Wold Choir Council - Group Picture 2018 © Nolte Photography

World Choir Council - International exchange within the Virtual Choir Games

Choral experts from all over the world gather online for the first time

World Choir Games 2020

The last weeks and months have demanded a lot from mankind. Especially the worldwide choir scene has been hit hardly by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting contact and travel restrictions. The ban on performances and rehearsals, the loss of community and singing together, financial and social worries - this affects choirs all over the world.

How to sing in these difficult times? How do you manage to maintain a sense of community, even without personal contact? What does the future of choral music look like - what challenges and opportunities do we face? These questions are currently on the mind of experts all over the world and they will be the focus of the next World Choir Council Meeting.

Due to the current situation, the World Choir Games 2020 and therefore also the planned Council Meeting in Flanders, Belgium had to be postponed by one year. This year we celebrate instead, with the Virtual Choir Games, virtually with the whole world. Even if the conference of the internationally active council cannot take place in Flanders on July 10 as planned, it is a great desire for INTERKULTUR and the members of the World Choir Council, especially in these difficult times, to exchange and share current experiences. The originally planned date of the meeting will be held and numerous members from all over the world will discuss for the first time online the current challenges and the future of the international choral scene.

The World Choir Games, the Olympics of Choral Music, celebrate their 20th anniversary this year. Since its premiere in Linz, Austria, in 2000, the World Choir Council has been supporting the development of this global choral event and INTERKULTUR's work of bringing nations together, in the true spirit of the motto "Singing together brings nations together". As the representatives of the worldwide choral community, the international council now comprises 120 experts from 90 nations and regions of the world. The members of the Council meet regularly every two years during the World Choir Games and report on the choral scene and activities of their respective countries.

This year, the Online General Meeting will not be the only opportunity for the experts to exchange ideas. At the end of July, three additional regional online meetings will be held for and with Council members on region-specific topics:

July 21, 2020 - Asia, Pacific, Middle East

July 22, 2020 - North/South America

July 23, 2020 - Africa, Europe

More information about the World Choir Council can be found here.

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