Fulminant prelude to the celebration of Choir Culture

With an Opening Concert in the Chamber Music Hall of the Berliner Philharmonie the “Fest der Chorkulturen” in Berlin was officially opened last night.

Together with the prestigious Berlin Radio Choir, INTERKULTUR welcomed 30 choirs from 15 different nations that will compete until Sunday at the affiliated Grand Prix of Nations Berlin 2017. "With the ‘Fest der Chorkulturen’ we have a high-ranking international choral competition. We are delighted to welcome so many high-performance choirs here in the cultural metropolis Berlin and can really hope for highly exciting competitions, " Prof. Dr. Ralf Eisenbeiß, Artistic Director of INTERKULTUR is enthused.

The host of the evening, the Berlin Radio Choir, welcomed its international guests and the audience with Gustav Mahler's Adagietto from the 5th Symphony "Im Abendrot" in an a cappella transcription by Clytus Gottwald.

As the first international and probably the youngest choir of the evening, the children's choir Patara Georgika presented itself enthusiastically with a Georgian folk song and a mischievous choreography. It was amazing how much singing power can come from such small children. After a stop in Georgia, the audience was taken on a journey through the international choral scene by the Gnesins' ensemble of contemporary music "Altro coro" from Russia and other choirs from China, Germany and Norway. With an artistically very demanding concert program they captivated the Berlin audience. Especially the Nilüfer Polyphonic Choir from Turkey with traditional colorful costumes was an eye-catcher.

As a musical as well as atmospheric highlight of the evening, the festival anthem "Proclamation", which was especially composed by Ēriks Ešenvalds for the “Fest der Chorkulturen”, premiered there. At the sign of conductor Nicolas Fink, more than 1000 voices and the Berlin Radio Choir began to sing. Every corner was watchful and captivated singers. It seemed as if they were singing not only the work whose text stands for world peace but radiate with every fiber of their bodies and sing out together into the world. A unique gift for all guests.

In competitions as well as in Friendship Concerts of the affiliated Grand Prix of Nations Berlin 2017 the international choirs will enchant the Berlin public with choral music from all over the world. All information about the entire festival program can be found on the official website.