Coral Universitaria (Puerto Rico) on stage at the Opening Concert of Sing'n'Joy Princeton © INTERKULTUR

Sing’n’Joy Princeton Opening Concert

International vocal tunes inspire the audience

Sing'n'Joy Princeton

A musical journey through centuries of vocal music from all over the world inspired the audience at yesterday’s Opening Concert of Sing’n’Joy Princeton 2017.

It started with a choir from the hosting country and the hosting state: ChildrenSong of New Jersey. They performed two pieces, one of them the Negro spiritual “sorrow song”: “City called Heaven”. The song represented an important part of America’s music history during the time of slavery. The soloist of this song convinced everybody with its clear and wonderful voice and added the perfect atmosphere to the song.

It was followed by a performance from China: Shanghai Jiao Tong University Choir sung a traditional Chinese piece “Ting Shu Seng Jun Tan Qin”. The lyrics to the song were written by the Chinese poet Li Bai, who lived in the Tang Dynasty which was founded in the first century AD.

From China the journey went back to the United States. The performance of the following Charter Arts Touring Choir (USA) ranged from German renaissance (“Jesus sprach zu dem Blinden” by Melchior Vulpius) to contemporary classical choir literature: Ubi Caritas by Ola Gjeilo (*1978) is a work that has quickly become part of the standard repertoire of choirs from all over the world. Romāns Vanags, the Artistic Director of the event, especially complimented the conductor: "He acted more like a musician, his choice for the rhythm was very good and he had a great feeling for the choir." 

The evening was continued by the choral group Coral Universitaria from Puerto Rico. The singers also presented choral sounds from their cultural region: “Rabo de Nube” by Silvio Rodríguez tells the story about a Cuban-Revolutionary’s dream of getting all pains done.

Last choir on stage was Paduan Suara Mahasiswa Universitas Hasanuddin from Indonesia that gave an insight into the choral traditions of its home country. The audience was enthused by their traditional sounds, instruments, clothing and rewarded the performance with Standing Ovations. 

The Sing’n’Joy Princeton 2017 Opening Concert gave an exciting foretaste of what’s to come in the next days, a time full of concerts, singing and competition at a place of cultural heritage: Princeton and its renowned Westminster Choir College.

Some videos from yesterday evening can already be found at Facebook. More updates will follow within the next days and hours.

The detailed event schedule is available at the official website: www.princeton.interkultur.com.

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