“Isola del Sole – International Choir Competition and Festival” has officially been opened. At yesterday’s Opening Concert in the Palazzo dei Congressi the participating choirs from 15 nations have been warmly welcomed in the respective native languages. They thanked the organizers with cheers and applause. On behalf of the city of Grado the Head of Culture Department, Caterina Bellan addressed a welcome speech to the international guests.

Afterwards the audience got a first foretaste of what to expect during the next days: The Vokalensemble Cantus Carinthiae from Austria, the 4x4 Frauenchor der Pädagogischen Hochschule Heidelberg from Germany, the Gideonsberg Vokalensemble from Sweden and Indonesian Folklore performed by the PSM Satya Dharma Gita FH UNDIP presented a wide range of international choral music to the audience.

Today is a serious day for many of the participants: The first competitions are running. However, the first group to enter the stage this morning was Peterborough Male Voice Choir from Great Britain. They presented their competition program in a so called Evaluation Performance to the jurors Giovanni Acciai (Italy), Søren Birch (Denmark) and Selga Mence (Latvia) in order to get important advice with regard to the upcoming competition performance.

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