The World Peace Choir Festival 2010

Celebrates its Foundation

Press Release by Sarah Linder, Austria

The first World Peace Choir Festival for children’s and youth choirs was staged in Vienna from 3-6 August.  The choirs taking part in the hour of birth of the festival were the DO-RE-MI Children’s Singing Studio from Telfs in the Tyrole, the Prague Philharmonic Children’s Choir, the Pielach Valley Children’s Choir, the Vienna Boys’ Choir, members of the Calgary Boys’ Choir from Canada, and seven choirs from the distant Chinese venues of Beijing, Sechuan, Guiyang, Jilin, Xi’an and Hefei.

Without exception the performances took place in renowned Viennese institutions as well as in the surrounding area.  The Great Hall of Vienna University, the UN City, the stage at the Town Hall, the Rabenstein Cultural Centre, the Great Hall in Frankenfels as well as the Vienna Concert House transformed themselves into stages on which intercultural encounters took place, and on which the young singers displayed their talents.

Alongside songs typical for their countries which were offered by the individual choirs during the concerts, shared repertoire was sung by all choirs under the baton of Gerald Wirth, the musical director of the Vienna Boys’ Choir.  The audience was enchanted by the variety put on show by the choirs, the riches of songs, as well as by the folk costumes presented during the performances.  During musical workshops on Israeli, Latin American and Austrian music, the young singers extended their musical as well as their cultural horizons with much amazement and fascination.  Within the framework of the evening programme, successful concert performances were celebrated and new friendships initiated which span the world.

During the festival, the artistic committee under the leadership of Gerald Wirth selected particularly gifted singers from among all the choirs taking part in the festival, for the World Peace Choir.  At the concert in the Vienna Concert House the World Peace Choir celebrated its first appearance and will now, in the coming years and using Vienna as a base, travel into the world to give concerts.  The first concert tour will probably take the young singers of the World Peace Choir to China, in 2011.

The second World Peace Choir Festival will take place in Vienna from 25-28 July 2011.  Next year further singers will be accepted into the activities of the World Peace Choir.

Choirs that are interested in joining us can gain information about the World Peace Choir Festival 2011, and register for it, at www.wpcf.at as well as at info@wpcf.at.

Translated from the German by Irene Auerbach, UK