Canzone (Estonia) performing at the Opening Concert © INTERKULTUR

22 choirs from 10 nations celebrate in Kalamata

Grand Opening of the 4th Int. Choir Competition & Festival Kalamata

Int. Choir Competition & Festival Kalamata

It was like the old days, when yesterday evening choirs met in the big Tenta Sports Hall in Kalamata, Greece to open the 4th edition of the International Choir Competition & Festival Kalamata together.

Three years after the event took place in Kalamata last time, INTERKULTUR Artistic Director, Romāns Vanags expressed his gratitude to all local partners in Greece that were willing to continue the event after two years of pandemic together:

“I remember all previous festivals so well! Especially the festival three years ago. It was a historical festival before the pandemic. Afterwards every choral activity was canceled all around the globe for two years. Now we are so happy to continue this event and I believe in two years we will meet again in Kalamata for the 5th edition! Choral music is the best way to build bridges between people from different cultural backgrounds.”

The Opening Concert was full of fantastic performances by national and international choirs that participate in the event. The evening was dedicated to “Singing in the land of gods”, as people have always believed in the spirits and power of nature and gods and their strengths to influence world affairs and the destiny of each individual being. Thus, 4 Greek and two international choirs were asked in advance to prepare a concert program containing songs and prayers of hope, praise and conciliation from their home countries.

The audience was delighted by the performances, and the mixture of traditional Greek and international choir songs captivated everyone sitting in the concert. If you have missed it, you can watch the full Opening Concert once again here:

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This first evening in Kalamata finally closed with another highlight: all participants sang together a piece by INTERKULTUR’s late Honorary Artistic President Mikis Theodorakis: “Sto perijiali to krifo”. In the spirit of the overall motto of INTERKULTUR is “Singing together brings nations together”, all singers were united in harmony and brought into life what all INTERKULTUR events stand for: intercultural, peaceful encounters through music.

In the upcoming days, the participating choirs will sing in 24 competition performances, 4 Friendship Concerts and one Gala Concert in Kalamata. Moreover, the best choirs from all categories will compete again in the Grand Prize Competition on Sunday afternoon and sing for the Kalamata Choir Prize 2022, endowed with 1500 €.

In addition, for the first time in the history of the event, the Kalamata Special Prize 2022 will be awarded to the choir that will present the best interpretation of a song by a Greek composer.

Stay tuned by following our Social Media channels on Facebook and Instagram, where you will find more impressions from Kalamata.

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