Message of the IFCM President, July 2021

Emily Kuo Vong, President – International Federation for Choral Music

Dear IFCM Members,

In March 2021, IFCM held its ExCom and Board meetings on Zoom. At the meetings, all IFCM workgroups updated us on the projects that they were planning or executing, and we were pleased to find that all the projects are going very well.

The WSCM 2023/24 is one of the most important events of IFCM, and the committees are working closely together. During the Board meeting, an update was given that the dates for WSCM 2023/24 have been confirmed as 30th December 2023 to 5th January 2024. This global symposium will be sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Qatar. To improve the working process, the Steering Committee was established and an online component of the symposium was created. Meanwhile, the theme of the WSCM 2023/24 has been announced as “Changing Horizons,” conveying the underpinnings of diverse cultures and choral music.

According to a report on the World Choral Day (WCD) project, IFCM will make a promotional video to show the value and importance of this event. Regarding the 2021 session of WCD, besides regular concerts over the world, there is a proposal to open up this project to individual singers so that they will be able to join by singing the anthem of WCD, “Cantando.”

The World Choral Expo (WCE) 2022 is another one of IFCM’s marvellous events and will have special meaning in that it will be organized for the celebration of the IFCM’s 40th anniversary. The activities related to this project were reported at the Board meeting, including a clear vision of WCE and the preparation for the event in 2022.

The report on the Conductors Without Borders (CWB) project and its plans for the future were presented at the meeting. It is very exciting that the entire committee of this project divided the responsibilities among the committee members to ensure smoother development in different parts of the world, such as Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Based on current needs, a concrete proposal for CWB 2021 in Latin America has already been drawn up.

As a continuation of the SCOCYC project, the committee decided to design a special online event in 2021 with the involvement of the same singers and conductors who took part in the launch and initial performance in 2019 in China. The first online event of the 2021 session will take place on 18th May.

As for the International Choral Education project, IFCM is currently cooperating with the Chanson de Montagne to train choral music teachers and to develop choral education in South China, especially for minorities from Yunnan, Guizhou, and other provinces. IFCM will also sign a cooperation agreement with Shenzhen Concert Hall authorizing it as an IFCM Choral Base in South China. It will provide a fully equipped place for IFCM’s lectures and two concerts per year. This educational project particularly targets developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, such as China, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, and other Central Asian countries. In the future (after the pandemic), IFCM will make an effort to send foreign teachers to those developing areas to help with choral education. IFCM will also explore collaborating with more conductors and make use of local resources to support this choral educational project.

I hope, through the above projects, IFCM will encourage more choral organizations and people to join our federation. With our joint efforts, the seed of love will take root and sprout, and the flowers of choral music will bloom like burning fire, lighting up the whole world.

Best wishes,

Edited by Karin Rockstad, USA