2nd Asian Choir Games and World Choir Championships

July 07 - 17, 2009 Gyeongnam, Republic of Korea

Gyeongnam 2009

A colourful opening ceremony, three beats of a huge traditional yonggo barrel drum and the message "You are the world!" to participating choirs and ensembles from around the globe marked the opening of the 1st World Choir Championships (WCC) in Korea on 8th July 2009. Two days later came a surprise turn of events: the maiden WCC, jointly organised by INTERKULTUR and the Korean Province of Gyeongnam, had to be called off due to the spread of swine flu.

The first part of the WCC took place in harmony and at the highest musical standard. There was time to determine the winners of the "Grand Prix of Choral Music", with prize-money of up to 12,000 US dollars, in the categories "Children's Choirs", "Mixed Choirs", "Sacred Music" and "Folklore". There were also numerous category winners in the other competitions which took place simultaneously: the 2nd Asian Choir Games and the Korean International Open.

The 2nd Asian Choir Games produced the following category winners: "Young Voices of the Adventist University of the Philippines", "Cool~a Cappella" (Korea), "Bitung City Chorale" (Indonesia) and “Seoul Master Choral" (Korea). The category winners of the Korean International Open Choir Competition were "Jeju Female Buddhist Chorus" from Korea, the "Calasiao Childrens Chorus" (Phillippines), "Masan Jeil Girls' Middle School's Chorus" (Philippines), the "Ssams` Choir" (Korea) and the "Blessed Men Mission Choir" (Korea). 

After the WCC had to be abandoned, INTERKULTUR and the international jury members expressed their regret about the events in Korea and the inconvenience caused to the participating choirs. INTERKULTUR is in close contact with all the choirs affected by the competition's premature termination and will do everything it can to find a mutually agreeable solution.

"We always have so much fun in those events – the music is great, we meet choir singers from many countries, we get to perform in front of crowd that can really appreciate what you do."

Female Chamber Choir "Banjalucanke", Bosnia-Herzegowina

"This memory will stay in our hearts for a long time. Thank you to every choir, every choir member, and all the hard working people from Interkultur, who gave us a memory for life."

Birgit Holm Petersen, Gospel 4 All, Denmark

Registration Information

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Event Details

Organizer & Committee

Competition Results

We congratulate all singers to their great results! Many thanks to all choirs and ensembles for participating!

Results Asian Choir Games(23.7 KB)
Results Grand Prix of Choral Music(18.9 KB)
Results Korean International Open Choir Competition(26.5 KB)

How was the last time?

Are you interested in former events of this series? Check out the last edition of the Asian Choir Games!