Tour: Marktoberdorf

Today, Sunday, is the second day of competition at the 11th International Chamber Choir Competition in Marktoberdorf, Germany. We finished competing at around 1:00 this afternoon---and we finished with a bang!

We arrived on Friday and enjoyed a concert and some opening ceremonies. We got to meet all the other choirs. In total, there are 13 choirs competing: five in the youth choir category and eight in the mixed adult choir category. The Singers are entered in both categories, so some of us had to compete four times! There are choirs from all over. We’re the only group from the United States, but there are choirs from Argentina, Ireland, Slovenia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Norway, Germany, and possibly some place I’m forgetting.

It’s been very fun to hear all of these groups perform! They represent some of the best in the world and it’s an honor to be numbered among them.

Saturday was the first round. This round had to be between 20 and 25 minutes, and had to follow certain rules. For example, there was a compulsory piece that every choir had to perform, and every piece had to be sung acappella. It was interesting to hear all the different interpretations of the same music. The Singers’ mixed choir was the third to perform on Saturday morning. We all felt really good about how we performed. We sang a great mix of pieces, including Romantic era music, spirituals, and “Hail Holy Light,” our commissioned piece, and the audience seemed to really love it all. We sang with a lot of spirit, energy, and emotion, and were able to connect with each other and the listeners. Hopefully we connected with the jury, too!

Our youth choir performed first in the afternoon section, and they did a great job too. We have all learned so much wonderful music this year, and it is a remarkable thing to be able to get on that competition stage and just send it right out to everyone in the hall!

Today was round two, which is the free program. This program can only be 10 minutes long, and there are no rules about accompaniment and no compulsory pieces. The youth choir performed in the morning as the last in their category, and did a fantastic job! The mixed choir also got to go last and ended the entire competition. What an amazing opportunity!

We won’t get the results until Tuesday, but we all feel really good about what we did. And the truth is that no matter what the results are, we know we did our best, and we gave some incredible performances. We have come together in such a wonderful way, and I couldn’t be prouder of what we have accomplished. I think we all feel the same.

Of course, we DO want to win . . . we’ll see what happens!