When it’s springtime in Bad Ischl…

Austria, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Norway, Russia, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey: The 14th International Choir Festival & Competition Bad Ischl sounds as colorful as these nations. Yesterday evening the event opened with the Opening Concert “Viva la Musica” in the Kongress- & Theaterhaus Bad Ischl.

Choirs from Norway, Czech Republic, Mexico, Russia and Indonesia presented a deep insight into the variety of international choral music.

At the beginning the Norwegian female choir Damenes Aften inspired with a fun interpretation of “Voi voi” – the first entry from Norway to the Eurovision Song Contest in the 1960s.

Following the Czech female group Gloria Brunensis the audience watched and listened to colorful Folklore from Mexico: Las Cien Voces de Los Hermanos Zavala – in shiny traditional costumes – presented a musical journey through Mexico and created a happy mood in the audience.

The next choir was already welcomed with cheering and applause when entering the stage: The Concert Choir ‘Phoenix‘ Taneev Music School Moscow, a children’s choir from Russia – the nation which is mostly represented at this year’s festival in Bad Ischl.

The last contribution to the Opening Concert by the Choir of the London School of Public Relations Jakarta in Indonesia created lively pictures in the audience’s heads: In a musical way the choir told stories from the everyday life in Jakarta, like a hunky man trying to ride past a pig cart on his heavy-laden motorcycle. After the Opening Concert the thrill of anticipation for the upcoming festival days was twice as big among the participants. Today the atmospheric festival program continues:

At 16:30 h the singers from all over the world will meet in the inner city for the big choir parade and go to the Kurpark together with the local brass band Mitterweissenbach, where they will join the official opening event including a welcome of all nations. A festive parade featuring music, flags, traditional costumes and a unique experience await all participants, visitors and Bad Ischl residents.

Starting tomorrow the choirs will present their skills to the international jury in different competition categories. On Saturday the festival will come to a fabulous close with the Grand Prize Competition followed by the Awards Ceremony and a huge choir party.

More news about the event can be found on Facebook and Instagram within the upcoming days.