All good things come in fours
Vocal Chamber Ensemble Vox pUNT from Estonia wins four awards in Wernigerode
Five days filled with choral sounds from all parts of the world, the forging of new world-spanning friendships and the joy of singing together are over. However, the 12th International Johannes Brahms Choir Festival & Competition may be over, but all those who were part of it, whether as singers, as volunteers, as audience members or as part of the organizing team, carry a part of those unforgettable moments and effervescent emotions back home with them.
The Award Ceremony on Saturday evening called all choirs together for the last time in order to experience the exciting announcement of winners, awards and results and to celebrate collectively the successes achieved. The highlight was the awarding of the Grand Prize, endowed with 2.000€, to the Vocal Chamber Ensemble Vox pUNT from Estonia, which thereby advanced to the ultimate winner of the event.
Further, there was one choir that took the hearts of the audience by storm and thus captured the popular Audience Award: The Kumasi Evangel Choir-Ghana from Ghana conducted by Dr. Albert Adusei Dua.
The first-class performances of the entire event were additionally mirrored in the awarding of several Special Prizes:
The Conductor's Award went to Patrik Sebastian Unt, conductor of the Vocal Chamber Ensemble Vox pUNT (Estonia).
Andrew Yu (Taipei Fu-Hsing Private School Choir/ Chinese Taipei, conducted by Pei Jung Lee), received a Special Prize for his outstanding support with the djembe during the piece "We Are the Voices" by Jim Papoulis.
For the exceptional performance of the piece "Elements – 3. Fire" by Katerina Gimon, the jury awarded a Special Prize to the Menlo Park High School Choir (South Africa), conducted by Jeanmari van Papendorp.
These are the Category Winners of the individual competition categories- no less than three choirs managed to bring home two category winnings each: The Chamber Ensemble Vox pUNT (Estonia), which additionally won the Grand Prize and the Conductor's Prize, the Vocalensemble Phonova Wernigerode (Germany) and the Puzangalan Children's Choir (Chinese Taipei).
Category A2 - Choirs of Equal Voices - Difficulty Level I
GV 1879 HARMONIE Bernbach e.V. (Germany)
conducted by Matthias Schmitt
Category B1 - Mixed Choirs - Difficulty Level II
Gruppo Vocale Incanto (Italy)
conducted by Emilio Piffaretti
Category C1 - Chamber Choirs & Vocal Ensembles a cappella (Mixed Voices)
Vocal Chamber Ensemble Vox pUNT (Estonia)
conducted by Patrik Sebastian Unt
Category C2 - Chamber Choirs & Vocal Ensembles a cappella (Equal Voices)
Vocalensemble Phonova Wernigerode (Germany)
conducted by Claudia Zohm
Category G1 Childrens’ Choirs
Puzangalan Children's Choir (Chinese Taipei)
conducted by Sheng-Ying Wu
Category G2 Youth Choirs of Equal Voices
Philadelphia Girls Choir (USA)
conducted by Nathan Wadley & Laura Harmon
Category G3 Youth Choirs of Mixed Voices
Menlopark High School Choir (South Africa)
conducted by Jeanmari van Papendorp
Category S Sacred Choral Music a cappella
Puzangalan Children's Choir (Chinese Taipei)
conducted by Sheng-Ying Wu
Category F - Folklore
Vocal Chamber Ensemble Vox pUNT (Estonia)
conducted by Patrik Sebastian Unt
Category P Pop & Jazz
Cake O'Phonie (Switzerland)
conducted by Antoine Krattinger
Altogether 16 Golden Diplomas and 10 Silver Diplomas were awarded to the participating ensembles. But our congratulations do not only include the winners, but all choirs who showed their very best performances on the stages around Wernigerode and thus created the special atmosphere of the 12th International Johannes Brahms Choir Festival and Competition!
The detailed results of the event are available for download here:
