Cork International Choral Festival 2021 ends on a high note with hotly contested competition results
The winners of the 2021 Cork International Choral Festival were announced today ahead of the festival’s last online gala concert, presented by Berlin-based a cappella group ONAIR.
The festival, which ran from April 28 to May 2, was hosted online for the first time this year and featured 82 choirs (including 48 international choirs) from across Ireland and around the world, who submitted their applications for the competition by video.
This year’s festival opened on Wednesday evening with the reading of a specially commissioned poem ‘A Singing City’ by Cork poet Billy Ramsell, read by artistic broadcaster Elmarie Mawe.
Four online gala concerts, by famous Irish ensembles Anúna, Chamber Choir Ireland, Resguram and German group ONAIR were held each evening, as well as pre-concert lectures, workshops and events, as well as national competitions and hotly contested internationals.
Speaking as the festival drew to a close, Artistic Director Peter Stobart said: “I am delighted that we were able to move the festival forward in a new way this year, even though we all missed the interactions. customary personalities that are such a big part of the normal Festival experience.
“My thanks go to everyone who participated for putting their time and energy into this different way of making music, and especially the invisible sound and video engineers who worked so hard behind the scenes.
“The Festival will be back next year, and we hope to have a much more live experience for you once again.” Festival Director Elaine Fitzgerald added: “We are really happy to have been able to host the Cork International Choral Festival in 2021 after the disappointment of 2020. It is a fantastic achievement from the whole team who have worked so hard for it. 12 months to see it come to fruition. We are also delighted with the participation of choirs from all over the world who have played an important role in this year’s festival and look forward to welcoming as many choirs and singers as possible to Cork in the very near future. “
At 5 p.m., the jury’s results were finally announced for all sections of the prestigious and varied national and international competitions.
1st place Fidelity sings – [Workplace – Fidelity Investments] Conductor: Peter Mannion 93.33%
2nd place tickets – [Workplace – Central Bank of Ireland, Dublin] Conductor: Tracy Nagle 92.00%
3rd Place Choir Coombe Workplace – [Workplace – Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital, Dublin] Conductor: Lisa Price 91.33%
1st place Moran Singers Ensemble, Israel Conductor: Naomi Faran 92.33%
2nd Place Gita Suara Choir ISBI Bandung, Indonesia Conductor: Yerimia Namora Pakpahan 90.00%
3rd place Cake O’Phonie, Switzerland Conductor: Antoine Krattinger 89.33%
1st Place Guangdong Experimental Middle School Male Voice Choir, China Conductor: Honghao Zheng 92.00%
2nd place Coro Polifonico di Ruda, Italy Conductor: Fabiana Noro 90.33%
3rd Place Ensemble “Voix Clairesâ€, Germany Conductor: Sebastian Göring 90.00%
1st place Ponomarev Vesna Children’s Choir, Russia Conductor: Nadezhda Averina 95.00%
2nd place Moran Choir, Israel Conductor: Naomi Faran 92.67%
Guangdong Experimental College Children’s Choir, 3rd place, China Conductor: Mingjing Xie and Yeqin Pan 91.00%
1st place Mixed choir from Guangdong Experimental High School , China Conductor: Howard Zheng & Mingjing Xie 92.67%
2nd Place Boğaziçi Jazz Choir, Turkey Conductor: Masis Aram Gözbek 90.33%
3rd place Maulbronn Chamber Choir, Germany Conductor: Benjamin Hartmann 90.00%
1st place Euphonics, Dublin Conductor: Ciarán Kelly 90.67%
2nd Place Guys & Dolls Quartet, Cork Conductor: N / A 89.33%
3rd Place Dulciana Vocal Ensemble, Dublin Conductor: Judith Lyons 87.67%
The Seán Ó Riada Trophy awarded to composer Norah Constance Walsh for her work A Quiet Day in the Future