CHORONA Buseck on the international stage
57 winners of hr4 radio competition travel to the 8th International Robert Schumann Choir Competition
Last year, at the premiere of the hr 4 local radio choir competition “Sing Your Song!” the audience selected the singers of CHORONA Buseck the most popular choir in Hesse among 180 participating choirs. Their voices will now represent the German state of Hesse at the 8th International Robert Schumann Choir Competition in Zwickau.
This participation in the competition was the first prize of the hr 4 competition – donated by INTERKULTUR. On Wednesday (June 6) 57 Chorona singers will travel to Zwickau in Saxony (Germany), the home city of the world famous composer and choir conductor Robert Schumann. Chorona’s conductor Thomas Kreiling and his ambitious choir are just in the middle of preparations and got an expert boost directly from the United States. No other than one of the most popular celebrities of the international choral scene, Dr. Brady Allred, joined two choir rehearsals a few days ago. Being an experienced voice coach he was able to give important advice regarding Chorona’s upcoming performance.
“We’re already looking forward to meet choirs from China, Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Indonesia, Russia, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States thanks to the Hesse Radio and INTERKULTUR,” Kreiling stresses. The choir’s repertoire includes along with the compulsory piece “Der Schmied” by Robert Schumann also Mendelssohn-Bartoldy’s “43th Psalm – Richte mich Gott”, the sonorous “Lux Aurumque” by Eric Whitacre as well as the pop chanson “Our music” by Simon Wawer. Allred, who dropped by from a choir competition in Antwerp as a friendly turn for Chorona, took a lot of time for the choir. Kreiling and Allred have known each other for a long time. After working with the charismatic and congenial Allred, conductor Kreiling recognized new inspiration for the singers and a new impetus on working with the choir.
This week they’re heading to Zwickau best prepared and as a high-profile amateur choir and are looking forward to the competition. On Thursday, June 7, the choir will face the jurors Eva Holm Foesness (Norway), Nico Nebe (Germany) und Andris Veismanis (Latvia). On Saturday evening the die will be cast whether the singers are good enough to win the Grand Prize Competition against the other 15 participating choirs.
INTERKULTUR President Günter Titsch wishes Chorona all the best and keeps his fingers crossed for the competition. “The highly esteemed choir from Buseck ranked first at the hr4 choir competition last year by getting most online votes from the audience,” said Titsch and went on: “This win makes it possible for Chorona and its professional conductor Thomas Kreiling to level out at the high-profile Robert Schumann Choir Competition in front of the international jury and hopefully return home with Gold. I wish this choir much success!”
According to Kreiling, Chorona is spurred by the preparations and already hooked with regards to Zwickau. “By all means, we’re going to celebrate, lough and sing together,” he explains. Chorona’s festival performance at the Schwanenteich Zwickau on Friday evening will also create a great atmosphere as the group is planning to inspire the audience with choral pop music. Along with choral singing the common experience is also on the top of the agenda for the trip. The Hesse Radio and INTERKULTUR as the event organizer and sponsor are happy about such positive choral ambassadors from Hesse.
Report by Roger Schmidt
