International pick and mix 2021

As we can’t have a live Gala Concert, we’ve asked international colleagues from around the world to share some of their performances, most of them not previously available to the public.

Links to the performances are below; they are available to all delegates at any time, so we encourage you to explore them at your leisure – or indeed create your own Saturday night Gala Concert!

Alle Choir London

Conductor Marta Mathea Radwan

Say Ladeo

Marta Mathea Radwan is a conductor, composer, arranger, award-winning vocalist, music director, and workshop leader. She has over 30 years experience in the music industry and works in Poland, Denmark and the UK. Currently she is a doctoral student at the F.Chopin University of Music finalising her dissertation about jazz choir conducting. This recording of Say Ladeo is part of her doctoral program and is performed by Alle Choir London (Klaudia Baca, Anita Łazińska, Małgorzata Janek, Karolina Micor, Justyna Rafalik, Krzysztof Suwała) with guest appearance by Kevin Fox, ex Swingle Singer, on bass and vocal percussion. The piece is from the Bobby McFerrin /Roger Treece album Vocabularies, and this arrangement is based on adaptation for live performances by Treece with an original improvised part by Alle Choir London. Because of the pandemic it was recorded remotely, mixed and mastered by Nick Girard, with video by HumanStories studio. More info: www.mmradwan.com and allechoirlondon.com

Ao Naga Choir, New Delhi & Fricilia Mixed Choir, Manado, Indonesia

Conductor & Artistic Director : Rohan de Lanerolle (Sri Lanka)

Rohan de Lanerolle (Sri Lanka) is Artistic Director of the Fricilia Mixed Choir, Manado – Indonesia & the Ao Naga Choir, Delhi – India, also the Choir Director of Sri Lanka’s largest Government Girls School Choir – Visakha Vidyalaya. He is a celebrated Juror throughout Europe & Asia, Artistic Director of the National Unity Orchestra – Sri Lanka & a Singer. Together with his brother Ishan, the “De Lanerolle Brothers” have graced many concert halls across all continents of the globe. He is a founding member of the International Choral Conductor’s Federarion (ICCF), Rome – Italy.

The Fricilia Mixed Choir was formed in the year 2014, named after its current Founding Conductor & hails from North Sulawesi in Manado, Indonesia. The membership of 30 choristers consist of musicians, architects & medical professionals. The choir has had the honour to have performed twice at the invitation of St Andrews’s Cathedral, Singapore & for Celebrate Christmas in Singapore events & the Peace concert in Delhi, India as well as having participated in International Festivals & competitions in Asia. The choir is a preferred choral group for events in Manado & maintains an active profile singing different genres of music ranging from Sacred, Gospel & Spiritual to modern Choral arrangements. The choir was invited to perform at the Tri-Nation Concert For Peace in Sri Lanka & India, which marked their debut in both countries.

The Ao Naga Choir was formed in the year 2009 & is an affiliate member of the IFCM (USA) & RSCM (UK). The members consist of musicians, working professionals & students in New Delhi & are predominantly from the Ao Naga Tribe as well as other tribes inhabiting the state of Nagaland in the North East of India. The choir had the honour to have performed thrice for the Hon. President of India at the Rashtrapati Bhavan & the Prime Minister as well as having participated in International Festivals – including the ‘1st Salzburg International Choral Festival 2017’, the 9th World Peace Choral Festival (WPCF) in Vienna, Austria & also performed at the United Nations, where the choir was awarded the ‘Angel Of Peace Award’. To celebrate the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the choir was invited to perform at the Tri-Nation Concert For Peace in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Senzenina is a South African folk song, which is commonly sung in churches & at funerals. The song dates back to the 1950s but gained momentum in the 1980s. I’m gonna sing & shout is a gospel song with words & music written by Dave & Jean Perry who have composed over 100 works.

Coro Musicanova, Rome

Conductor Fabrizio Barchi

Musicanova choir started performing in 1990. Since the beginning of its activity, the choir has been able to show its flexibility by including repertoire of different varieties of genres and authors, ranging from Renaissance to pop music, however it is known particularly for its performances of the Renaissance genre. Fabrizio Barchi studied at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music of Rome under the guidance of the maestri R. Baratta, D. Bartolucci and A. Renzi and he attended courses held by F. Luisi, A. Zecchi, J. Jurgens, P. Neumann and G. Graden.

Defrost Youth Choir

Conductor Thomas Caplin

Defrost is one of Norway’s leading youth choirs. It is from the relatively small city of Hamar, north of Oslo, celebrates its 10 year anniversary this year. The choir consists of young, ambitious and talented singers aged 13 – 25. It’s a relatively unique choir in Norway – one of very few choirs rehearsing twice a week. It’s also very rare in Norway to find a mixed youth choir with so many members and particularly with so many male singers. The main focus in this choir is to develop the independent young person behind the voice, with continuous work on core values like tolerance, solidarity and respect – values building up to what we proudly like to call the Defrost integrity.

The conductor and founder of the choir is Thomas Caplin, professor in music at the Inland Norway University of Applied Science. 

10th Anniversary Concert at the Kirsten Flagstad Concert Hall in Hamar ,19 June 2021

Nazareth College Chamber Singers, New York

Conductor Brian Stevens

Nazareth College is based in Rochester, New York State. The chamber singers is an elite mixed ensemble consisting of approximately 20 to 25 singers. The choir is open to all majors, but an audition is required. The ensemble performs four to five times per semester and participates in an international tour at least once every other year during the spring semester.

The Arctic Tern’s Prayer by American composer Sarah Rimkus was commissioned in 2020 by the Nazareth College Chamber Singers and director Brian M. Stevens. This world-premiere performance was recorded May 6th, 2021 inside Linehan Chapel at Nazareth College in Rochester, New York. 

The composer’s note states: ‘The arctic tern has the longest migration path of any bird species in the world. These sleek gray and white birds breed in the Arctic during the northern summer months and migrate to the Antarctic coast for the southern summer, traveling at least 25,000 miles and seeing more daylight than any other creature over the course of each year. I discovered this poem after learning of my friend and collaborator Brian Stevens’ love of bird watching, searching for a poem in honor of these creatures and their resilience. These beautiful birds and their journey are perfectly encapsulated by the urgency and lyricism in Mary Anne Clark’s stunning poem, The Arctic Tern’s Prayer.’

Tell the air to hold me in the rushing heart of it
And keep its paths straight
Away from home let there be a land that
Flows with fish and flies
And let it taste like it tasted at home
Home take this salty scent of home from my head
Cut away the memory of its last ultraviolet
Flash beautiful beneath me
Don’t turn me to a twist of salt to fall to
Sea’s saltiness if I look back at my home
Let me look back just once let me
Look back

Text © Mary Anne Clark, used with permission.

University of Primorska Academic Choir

Conductor Ambroz Copi

This fiddle
Slovenian folk songs from the Littoral for choir and jazz string quartet

Recorded live on 27 July – the recording is not great quality, but the music is still wonderful! You can also view more detail about the project here.

The Academic Choir of the University of Primorska, Slovenia is under the patronage of Student Organisation of University of Primorska. Its members regularly perform concerts and competitions at home and abroad and it has won several international prizes, including the top prize in the Derry International Choir Festival in 2014.  

Vivid

Conductor Ruben Smits

Vivid is a vibrant vocal group based in Zwolle, The Netherlands. Since it foundation in 2019, the group has participated in competitions of the highest ranking, was coached by professional groups like Accent, was featured in several international video showcases and won the Christenhuysz Theater Talent Award (with the live performance featured here today). 

2020 was a challenging year for the group. Instead of live performances, Vivid focused on producing audio and video recordings, resulting in the 20 minute video performance “The Things That Made Us”. The repertoire of that performance consists of songs that have been particularly important to our lives, either individually of for the whole humankind. The song “Overcome”, featured here, is from that performance. 

Vivid’s music director is Ruben Smits. He is a conductor, arranger, teacher and performer, primarily focused on contemporary pop and jazz. His 400+ arrangements are sold and performed worldwide. As an arranging educator, he has given workshops throughout the Netherlands as well as in Los Angeles and Boston and taught an arranging course in Malaysia.