"Thank you so much for the opportunity to participate in the INTERKULTUR’s European Choir Games event. We would also like to thank you for the wonderful organization and for all the help before and during the event. We felt such honor to participate in the competitions with some of the best choirs in the world! We came back to Israel smiling with such good memories and experiences."
RIGA SINGS - International Choir Competition & Imants Kokars Choral Award
RIGA SINGS AGAIN!
Latvia – the Singing Nation – has already proven twice that it’s a fantastic host for international choir events.
Following the fantastic successes of the World Choir Games 2014 and the Grand Prix of Nations Riga 2017 & 3rd European Choir Games the Latvian capital will once again welcome choirs from all over the world to "RIGA SINGS – International Choir Competition & Imants Kokars Choral Award" in 2019.
The world famous Latvian conductor and educator Imants Kokars was one of the most outstanding characters in the Latvian and international music community and a founder of the modern Latvian choral conducting school, rector of the Latvian Academy of Music Jāzeps Vītols as well as the founder and artistic director of the Chamber Choir "Ave Sol".
The highlight of "RIGA SINGS" and thus a tuneful monument to Imars Kokars will be the competition of the category winners for the "Imants Kokars Choir Prize".
Participation opportunities
This INTERKULTUR event provides you the opportunity to choose from the following options of participation:
Non-competitive participation | Competitive participation |
---|---|
Festival participation* | Competition categories* |
Evaluation performance* | Evaluation performance* |
Friendship concert performance included
- Category A – Difficulty level I
- A1 – Mixed Choirs
- A2 – Equal Voices (Male and Female Choirs)
- Category B – Difficulty level II
- B1 – Mixed Choirs
- B2 – Equal Voices (Male and Female Choirs)
- Category C – Chamber Choirs and Vocal Ensembles
- C1 – Chamber Choirs of equal voices
- C2 – Chamber Choirs of mixed voices
- Category G – Children's and Youth Choirs
- G1 – Children's Choirs
- G2 – Youth Choirs of equal voices
- G3 – Youth Choirs of mixed voices
- Category S – Sacred Choral Music a cappella
- Category F – Folklore
A detailed description of the competition categories can also be found in the booklet available for download:
Participant Information(6 MB)
For non-competing choirs
- three pieces of the choir’s own choice
- performed before a panel of qualified international jurors who provide immediate positive artistic and pedagogical advice for improvement
- certificates of participation will be awarded, as well as evaluation ratings and recommendation letters for future INTERKULTUR competitions upon request
Number of singers: unlimited
Singing time: maximum 15 minutes
Accompaniment: maximum 1 piece
Duration: 45 minutes
For competing choirs
- presentation of competition program the day before competitions begin
- performed before a panel of qualified international jurors who provide immediate positive artistic and pedagogical advice for improvement
- evaluation does not involve preliminary decisions regarding the competition result
Number of singers: according to category rules
Singing time: according to category rules
Accompaniment: according to category rules
Duration: 45 minutes
Participating choirs may register to perform together with other international choirs. The Friendship Concerts will take place at central venues such as churches, public squares, parks or museums.
Choirs must prepare approximately 20 minutes of their own music pre-approved by the artistic committee. The concert should be preferably a cappella or with own instruments (a piano or e-piano can be provided upon request).
Please be aware that several friendship concerts are planned open air. In the event that weather conditions do not allow this, some concerts may be cancelled due to the weather. The organizers will try to manage alternatives but choirs do not have any legal claim to this.
Choirs can also take part in Friendship Concerts ONLY (Non-competitive Festival Participation).
The respective Category Winners are invited to participate in the Grand Prize Competition for the Imants Kokars Choral Award 2019. The jury reserves the right to nominate further choirs for participation.
PROGRAM: Two freely chosen a cappella pieces which may not be the ones the choir had already performed in their whole competition program. Those two pieces must be confirmed by the artistic committee.
ACTUAL SINGING TIME: The maximum actual singing time is 8 minutes.
The winner of this competition will receive the Imants Kokars Choral Award 2019 in the amount of 2500 Euro.
"Once again I would like to thank you for wonderful time in Riga. Thanks to you and the all people from Festival office. Very good choirs, fantastic concerts, workshops, meetings with friends, all this made the atmosphere of the festival marvellous."
"INTERKULTUR is a very great event organizer of choir events. Everything worked out really great in Riga. We were very pleased with the event, and are looking forward to participate in another INTERKULTUR event"
Registration Information
This event lies in the past!
You are interested in participating in this event series? Then have a look right now at our overview, which provides information about when the event will be held the next time. There you can also find further dates and destinations of our events taking place worldwide.
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Festivals, Choir Competitions, Sing Along Projects: Learn more about special performance opportunities with the free INTERKULTUR newsletter.
Event Details
Wednesday, May 1, 2019
- Arrival
- Rehearsals and stage rehearsals
- Evaluation Performances for competing choirs
- Evening: Opening Event
- Sightseeing & excursions*
Thursday, May 2, 2019
- Rehearsals and stage rehearsals
- All day: Competitions in categories G and S
- Friendship Concerts
- Sightseeing & excursions*
Friday, May 3, 2019
- Rehearsals and stage rehearsals
- Evaluation Performances for non-competing choirs
- All day: Competitions in categories A, B, C and S
- Friendship Concerts
- Sightseeing & excursions*
Saturday, May 4, 2019
- Rehearsals and stage rehearsals
- Morning: Competitions in category F
- Friendship Concerts
- Afternoon: Grand Prize Competition
- Evening: Awards Ceremony & Closing event
- Sightseeing & excursions*
Sunday, May 5, 2019
- Departure
depending on the choir's individual schedule
Subject to change!
If you are interested in individual excursions please send an email to travel(at)interkultur.com.
St. Peter's Church
Address: Skarnu iela 19, Riga LV1050
Riga’s St. Peter’s Church is the city’s tallest church (Tower – 123 m), as well as a remarkable 13th-century Gothic archi-tectural monument of national significance, first built in 1209. Riga’s first public clock was installed in St. Peter’s Church tower in 1352. A city guard stood in the church tower, ready to warn of any dangers threatening the city or fire.
The tower of St. Peter’s Church has been rebuilt several times, lightning having struck it six times.
Johann Gottfried Muthel, J.S. Bach's last pupil, was the church organist from 1767 to 1788. Since 1991, St. Peter’s Church has been home to the St. Peter’s Church congregation of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Today the church is used for concerts, themed exhibitions, art exhibitions, cultural events, as well as being an international cultural tourism attraction, open to visitors on a daily basis.
Photos: f64
Great Hall of University of Latvia
Address: Raina bulvaris 19, 1050 Riga
The Great Hall of the University of Latvia was opened and consecrated on 28 September 1935. The hall, with a classic 1930s interior, is graded as an architectural monument. The interior is of symmetrical construction, with columns and balconies along its edges. It also features ancient architectural forms – a variety of ornamental motifs and column capitals.
The Great Hall has been an important venue since its opening, not only for the university but also for the development of choral music in Latvia. Every five years, it hosts a key event of Latvia’s magnificent Song Celebration, the amateur choir competition. It is also the venue for regular local and international classical music concerts. Including the balcony, the hall can accommodate more than 700 spectators.
Photos: f64
Riga Congress Centre
Address: K. Valdemara iela 5, Riga LV1010
The Riga Congress Centre is located in the city centre. Historically, this building was built as a congress and conference centre for the needs of the Communist party. Originally called the House of Political Education, its rooms and library were used solely for Communist Party ideological events.
Constructed and opened in 1982 (the fountain was re-constructed in 2000), its 1200-seat conference hall and convenient city-centre location make the Riga Congress Centre a key public building. These days, the Congress Centre regularly hosts concerts by visiting and local artists, dance and theatre performances, and many other types of cultural programmes and events.
Photos: Riga2017, f64
Peter Habermann (Germany)
Peter Habermann received his first musical education as a member of the Dresden Kreuzchor. This was followed by a course of Vocal Studies in Dresden which he passed with a First Class Honours degree to be a singing teacher. Since 1984, he has been teaching at the Landesgymnasium für Musik Wernigerode. His scope of work covers both the field of vocal training and the choral education of this institution’s students.
For many years, he acted as a Deputy Artistic Director of the Rundfunkjugendchor Wernigerode with Friedrich Krell. Later, he led the institution’s Children Choir with great success before he became Artistic Director of the Rundfunkjugendchor in 1996, a responsibility that he held until 2004 and has been holding again from 2008 until today.
His work with this internationally renowned ensemble has been rewarded with numerous prizes, and has resulted in many CD recordings as well as concert tours both at home and abroad.
In 2003, he founded the Wernigerode Chamber Choir, a project choir comprising former Rundfunkjugendchor members which he led until 2010. He is also committed to amateur music: for 10 years, he conducted the men’s choir of the village Drübeck. Peter Habermann is an active singer, speaker and juror for INTERKULTUR events and the German Choral Contest.
Mārtiņš Klišāns (Latvia)
Since 1998, Mārtiņš Klišāns, works as art director of the Rīga Cathedral Boys’ Choir. Under his guidance, the choir has been granted the Latvian Grand Music Award - the highest State award in music and Latvian Music Recording Award.
Klišāns has graduated from the conducting class at the Jāzeps Vītols’ Latvian Music Academy (tutored by Imants Kokars). He got his Master’s degree in 2009. His vocal skills were improved at Bach Academy (Stuttgart, Bruce Abel). As a vocalist, Klišāns has contributed to the chamber choir Ave Sol and Rīga Vocal Group. As a tenor solo performer, he has participated in more than one hundred performances of the Baroque operas and oratories.
Klišāns still teaches at the Rīga Cathedral Choir School and at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music. In July, 2004, he was a guest conductor at the Americafest: the world festival for boys’ and men’s choir singing. He’s a member of the council of the World Choir Games and of the INTERKULTUR association, and has been a part of international juries lately. He is the conductor of the amateur choirs Juventus and Beverīna and also conducts the mixed choir Vaidelote, the mixed choir Valmiera, and is chief conductor of Cēsis district. Klišāns has also been elected chief conductor of the Great Song Festival 2008, 2013 and 2018 as well; he was also among the chief conductors of the IX and X Latvian Youth Song and Dance Festivals. Annually he is invited to the different choral competitions as a jury member. In 2015 Mārtiņš Klišāns got the highest State award – The Order of Three Stars.
Tove Ramlo-Ystad (Norway)
Tove Ramlo-Ystad is an educated singer and conductor with a Master Degree from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim. Her teachers and mentors in conducting have been Stefan Sköld, Anders Eby and Mogens Dahl.
Tove is one of Norway's most acknowledged choir conductors. She is a popular and inspiring guest conductor, and is frequently invited as an adjudicator in international choir competitions. Tove is representing Norway in The World Choir Council. Since 2015 she has been the artistic director of The Norwegian National Championship for Choirs.
Ramlo-Ystad has conducted both mixed and male choirs through the years, and has kept conducting the female choir Cantus since their beginning in 1986. Through Tove's leadership has Cantus received a lot of attention, won several competitions and has recorded 9 CD’s. The three last recordings got a Grammy nomination. Cantus is known by their Nordic sound. This sound was the reason Disney discovered Cantus, and led to the choir being asked to sing in their animation movie 'Frozen' 1 and 2. Several of the works commissioned for Cantus through the years have become an inspiration for many other female choirs around the world.
Tove Ramlo-Ystad is music director for the Norwegian Choral Association.
Mikhail Golikov (Russia)
Mikhail Golikov is an artistic director and chief conductor of the State Symphony Orchestra of Leningrad oblast, Taurida International Symphony Orchestra, an artistic director and principal conductor of the Orchestra of Saint Petersburg State Philharmonic for Children and Youth.
In the end of 2013 Mikhail Golikov was awarded of the title of People's Artist of The Kabardino-Balkar Republic for the big cultural project "The Symphony of Caucasia". He organizes various educational programs and master classes in Russia and abroad, actively promotes the popularization of classical music among children and youth audiences, works on the jury of Russian and international children's and youth music competitions.
Mikhail Golikov is an extraordinary personality, a bold experimenter with high professionalism. His artistic and emotional performance do not leave indifferent prominent figures of science and culture (Zhores Alferov, Irina Bogacheva, Lyudmila Verbitskaya, Elena Obraztsova, Elisabeth Vidal, Igor Butman, Francis Goya, Michel Legrand, Sergei Leiferkus and many others).
In July 2020, he founded a community of like-minded people and a new orchestra formation Digital Orchestra by Golikov, which united the best musicians all over the world. The official premiere of the Digital Orchestra by Golikov project was the screenings of all 9 symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven dedicated to the 250th anniversary of the composer.
Aira Birziņa (Latvia)
Aira Birziņa is a professor of choral conducting at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music (JVLMA), a conductor of the Riga Cathedral Girls' Choir TIARA, the female choir DZINTARS of the VEF Culture Palace and the female choir RASA of the Ogre Cultural Center. Conductor of the Latvian Song and Dance Festival (XXIII, XXIV, XXV, XXVI). She leads various workshops, participates in conferences, and works as a jury member at the international competitions in Latvia and abroad.
Aira Birziņa was awarded with the Acknowledgment of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia in 2018, the Order of the Three Stars in 2015, the Annual Award of the Ogre County Cultural Center "Golden Linden 2018", the Annual Culture Prize of the Ogre County Culture Center in 2017, Culture Prize "White Sparrow" of the Riga Municipality in 2015, and the Ministry of Culture's Prize in Folk Art in 1999.
Marleen De Boo (Belgium)
Marleen De Boo (Antwerp-Belgium) obtained both an MA in Music Pedagogy and in Choral Conducting.
She lectures choral conducting at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp and is conductor of the Great Choir at that same institute.
At the Podiumacademie Lier she teaches choral conducting in courses for amateurs, but also for semi-professionals and professionals. One of these programs focuses on working with children and youth.
Marleen is artistic director of VZW Waelrantkoren, a non-pro t organization with eight choirs, ve of them conducted by her.
Her conducting practice covers various age groups with a strong emphasis on the pedagogical aspects of choral singing. Her main motivation is to allow amateurs, especially children and young people, to discover the beauty of choral music. She strives for her choirs to be a gentle environment for young people searching for their identity, a place where everyone can show their true self.
With Waelrant Youth Choir, she participates in international festivals and competitions. This choir currently holds the 15th place in the Interkultur World Ranking.
INTERKULTUR
in cooperation with
City of Riga
President INTERKULTUR
Günter Titsch (Germany)
Mayor of Riga
Nils Ušakovs (Latvia)
Vice Mayor of Riga
Andris Ameriks (Latvia)
Artistic Director of RIGA SINGS 2019
Assoc. Prof. Romāns Vanags (Latvia)
Artistic Committee INTERKULTUR
Prof. Dr. Ralf Eisenbeiß (Germany), Senior Artistic Director
Johan Rooze (Netherlands), Artistic Director
Fred Sjöberg (Sweden), Artistic Director
INTERKULTUR Executive Committee
Günter Titsch (Germany)
Wang Qin (China)
Stefan Bohländer (Germany)
Dr. Christoph Wirtz (Germany), Secretary General
Organizers are INTERKULTUR Management GmbH and the city of Riga.
Program Book
Participating Groups
We are happy to welcome 31 choirs from 11 nations to RIGA SINGS 2019!
Destination
Located in the central part of the country, the metropolis has become a multicultural city where the vast heritage coexists harmoniously with the quick pace of modern living. Riga is also known as a pearl of architecture and home to the largest concentration of Art Nouveau architecture in the world.
Peaceful but at the same time dynamic and diverse, Riga offers experiences for every taste in art, music, theatre or design and a broad range of cultural activities all year around. Nicknamed as the Paris of the North, Riga will surely leave a lasting impression in your sense and sensibility.
Competition Results
We congratulate all singers to their great results! All in all 33 golden and 11 silver diplomas were awarded. Many thanks to all choirs and ensembles for participating!
Results(550 KB)