Sing Outside The Box | Conference 2017 | Report

r offers fo Special embers m ECA-EC and 31 0 pages 3

Conference 2017 | Tallinn | Estonia

Organiser and publisher European Choral Association - Europa Cantat Haus der Kultur, Weberstr. 59a, 53113 Bonn, Germany www.EuropeanChoralAssociation.org info@EuropeanChoralAssociation.org Tel: +492289125663 See presentation page 28

Co-organiser 2

Estonian Choral Association The Estonian Choral Association (ECA) was founded on 28 March 1982 as the umbrella organization for all choirs and wind orchestras in Estonia. ECA is the successor in title of the Estonian Singers’ Union that was founded in 1921 and re-established in 1993. The goals of the ECA are to foster the choral and wind music tradition, to find and distribute repertoire, to establish contacts, to organise international choral festivals, concerts, educational programmes, seminars and other events for choirs, singers

and conductors.

The association will be the official organiser of the festival EUROPA CANTAT 2018.

Estonian Choral Association.

Roosikrantsi 13, 10119 Tallinn, Estonia Tel: +3726274451 www.kooriyhing.ee kooriyhing@kooriyhing.ee Special thanks to the Estonian team: Aiki Koolmeister, Katrin Puur, Varjue Vürst, Mare Zaneva and of course Kaie Tanner!

Support The conference is organised in the frame of the “sing outside the box” European Cooperation project, co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. www.SingOutsideTheBox.eu Coordinator: Estonian Choral Association (EE) www.kooriyhing.ee Partners: Sulasol (FI) www.sulasol.fi, ZIMIHC (NL) www.zimihc.nl, European Choral Association - Europa Cantat (DE) www.europeanchoralassociation.org.

The European Choral Association - Europa Cantat is co-funded by the City of Bonn, the German Youth Ministry and the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. (Network Funding).

The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsi­ble for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union

Pictures credits: Anna van Kooij, Wikimedia, Roland Owsnitzki, Solveig van Wijngaarden, Hans-Erich Lutermann, ECA-EC youth committee.

European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

This year’s conference was an invitation to “sing outside the box”: to exchange about ways to make the invaluable tradition of collective singing grow stronger and more lively, to discover ways to upgrade it to reach out and connect with new audiences.

With this report, we want to share some impressions, ideas and flavors that the participants experienced this year!

See you next year in Turkey!

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Table of contents Welcome words

pages 4 & 5

Pictures and schedule

pages 6 & 7

Conference “sing outside the box”

pages 8 to 23

EUROPA CANTAT 2018

pages 24 & 25

Membership day

pages 26 to 27

European Choral Association - Europa Cantat and offers for members in 2018.

pages 28 to 31

European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

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Dear representatives of choral music, Choral music is not something in and of itself. It is people that give it a soul and a voice. And it is the places where music resounds that give it a face.

I’m glad that you’ve chosen Tallinn as the place to hold the general assembly of the European Choral Association - Europa Cantat, and the “sing outside the box” conference. I’m sure that Estonia’s multifaceted capital, where ancient history is interwoven with modern solutions, will also inspire you to new ideas.

We await your return to Estonia at the height of the summer in July 2018, which thanks to you, the promoters of European choral music, will become the world’s choral singing centre for the tightknit EUROPA CANTAT family.

Here’s to many more meetings!

Indrek Saar Minister of Culture of the Republic of Estonia

European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

5 Dear choral enthusiasts, dear members, The European Choral Association - Europa Cantat is entering a new exciting phase of its history.

After some years of financial challenges (that the creativity and dedication of the members, of the Board and of the team helped overcome) we are now starting a four year development project supported by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.

This project (that you can discover on page 29), will be a wonderful opportunity to upgrade the association’s activities and methods, to connect with other players in the sector, and to reach out beyond the sector, to promote and structure the field of collective singing in Europe. Our underlying aim and concern will be to ensure the sustainability of the network after this four year period, by making sure it answers today’s and tomorrow’s expectations and needs.

But with such great tasks come great responsibilities towards those who support and participate in our efforts: our members, the choral community, the European Union and all the citizens of the European continent, that we hope to convince to join the singing community!

This year’s conference is an occasion to discover innovative initiatives and artistic projects that “sing outside the box”, but also to meet old and new friends, hopefully leading to new fruitful international cooperations.

We are very honored and excited to welcome you here in Estonia, a country that demonstrated the power of collective singing in its fight for freedom and independence; a country that, by welcoming the EUROPA CANTAT festival next summer, will show that our favorite art form is today a wonderful way to build bridges between nations and cultures. In the name of the association, I extend the most sincere thanks to the Estonian authorities and partners from the civil societies for their dedication to our initiatives.

I hope you will enjoy this first stay in Tallinn, and that we’ll have a chance to welcome you again next summer for our 20th EUROPA CANTAT festival!

Whilst thinking about singing outside the box, please don’t forget: there are 1.000.000 ways to sing!

Gábor Móczár President of the European Choral Association - Europa Cantat

European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

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2018 r e b o t c O n Tallin ntries u o c 6 2 m o r f icipants t r a p 0 0 1 r e v O

European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

Schedule overview What happened during the week-end!

Friday 6 October - Hotel Tallink Spa and Conference

page 26

09:30 > 12:30

Membership Day: Interactive sessions [ECA-EC members]

12:30 > 13:30

Lunch

13:30 > 15:30

Membership Day: Project presentations [open to all] Presentation of the Baltic Song Celebrations as Intangible Cultural Heritage

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17:30

“sing outside the box” Keynote Speech by Tido Visser

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19:00

Dinner with musical surprises by the Estonian Radio Children’s Choir

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Saturday 7 October - Estonian Parliament 09:30 > 12:30

General Assembly [ECA-EC members]

12:30 > 13:30

Lunch in the parliament

13:30 > 15:00

The “sing outside the box “project

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15:15 > 16:15 Stephan Lutermann | Singing and scenic performance choose your sesTimurs Tomsons | More audience for classical music! sion!

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Jan Schumacher | EUROPA CANTAT festival, out of the box!

16:15 > 16:45

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Coffee break

16:45 > 17:45 Panda van Proosdij | Choireography choose your ses- Sonja Greiner and Raul Talmar | Audience development in the choral context sion!

Get out of your box! Panel discussion 18:30

Dinner at the Hotel Tallink Spa and Conference

20:30

Concert at the Tallinn Town Hall: Collegium Musicale Chamber Choir

Sunday 8 October - Hotel Tallink Tallink Spa and Conference 09:00 > 11:00

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Fresh Ideas: Sunday Morning Market [open to all]

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European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

Report on the Conference 2017

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EuroChoir 2017 - Anna van Kooij European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

Friday 6 October - 17:30 | Keynote Speech Tido Visser | managing director of the Nederlands Kamerkoor

10 Tido Visser Tido Visser started his career as a professional singer. As a member and co-founder of the madrigal ensemble The Kassiopeia Quintet, he toured Europe and recorded the complete madrigal works of Gesualdo. Eventually, he felt his heart was with managing, rather than singing. And more important: he was better at it.

He became general manager of the highly acclaimed baroque ensemble Combattimento Consort, and has been managing director of the Netherlands Chamber Choir since July 2013.

the Nederlands Kamerkoor The choir is internationally acclaimed for its many recordings of a highly varied repertoire, covering a 1000 years of choral music. The Netherlands Chamber Choir celebrates its 80th birthday this year with the project 150 Psalms: 150 psalms by 150 composers covering 1000 years of choral music. Since 2015, it welcomed Peter Dijkstra as chief-conductor. The Netherlands Chamber Choir always looks for new, innovative ways to present choral music, and collaborates with choreographers, dancers, theatre groups, journalists, philosophers, and with the best ensembles and orchestras worldwide.

Education plays a very important role in their vision to help building a new generation of choral singers who are not only singers, but also programmers, entrepreneurs, producers, and marketers.

Tido Visser was responsible for the rebranding of the choir after a dark period of huge subsidy cuts. www.nederlandskamerkoor.nl

European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

Extract from the keynote speech The full text is available online under bit.ly/sotb_tv [...]

Thinking outside the box in its most effective and innovative way, requires more than just doing things differently. Also in arts, or: especially in the arts. Thinking outside the box is a hollow phrase, unless there is a sense of urgency behind it. Urgency after all is the food of the artist, professional or non-professional. Urgency is about telling the story that needs to be told.

Lack of urgency is the biggest danger to any form of art. The Netherlands Chamber Choir is an amazing choir. But the darkest times of the choir, were a direct consequence of a fundamental lack of urgency.

Let’s put that into a historical perspective. Let’s start from the year 1987, the year in which my favorite song, Living in a box, by the band Living in a box, was composed.

Allow me to focus on the classical music world, for a moment. Imagine an incredibly rich musical life, all over Europe. Vast amounts of amazing contemporary composers finally were making it to the big stage, thanks to the efforts of newly founded groups like the Schönberg Ensemble, Ensemble Modern and Ensemble Intercontemporain.

The composers we are talking about, were born just before or around the two world wars. They had seen the devastation of war, they had seen the dark side of mankind. They were, all in their own way, dealing with immense subjects: by writing about freedom of speech or the lack of it, Shostakovitch wrote his Kammersinfonie

opposing against the Soviet regime; Mauricio Kagel brilliantly used humor to get to the core of people’s deepest fears of the Nazi regime.

Benjamin Britten opposed against the concept of war, with his War Requiem. They have one fundamental thing in common: these composers wrote about something that mattered to them deeply. They were telling the story that needed to be told, just like the pioneering ensembles performing their work.

Symphony orchestras soon followed. Opera houses started to dedicate a substantial part of their programming to contemporary repertoire.

And they got governments to support them.

They started to receive subsidies. Not a little.

No. Huge sums. Sums of money we wish we had them now. It’s great to have subsidy. In fact, it’s absolutely indispensable. And it’s justifiable.

Believe me. I will get to that later.

But there IS a downside to subsidies: the great danger of government subsidies is that your artistic independence is institutionalized.

You have to make sure to go by the rules of the government, in order to get your subsidy.

Dutch government told us to focus on disabled people, back in the late eighties, it then shifted towards a focus on cultural diversity in the nineties, entrepreneurship and public outreach at the start of the millennium, now it’s cultural diversity again. And what do you get? An artist who starts telling the story that people want to hear, the story that politicians want to hear, the story that governmental funds want to hear, rather than the story that needs to be told. [...]

Read the full text online: bit.ly/sotb_tv

European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

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Saturday 7 October - 13:30 > 15:00 Plenary Session Presentation of the “sing outside the box” project

Watch the session online! bit.ly/sotb_intro

12 This conference takes its name from the European cooperation project it belongs to. Designed over 2 years, the project was selected for co-funding by the Creative Europe programme (see below). In this plenary session, we presented the project, its first results and how it will develop in the next year.

Kaie Tanner, Estonian Choral Association, EUROPA CANTAT 2018 Yvelin Karu, Estonian Choral Association, EUROPA CANTAT 2018 Martine Spanjers, ZIMIHC, EuroChoir 2017 Reijo Kekkonen, Sulasol, EuroChoir 2018 Mikko Sidorrof, conductor EuroChoir 2016 and 2018 Côme Ferrand Cooper, European Choral Association - Europa Cantat, Conferences 2017 & 2018 Background articles: EuroChoir 2017 - Page 20 EUROPA CANTAT festival - Page 24

The Creative Europe programme Creative Europe is the European Commission’s framework programme for support to the culture and audiovisual sectors. Following on from the previous Culture Programme and MEDIA programme, Creative Europe, with a budget of €1.46 billion (9% higher than its predecessors), supports Europe’s cultural and creative sectors. It supports culture sector initiatives, such as those promoting cross-border cooperation,

platforms, networking, and literary translation.

To be supported, projects must respect the subsidiarity principle and prove its European added value regarding the themes the commission is promoting. Organisations and artists can apply, contact your national Creative Europe Desks. https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/creative-europe/ Co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union

European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

EuroChoir 2017 - Utrecht - NL -credit: Anna Van Kooij

The aims of the project How can collective singing get out of conventional choral venues and reach out to new audiences?

How can collective singing appeal to younger generations? What aspects of the rehearsal process, of the repertoire, of the performance could be upgraded to better answer the expectations of millennials and of the following generation?

To explore and try to answer these questions, “sing outside the box” is testing innovative audience development methods during two sessions of the EuroChoir and different ateliers and concerts at the EUROPA CANTAT Festival in Tallinn and will disseminate these methods to multipliers.

Activities The EuroChoir, a European choir gathering up to 60 talented emerging singers is holding a session once a year in a different country. A two years cycle was set up, under the supervision of acclaimed conductors: Maria van Nieukerken (NL), Lorenzo Donati (IT) and Mikko Sidoroff (FI). After the sessions 2017 (Utrecht) and 2018 (Helsinki), the choir will present its work as special guest of the EUROPA CANTAT festival 2018 in Tallinn.

The themes of the project will also be developed along the festival, with many ateliers for singers and workshops for conductors dedicated to the themes: • Go out and meet new audiences: Use of unusual concert venues, concerts in the frame of non-choral or even non-musical events • Staging: Develop innovative approaches to staging, with a focus on the specific abilities of singers as instruments (movement, sound spatialisation, blending in the audience, etc.)

• Technical development: use of lighting and sound reinforcement as an artistic element • Pedagogy: foster access for non readers, non trained singers, to discover the fun of collective singing • Involve choirs, conductors and singers in an active recruiting process of active and passive audiences

www.SingOutsideTheBox.eu The videos of the conference are available online! Check the website.

European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

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Saturday 7 October - 15:15 > 16:15 3 parallel sessions to choose from!

Stephan Lutermann Singing and scenic performance

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The perfection, the longing for it and the expe- the body’s consciousness of the singing performers. The knowledge about the space and rience of the impossible … the powerful energies therein is being used for the performances of choir singing.

“In Greek antique a chorus was the The dialogue between the perception name for a defined dancing space. of the inside and outside, the area of Later it meant a round dance itself, tension between mind and matter and especially when it was connected to the interaction between individual and singing during festivities or to honour collective – those are the general prina God. At the end the name meant the ciples of my work with scenic creations. unity of dancers and singers, which were part of the content of a drama performance.“ Stephan Lutermann trained as organist and conductor, and travelled the world as solist and The long-term experience of scenic choreo- conductor, gathering many prices. He is the graphic work with different choirs showed that condutor of the chamber choir “Vokalconsort singing or experiencing music is always con- Osnabrück” and founded the European choir “CHOREOS”. nected to a primal impulse to movement.

In my approach I’m not interested in creating pictures for the music – I would like to enhance the uncompromising sound to another level of perception. It is to heighten and amplify

Watch online: bit.ly/sotb_sl

Timur Tomsons More audience for classical music!

Audience development became the crucial question for the classical music world. Every manager is dreaming about the sold -out concert halls with diverse audience.

Why do we think that classical music is dying and why it is so important to have the young people in the concerts?

Working in the classical music business I noticed that audience de-

velopment question became one of the most crucial topics in the industry. Ageing audience as well as lack of interest for traditional concert forms from younger people indicated that concrete actions should be made.

My speech provides examples on different methods how to work with repertoire and concert form that integrate younger audience in the classical music concerts. These suggestions could help

European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

to diversify your audience and to show that harmonic Orchestra, Polish Baltic Philharmonic, classical music is cool!

Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Latvian Radio Timurs Tomsons Choir.

For the previous four years Timurs Tomsons In April 2017 he was invited to lead the new was working as Executive Director of the State build acoustic concert hall Great Amber in LatChamber Orchestra Sinfonietta Rīga. Grammy vian city Liepāja.

Award winner orchestra in 2014, it performs in Additionally Timurs Tomsons has been a guest Latvia and in the most prestigious concert halls lecturer at the Alberta College and the Latvian in Germany, Hungary, Sweden, Netherlands, Academy of Culture. His professional interest is based on new audience development quesRussia, Belarus and Ukraine.

Since 2015 Timurs has been working every year tions in academic music. on the production of the Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm, promoted by Esa-Pekka Salonen www.lielaisdzintars.lv 27.07. - 05.08. 2018 in Tallinn, Estonia and Valery Gergiev. Through his work there as Project Manager he has produced concerts with Watch online: bit.ly/sotb_tt the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Wroclaw festival Phil- for singers, The international choirs,

EUROPA CANTAT XX conductors and composers

THERE ARE A

WAYS TO SING

Jan Schumacher www.ectallinn2018.ee

EUROPA CANTAT, outside the box!

The EUROPA CANTAT festival will take place in Tallinn in summer 2018. 1 The music commission developped a programme that includes many opportunities to “sing outside the box” and to learn how to do so.

Jan Schumacher, chair of the music commission of the European Choral Association - Europa Cantat presented how the “outside the box” elements were translated into the ateliers for choirs and singers, the programme for conductors, open singing, as well as performances and venues used.

See also page 24. www.ectallinn2018.ee

Watch online: bit.ly/sotb_js

European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

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Saturday 7 October - 16:45 > 17:45 3 parallel sessions to choose from!

Panda van Proosdij Choireography

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There are times when you really need a useful formation other than a choir formation to support a musical piece. Or movements that can create better dynamics.

Panda showed us how you can make a difference as a conductor by using the body. Panda handed us all kinds of tools that can be used right away.

A singer doesn’t have to dance but (s)he could benefit al lot from being aware of the body and using it to support the vocal instrument.

We learned about how to use physicality while conducting and how to teach singers to use theirs. Besides that, Panda demonstrated how a simple movement or formation can help a piece in order to make music together. www.pandavanproosdij.nl

Read more about Panda and her work on page 22

Sonja Greiner & Raul Talmar Audience development in Choral Context A project like “sing outside the box” aims at developing audiences in the choral sector. But, of course, we are not the first to try and innovate with new formats, repertoires and relations with the audience.

Along with general ideas about ways to gain new active and passive audiences, they presented some of the many experimentations, successful or not, that conductors, composers or organisers have led across Europe in the last decades.

Sonja Greiner is the Secretary General of the European Choral Association - Europa Cantat Raul Talmar is conductor and the president of the Estonian Choral Association

Watch online: bit.ly/sotb_sg European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

Round Table: Get Out of Your Box Bridges between genres?

Through a round table, we discussed what brings us together, how singers, conductors and managers can cooperate and exchange across the genres.

The round table gathered practitionners covering the fields of conducting, voice training, organisation and education.

Watch online: bit.ly/sotb_rt With the participation of: Susan Monks Vocal Tutor & Associate Lecturer University of Chichester, President 2017-2021 European Voice Teachers Association (UK) Stephan Lutermann Choreos (DE) Masis Aram Gözbek Boğaziçi Jazz Choir (TU) Virginie Scherrens 4ecluses, pop concert venue (FR) Aarne Saluveer Estonian TV Girls’ Choir (EE) Moderator: Jeroen Schrijner (CH)

European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

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Children’s Music Studio of Estonian Radio Concert | Friday 6 October

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The choir surprised conference participants in a restaurant instead of a concert hall, with small “outside the box” appetizers.

The Children’s Music Studio of Estonian Radio (founded in 1955) has 3 choirs: preparatory choir, children’s choir and girls’ choir, all working with Kadri Hunt (chief conductor and artistic director), Kaie Tanner (conductor), Anu Aimla (vocal coach) and Märt Agu (dance teacher).

One of the main tasks for the Estonian Radio choirs is recording children’s and youth music by Estonian composers. By today we have released 15 CDs, the latest one is the CD „Songs of Childhood“ with children’s songs by Arvo Pärt, which won a Golden Award as the best selling CD in Estonia in 2016.

The Estonian Radio Children’s Choir has toured both in Estonia and abroad: Finland, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Sweden and USA. Since 2007 they have participated in all Estonian Song Celebrations. The Children’s choir has given several concerts in co-operation with professional concert agencies and festival organisers, such as Eesti Kontsert, Viru Folk and Jazzkaar; and they regularly record for Estonian Television and Estonian Radio.

The most significant highlights of the Children’s Choir of Estonian Radio during the past years: • Participation in the 1st European School Choirs’ Festival „L’Europe de mes rêves“ (France) 2017 • Concerts in Schumannfest in Bonn and Königswinter (Germany) in 2016 • Highest result – diploma with 3 gold stamps in Tampere International Choir Festival 2015 • Gold medal and 3rd placement in young children’s choirs’ category in World Choir Games in Riga 2014 The repertoire of the Estonian Radio Children’s Choir ranges from medieval music to contemporary works, folk programs with choreography and pop-jazz music.

European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

Collegium Musicale Chamber Choir Concert | Saturday 7 October The choir shared emotions where decisions were usually made, in the historical Town Hall building, in the heart of the old town of Tallinn (UNSECO heritage site).

The Estonian chamber choir Collegium Musicale was founded by conductor Endrik Üksvärav in October 2010. The repertoire extends from renaissance to contemporary music, with a special focus on Estonian composers: Arvo Pärt, Veljo Tormis, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Helena Tulve, Tõnu Kõrvits, Mirjam Tally, Pärt Uusberg, etc. The aim is to offer high level musical emotions and be the ambassadors of Estonian music.

The choir has co-operated with different orchestras and ensembles: Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Tallinn Baroque Orchestra, Corelli Consort, Klaaspärlimäng Sinfonietta, string quartet Prezioso etc and conductors including Tõnu Kaljuste, Andres Mustonen, Kaspars Putninš (LT), Aapo Häkkinen (FIN), Simon Carrington (UK), Jos van Veldhoven (NL), Darrel Ang (Singapur/FRA), Mihhail Gerts, Toomas Vavilov.

Collegium Musicale has had concert tours in Italy (Rome, Arezzo, Gorizia etc), France, Russia, Finland, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Malta and Japan. In Japan Estonian composers Erkki-Sven Tüür and Arvo Pärt participated in the choir’s concert in Tokyo.

Highlights of 2017: • Choral works of Estonian-Swedish composer Mirjam Tally – concert in Tallinn • Tour to Israel, incl Erkki-Sven Tüür “Missa brevis” Israel’s premiere • Lera Auerbach “72 Angels” with Rascher Saxophone Quartett – Estonian premier, concerts in Tartu and in Tallinn • Concert in Amsterdam – Estonian contemporary choral music • Concerts in Germany • Tour to Finland – Veljo Tormis “Forgotten Peoples” www.collegiummusicale.ee

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EuroChoir 2017 Background reading | A special edition

20 A EuroChoir “outside the box” The EuroChoir2017 was part of the “sing outside the box” project. So this edition was a bit “outside” the usual EuroChoir model, with some experimentation along the whole event!

This edition took place in the Netherlands, and was not only about singing, but also about finding new and attractive ways to prepare and present the repertoire.

Lorenzo Donati (Italy), conductor of the EuroChoir 2016 as well, and Maria van Nieukerken (Netherlands), who will also be one of the conductors of the EuroChoir 2018, both prepared a challenging repertoire for the participants.

Maria invited Nick Fleuren, a choreographer and dancer she has been working with before on an opera, as well as a light technician from ZIMIHC. Both conductors and these two specialists from other fields worked with the 45 participants to prepare a full programme, to be performed along three concerts and pop-up concerts in parks and city centers.

EuroChoir 2017 in Figures 45 singers 19 countries 3 concerts (Amsterdam, Antwerpen, Utrecht) European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

Outside the box means extra work!

To add elements like light and movement, it was necessary to have extra rehearsals in the evenings. And concert venues needed to be adjusted and stages, props and lights needed to be hired.

The singers had a very tight rehearsal schedule and therefore a minimum of spare time. But as a bonus for their hard work, they were all invited to a concert by the Netherlands Chamber Choir and even managed to sing together with them after the concert.

ZIMIHC organized the first part of the project in the training centre Akoesticum where the singers rehearsed, slept and ate and spent all their time together. Only when the first concert was coming up did the group move to Utrecht to stay in the city centre.

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Extra work means happy audiences!

Based on a survey, ZIMIHC knew most of the singers were not used to work with movement and light. This new approach, and the tight schedule took them “outside the box”, out of their “comfort zone”. But in the end, the singers were very positive about the outcome.

The audience loved the concerts, especially the combination of choreography and light with the very high level of the singers and the choice of the repertoire. ZIMIHC is looking back on a very positive project and will share the outcome with future organisers.

Martine Spanjers ZIMIHC

European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

Watch online: bit.ly/eurochoir2017

The point of view of a dancer Background reading | Panda van Proosdij

22 See also Panda’s session on Saturday, see page 16 Panda van Proosdij (NL) studied at the Rotterdam Dance Academy in the Netherlands and followed various theatre courses for example in Azzano (Italy), Wiesbaden (Germany) and New York. She has been a teacher at Codarts, Music Theatre in Rotterdam and works with The Netherlands Children Choir and The Netherlands Female Youth Choir as movement coach and director.

Panda has been working on a method / philosophy: “Voice & Physique” for ten years now. This method is about supporting the voice by creating a good physical awareness and a way to let movement contribute to the quality of singing. She gives workshops and masterclasses ‘Voice & Physique’ all over the world and creates choireography for different choirs and their events. In April 2014 her book ‘Voice & Physique’ has been published.

In 2014 she created the winning programmme of the Aarhus Pigekor during ‘The World Choir Games’ in Riga and in 2015 this choir won the Silver Rose Bowl of ‘Let the Peoples Sing’ in Munich, Germany.

As an atelier leader Panda has worked for different European festivals: EUROPA CANTAT, Europa Cantat Junior, AMJ Eurotreff, Leipziger Symposium für Kinder – und Jugendstimmen, FCEC, Choralies, etc.

Panda directs musicals, light opera and music theatre performances. She started her own theatre company PANDORA werktheater in 2016 in Amsterdam.

In 2014 she won an award for ‘Best Director’ and in 2016 for ‘Best Choreography’.

Are you a singer that became a professional dancer or a dancer that fell in love with choral singing?

I started as a dancer when I was five years old.

Later on I went to the Dance Academy in Rotterdam, and this was my education. At the same time I developed singing, but in private lessons, so I was always interested in the voice instrument in combination with the body.

were improvements to make regarding focus, concentration and energy. That’s why I decided to create excercises to improve the level of these three elements. This was one part, but the other was making stagings for choirs with movements. Actually it looks like dancing, but I choose the movements very carefully, because if they don’t support singing there is no reason to add them. Some choirs choose movements that don’t help musicality or vocality. What I try Then you started to think about a specific to do is to let there be movement and somemethod. times dance, but it has always to support the I started ten years ago, because I was working voice. with choirs and in opera, and I saw that there

European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

Is it possible to dance to every kind of music?

You have sometimes chosen also music that doesn’t seem suitable for dancing?

Of course. Within the method I also work on an active basic posture. If you are in a classical choir and you are standing on your two feet there’s a lot to learn about how to carry the body under the voice instrument. Or for instance when we sing a classical piece, I can add movement to make the wave of the legato, and then we do that for several rehearsals: at the concert I take it away, but the muscles still remember this movement. So the legato stays in the singing and in the body even though the singers are standing still while performing.

This experience could be very fascinating; don’t you think that this could make young people move away from traditional choirs?

I think the best you can do as a choir is to develop diversity, not only with movement or only standing still, but from both worlds. Kids learn new information very quickly. They can achieve incredible things in a few days, for example during an atelier: with them I act like it’s very simple, but it’s not! They just do it, and that’s wonderful, because then comes the fire, the passion, the performance! I sometimes see performances that are technically great, but if it’s not from the heart, what are we doing on the stage then? That’s what I try to teach them as well: what are you singing about, and what do we want to bring to the audience?

This means that through movement they get more involved in music?

Yes, I think so. Especially teenagers: they want to close the body, they put their hair down and close everything they can, because they are shy and they don’t want to show their new shapes.

I try to get them away from this feeling and let them be proud of themselves, more confident.

I really think that if children perform in music, theatre or sports during their teenage years,

that’s the best way to survive this period of time, because they receive great feelings from achieving things together as a group and as an individual. They feel on the top of the moon!

Movement make them also more lively during the rehearsals. How do you get the attention you need?

I teach them different basic, fundamental tools.

One of them is that I need them to have an energy level which is “five to six” on a scale from zero to ten. First, I show them the meaning of 5-6, and I ask them to reach this level. I’m always amazed they can do this. But the first thing to do is always to have a good warm-up. I always start with a physical warm-up, because I really

believe that if the body is warm, the voice instrument is warm, and then you only need a few vocal exercises to get ready!

Rossana Paliaga

This article was first published in the edition 3/2016 of the European Choral Magazine Photos: Solveig van Wijngaarden

European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

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EUROPA CANTAT 2018 - Tallinn - Estonia The festival EUROPA CANTAT, initiated by the European Choral Association - Europa Cantat and held every three years, is the central meeting point of the choral world.

The festival first began in 1961 in Passau, Germany and now has been held in 18 different cities around Europe – and is going for the first time in Tallinn, Estonia.

This unique festival brings together more than 4000 singers, conductors, composers and choral managers from Europe and beyond for 10 days of singing delight.

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The festival offers you the chance to: • attend different workshops for choirs and singers, with a duration of 4 to 8 days • sing and hear all vocal genres: classical, folk, jazz, musical, opera and vocal pop • discover rare jewels of choral music • work together with leading conductors • sing at beginner’s, average or advanced level • join the special conductors’ and composers’ program • join our special “training-on-the-job” programme for young managers, the Young Event Management Programme YEMP • take part in the daily ‘Open Singing’ with all participants and visitors • join a workshop while your children are entertained • discover the unique cultural heritage of Tallinn and Estonia • get to know other choirs and singers from many different countries!

The Conductors’ and Composers’ Programme offers warm-ups, seminars, reading sessions, workshops, lectures, round-table discussions and a composers’ showcase.

Open Singing is a singing event where EVERYBODY is invited to sing. The repertoire is international, in different styles and languages.

YEMP (Young Event Management Programme) YEMP is open for young managers aged 18 to 30, who are motivated to learn and to develop their skills in international event management and who can communicate in English.

The young YEMPers, fully included in the organising team, will be testing themselves with roles of responsibility in the various offices of the festival, under the guidance of two coaches.

EUROPA CANTAT is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and a festival for everyone!

Register before 31/12/2017 on www.ectallinn2018.ee

European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

2018: The European Year of Cultural Heritage

Co-funded Creative Eu of the Euro

At the initiative of the European Commission, 2018 has been designate European Year of Cultural Heritage.

The European Cultural Heritage Year will focus on what we share and what unites us. Where do we recognize our European heritage in our cities, towns and cultural landscapes? What unites us?

What do we want to change? We want to increase awareness of our rich heritage and inspire a desire to preserve it. Let us discover our shared roots, let us see our surroundings with new eyes, let us tell each other our stories!

Cultural Heritage can easily be perceived in objects and buildings, but also encompasses intangible heritage, shared cultural contents that carry stories and history. Music is an important vector for such intangible heritage.

Cultural Heritage in the EUROPA CANTAT festival 2018 The Baltic song and dance celebrations were inscribed in 2008 on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Participants of the EUROPA CANTAT festival will of course be immersed in the Estonian love for collective singing. By participating to the Atelier “happy Birthday, Estonia!”, they can also learn classics from the Estonian song celebration repertoire, and even perform in the legendary shell stage of the celebration grounds! Another atelier will focus on “forgotten peoples and languages”, keeping alive the rich heritage of cultures and languages that are on the verge of extinction.

The Estonian presidency of the EU As of July 2017, Estonia will hold its first presidency of the Council of the European Union. This means that Estonia will be responsible for defining the Council’s positions while considering the interests of all member states and remaining neutral at the same time. During its Presidency, Estonia will be responsible for organising and chairing meetings and working groups on all levels. It is the Presidency’s task to represent the Council and defend the agreements reached in negotiations with the European Commission and the Parliament. Therefore, the member state holding the presidency has a great opportunity during this 6-month period to steer discussions in the EU. Four priorities 1. An open and innovative European economy 2. A safe and secure Europe 3. A digital Europe and the free movement of data 4. An inclusive and sustainable Europe www.eu2017.ee

European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

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Friday 6 October - 9:30 > 12:30 Membership day: thematic discussions

26 For the third year, the members of the association gathered to discuss the activities, projects and future development of their association, and to provide a structured feedback to the general assembly and the Board.

This year’s discussions were centered around the needs and visions of the participants, in order to make sure that our activity plan becomes more and more relevant to the sector.

The themes discussed in 2017 Peer to peer cooperation Understanding the expectations, experience (positive and negative) and needs of the membership in regards to cooperation - and moving toward more peer-to-peer cooperation and less “topdown� cooperation (see page 30 for the Staff exchange programme 2018) Involving choral professionals How can the association better address the needs of all the profesionals involved in the choral field?

Training for organisations What are the needs of our member organisations in terms of training? How can we join forces and offer relevant staff training at the European level? (see page 31 for the training offer 2018) A european event for choral conductors Exploring possible contents, formats, and organisational models to create a european event specifficaly targetting choral conductors.

European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

Friday 6 October - 13:30 > 15:30 Membership day: Project presentations

27 Interresting projects were presented in short and entertaining 5 minutes slots, providing with the main information and a chance to meet later during the week-end to discuss further about possible cooperations.

Here are short overviews of the project presented with links for further information.

Setting an example: manifesto for choral music Daphne Wassink (NL) The Foundation or Re-establishment of the Serbian Choral Association Tamara Adamov Petijevic (RS) | bit.ly/ecaec_md_sca Accessible scores Kjetil Aaman (NO) | bit.ly/ecaec_md_ka The Baltic Song Festivals - Intangible Cultural Heritage Aarne Saluveer (EE) Officina Corale del Futuro Marco Fornasier (IT) | bit.ly/ecaec_md_mf An Island Sings: An Irish community choirs project Dermot O´Callaghan (IE) “Üks Koorilaul” (A Choral Song) Raul Talmar and Kristiina Randoja (EE) | bit.ly/ecaec_md_rt Singing Roadshow - European mobile vocal academy Stéphane Grosclaude (FR) | bit.ly/ecaec_md_sg New Carmina Anneliese Zeh (AT)

European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

The European Choral Association - Europa Cantat 2017 > 2021 | Upgrade, Connect, Reach out

The European Choral Association – Europa Cantat is a network of organisations, choirs and individuals in the field of collective singing in Europe. Through its membership, it directly represents more than 2,5 million singers, conductors, composers and managers in over 40 European countries, and reaches out to more than 37 million people in continental Europe active in the field of collective singing.

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A vision and a strategy The vision of the European Choral Association – Europa Cantat is to be the leading pan-European non-profit organisation dedicated to education and cultural exchange in the field of collective singing, among singers, conductors, composers and managers of all ages, with a focus on children and young people.

Since 1955, our aims are to foster cooperation and mutual understanding between cultures, nations and individuals across social and political borders, to promote collective singing as tool for education and for community building and to represent the interests of the singing community.

In 2013 the members of the association approved a strategy for the years 2014 to 2017 under the title “Benefit from the singing community!” with 5 main strategic objectives: 1. Strengthen the Network 2. Facilitate Peer-to-Peer Approach 3. Invest in Capacity-Building and Training 4. Reach Out 5. Raise Awareness

www.EuropeanChoralAssociation.org

European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

A four year project: “Upgrade, Connect, Reach out” This strategy is being implemented and developed further with the project “Upgrade – Connect – Reach out: Raising Awareness for Collective Singing in Europe”, funded by the European Union with up to one million EUR over four years (09/2017 to 08/2021).

Developed in tight cooperation with the membership, the project aims at strengthening the network and its members, connect to and cooperate with other players in the field of Collective Singing and beyond, reach out to people who do not sing (yet) and promote the value of European cooperation.

UPGRADE The project aims at developing and strengthening the network, offering capacity building for conductors, composers, singers and staff to help them internationalize their careers. The association will develop new (digital) tools for conductors and managers, help national organisations to internationalize their activities, with the aim of diversifying the countries involved.

The communication tools and methods of the network will be developed to reach out to a wider audience.

CONNECT ECA-EC is aiming to cooperate with other players in the sector of Collective Singing, involving more (professional) individuals, cooperating with specialized organisations and enlarging the geographical scope of the network.

We will foster inclusive activities (cross-generational, cross-genre, trans-cultural, etc.), implement cooperation strategies to reach far beyond the current network and further connect the amazing diversity of collective singing practices.

collective singing sector

REACH OUT collective singing sector

outside the sector

Finally, the association wishes to reach out beyond the sector, encouraging cross-sectorial cooperation including cooperation with other European networks, reaching out to people who are not singing (yet), collecting research on the benefits of Collective Singing and promoting these benefits.

Over these four years, the focus of the association will be to build a resilient and sustainable model for the future of the network.

Co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

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Offers 2018: Staff Exchange Programme Choral and conductor´s organisation can send an interested staff or Board/ Youth Committee members to another organisation and/or hosts a staff or Board member from another organisation. This programme offers participants the chance to spend some days learning from each other, sharing experiences, and getting an insight into a foreign (working) culture.

What are the benefits of a staff exchange?

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SHARE&LEARN The person you are sending or you will host will bring a lot of new ideas with them about project and office management that might help the further development of your own organisation.

REACH OUT make known the work of your organisation to the host and in its city, region and country. Use the opportunity to present as many of your activities as possible.

JOIN FORCES The host organisation might have a similar political agenda to yours. Why not create a joint action? Your host might have different contacts on the political and cultural level, which may be useful to you.

COOPERATE You are developing a cooperation project and looking for partners? This is the perfect opportunity to get to seek partners for your activities. Are you organising an event with another choral organisation member of ECA-EC? This might be the occasion to visit each other offices and work off-line for a week. Think also about inspiring events and activities that our members are organising, you could use this opportunity to observe the preparatory work or get involved during the event!

MOTIVATE Travelling and getting an insight into other working structures is always a great personal experience. The person you send will come back with a lot of new inspiration.

Conditions Who can participate? Staff, Board member or youth committee members of ECA-EC member organisations only What costs are involved? Travel up to 400â‚Ź, accommodation and meals will be covered by ECAEC for the whole stay.

How long is the exchange period? The two parts can decide about the exchange period up to a week.

Do exchanges need to be reciprocal? No. While the exchange may be reciprocal, you may also send without hosting or host without sending.

More information on: www.europeanchoralassociation.org/our-activities/staff-exchange-programme/

Co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

Offers 2018: Workshop on Digital Communication 26-27 April 2018 | Bonn, Germany for managers and staff of organisations (maximum 18 participants)

Programme: • • • • • • • •

What is Communication Tell The Story - Branding Online The Need For Strategy: Building a Communications Plan Event communication Introduction to Social Media Platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn) Focus on how to maximise them Internal communication Session about videos

Trainers: Alan Kelly | Board member at AOIC [Association of Irish Choirs] With over 20 years experience in the choral sphere, Alan holds a senior management position with a national sporting organisation. His expertise lies in the area of communications, media management and social media. He is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin, DIT Conservatory of Music & Drama and the Irish Academy of Public Relations. In 2015 he made his debut as a radio producer and presenter on Dublin City FM hosting Choralscape, a dedicated choral music show. He is currently musical director of Millicent Singers (Clane) and Carlow Voices.

Stefano Zucchiatti | Communication Manager at Jazz Europe Network He has a substantial experience in communication at the international level for non-profit organizations and networks. His main areas of expertise are brand management, digital communications and social media, events management and press relations.

He studied Communication Sciences at the Padova University and has a Master in Communication for International Relations.

Conditions Working language English Participation fee (covering training plus 3 nights in a twin room and meals) • General audience: 300€ • ECA-EC member organisations: 30€ to 50€ (depending on Country group). Possibility to apply for a travel grant.

More information: www.europeanchoralassociation.org/our-activities/workshops/

Co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union European Choral Association - Europa Cantat - Conference 2017

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Next Conference and General Assembly 15 to 18 November 2018 Uรงhisar | Cappadocia Region | Turkey