Sardinia, Sicily, Puglia, Lazio, Emilia Romagna, Liguria, Piedmont and Friuli, to the neighboring regions Veneto, Trentino and Lombardy, which were represented by a large number of choirs. In total, there were present in Malcesine nearly 2,000 young singers during the four days of the competition, to compete, as always, divided according to categories. The repertoire included both sacred and secular music. This year, for the first time, a new category was introduced, the Special Junior, for children up to ten years of age. Eight very young teams competed. The competition featured a total of forty-two sessions, some on Friday 24 and some on Saturday 25 May, in the parish church of Santo Stefano. Comparing the list of participants in previous competitions, you can see that many competitors were not new to the experience in Malcesine, demonstrating the success of this event, which has been organized in Malcesine for over ten years by the local Association Il Garda in Coro, supported by a reliable team of volunteers and with the much appreciated hospitality of the Parish of Malcesine. The event was very interesting and full of ideas, as well as historic in terms of participants, and it was very rewarding to see a number of choirs participating for the first time.

The task of judging the young talent was entrusted to a jury made up of professionals and specialists in choral voices. The jury was composed of Andrea Angelini, choir director and jury member of numerous national and international competitions; Nicola Conci , founder and artistic director of I Minipolifonici; Lucio Golino, musical director of the choir of the Vienna Volksoper; Cinzia Zanon, director of the choir Gioventù in Cantata from Marostica and specialized in the branch of teaching; and Stefania Piccardi, director of the Aurora Children’s Chorus, the choir which won the second Grand Prix Il Garda in Coro-Town of Malcesine in 2011.

The jury were very impressed by the quality of the singing and by the commitment shown by the participants, and awarded the prizes listed below. The prizes were distributed by the Artistic Directors of the event, Orlando Dipiazza and Enrico Miaroma, and by Renata Peroni, President of the Il Garda in Coro Association.

After the national event, the attention of the Chairman and the Artistic Director of the Association Il Garda in Coro turned to the international scene, as the fourth International Choral Competition for Children’s Choirs Il Garda in Coro will take place in Malcesine from 22 to 26 April. This will be open to choral groups of children aged up to sixteen years from all over the world.

The competition rules are now being drawn up, and in principle will follow the rules of the previous competitions, although the Artistic Direction is considering opening the doors of the competition also to young people up to twenty-four years of age, giving them a specific category distinct from the two already present, which are reserved for children up to sixteen years for both secular music and sacred music.

More detailed information will be available soon on the site www.ilgardaincoro.it

Edited by Gillian Forlivesi Heywood, Italy