FOLLOWING the success of the first five editions of the City of Derry International Choir Festival, it returns again this autumn from 24-28 October with an impressive and diverse line-up of international choirs from Europe and for the first time, a visiting choir from South America.
The organisers look forward to welcoming more than 50 choirs to the city to take part in competitions, concerts, performances and workshops across the 5-day event.
As already announced, the festival is delighted that acclaimed vocal ensemble The Marian Consort will feature as guest artists in this year’s ambitious programme of events.
It will also include a jam-packed schedule of non-competitive performances and workshops as part of the inaugural Every Voice Fringe Festival, in partnership with local choir Allegri.
The highlight of the weekend will be the International Competition, to be held on Saturday 27 October in St. Columb’s Hall.
Eight choirs, representing eight countries, will compete for the prestigious “Oak Tree of Derry” trophy and a cash prize of £2,000.
The competitors are:
- Blagovest Chamber Choir, Latvia
- Chorus Iucundus, Finland
- Cor CF1, Wales
- DelicaTon, Germany
- Laetare Vocal Ensemble, Ireland
- Namdal Vocal Ensemble, Norway
- Noorus Mixed Choir, Estonia
- UIS University Choir, Colombia
Adjudicating all competitions will be a panel of distinguished choral directors with a wealth of experience as international jurors.
The festival will welcome the return of Josep Vila I Casañas as Chair of the panel, one of the best-known choral conductors in Catalonia and Spain, who previously adjudicated in the third and fifth editions of the festival in 2015 and 2017.
Accompanying Josep on the adjudication panel will be: Professor Jürgen Budday from Germany (Artistic Director of the Marktoberdorf International Choral Festivals), Shane Lynch from USA (Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choral and Vocal Activities at the Washington and Lee University, Virginia), Urša Lah from Slovenia (Artistic Leader of the international Utopia & Reality Chamber Choir and adjudicator at the 2016 City of Derry International Choir Festival), and Mark Duley from Ireland (Founder and Director of Resurgam chamber choir and organist at St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, Galway).
Artistic Director of the festival, Dónal Doherty, commented on this year’s line-up, “We’re absolutely delighted to have such an impressive lineup of top quality choirs for this year’s festival.
“Anyone interested in hearing a wide range of choral music performed by some of the best choirs in the world should have Derry as their destination of choice for October 2018.
“The quality and variety of singing will be outstanding and the city and surrounding area will be filled with pop-up performances as well as scheduled events throughout festival week. The excitement is already beginning to build in anticipation of what promises to be one of the best festivals yet.“
For all festival information and updates visit www.derrychoirfest.com
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