12.24 Choral TIES enters its second year! Read the press release

12.24 Meeting of European & International Youth Committees

The Youth Committees of the European Choral Association and the International Federation for Choral Music met together in Istanbul on 23–24 November 2024.
Aiming to create international connections and exchange at youth level in the collective singing field, Choral TIES provided the opportunity for the two youth committees to engage in fruitful discussions on topics such as gender equity, diversity, inclusion, and environmental sustainability. Read more here!

06.24 Choral TIES second project meeting in Zagreb

12.23 Choral TIES first project meeting in Frankfurt

YEMP 6 (Young Event Management Programme) at Leading Voices – Application open until 15 January 2025

Are you young? Do you want to experience next year’s Leading Voices event as a member of the organisational team? Do you want to get international experience in the field of event organisation?

YEMP = Young Event Management Programme is designed to provide young and talented choral organisers with a unique training-on-the-job opportunity. It unites an intense course and work-based learning, all within Leading Voices 2025. Learn from the best and become one of the lucky enthusiasts who will join the colourful international team. The young YEMPers, fully included in the organising team, will be testing themselves with roles in the various offices of the event, under the guidance of two mentors. Financial conditions are simple: The selected young managers do not need to pay a participation fee, and food and accommodation in Tallinn will be covered. The travel expenses cannot be refunded and have to be covered individually.

Deadline for applications: 15 January 2025
Contact Email: info@leadingvoices.ee

Call for the third YOUNG programme – Application open until 31 January 2025

Are you between 18 and 35 years old?
Do you want to be part of the organizing team of the 45th International Congress of Pueri Cantores in Munich, Germany (16-20 July 2025)?

After the great success of the two previous YOUNG programs (at the 2022 World Choral EXPO in Lisbon and at the 2023 World Symposium on Choral Music in İstanbul), we are pleased to announce the call for the third YOUNG program! In the frame of the EU-funded project Choral TIES and in collaboration with the International Federation for Choral Music IFCM, we are launching a call for young international cultural managers to be part of the Pueri Cantores 2025 team and to broaden their experience and skills while working closely with the organizing team. Watch this video to know more!

Deadline for applications 31 January 2025
All info here

Conductors Beyond Borders Peer-to-Peer Exchange Programme
Financial support to facilitate the internationalisation of careers

The “Conductors Beyond Borders Peer-to-Peer exchange programme” provides limited financial support in the form of a grant to cover the international travel expenses. The programme, part of the Choral TIES project coordinated by the European Choral Association and co-funded by the EU, will be organised in cooperation with the International Federation for Choral Music.

The programme foresees three possible options:

• A European conductor may be invited by a choir from a different continent to work on a specific programme for a specific period.
• A conductor from the European Union may be invited by a choir outside the European Union to work on a specific programme for a specific period.
• A conductor from the European Union may invite a conductor from outside the European Union (in Europe or from another continent) to work on a specific programme for a specific period.

This programme is designed to facilitate the internationalisation of careers.

Read the guidelines here
Apply through this form: https://bit.ly/Peer-to-Peer_CBB_Programme_Apply

UPCOMING EVENTS

Hybrid and physical trainings at Leading Voices 2025 | Tallin, Estonia – 6-10/07/2025 | Link to the website

PAST EVENTS

Study Tour to Georgia and/or Armenia | Tbilisi, Georgia & Yerevan, Armenia – 14-26/09/2024 | Link to the website

Seminar for Choral Conductors | Rijeka, Croatia – September 6-8, 2024 | Link to the website

Summer Course for Choral Conductors | Haapsalu, Estonia – August 12-15, 2024 | Link to the website

PAST WEBINARS

Webinar “Creating Choral Music: Talking about the Requirements of Choral Repertoire” | Watch it on YouTube!

The Webinar “Creating Choral Music: Talking about the Requirements of Choral Repertoire” will focus on the art of choral composition. Three well-known composers will share their ideas on how to create choral music for ensembles today, using their own compositions as illustrations. This Webinar is organised in cooperation with IFCM in the framework of the Choral TIES project co-funded by the EU. To develop this theme, IFCM invited composers from different regions of the world:
• Marie Herrington (USA), Ukrainian-American soprano, composer, and conductor
• Jaakko Mäntyjärvi (Finland), professional freelance translator and composer as well as an amateur/semi-professional choral singer and conductor
• Eva Ugalde (Basque Country, Spain), composer

Webinar “Choose your repertoire wisely” | April 16, 2024 | Watch it on YouTube!

Are you looking for new repertoire ideas, struggling with building the perfect programme for all occasions, or singing with migrants? Discover Musica International choral repertoire database and the Sing Me In repertoire booklet, and get inspired by our speakers. At first, Burak Onur Erdem (TR), principal conductor and artistic director of the Turkish State Choir, guides us through the essential aspects of effective programming, developing, and building the choral repertoire and choosing appropriate program for competitions. In the second part we learn about the online library of one of the world’s richest database of choral repertoire – Musica International – with Pierre-Luc Pfrimmer (FR). To conclude, Alba Roorda Martinez (NL/ES) and Joana Costa (PT), members of the European Choral Association Youth Committee, introduces us to the revised songbook of “Sing me in”, an inspiring project aiming to support the integration of young migrants into the community through collective singing. The project concluded successfully in 2018. However, since then, the world has seen shifts in immigration patterns. To adapt to these changes, the Youth Committee has decided to revisit the project and update the Repertoire Guide with the songs from the countries of immigrants’ origin.

Seminar “Choirs after covid – recover, rebuild, renew” at the Haapsalu Summer Course | August 13, 2024 | Watch it on YouTube!

On August 13th, 2024, our board member Daphne Wassink from the Netherlands presented a lecture titled “Choirs after COVID – Recover, Rebuild, Renew” during the Choral Conductors’ Summer Course in Haapsalu, Estonia. The lecture was available both in person and online, allowing participants to engage in discussions and ask questions. This session was a key moment in the course, focusing on the challenges and opportunities for choirs in the post-pandemic era. This activity is hosted by Estonian Choral Association, as part of the ChoralTIES project co-funded by the EU.

WORLD´S FIRST CONDUCTING APP AND NEW CHORAL CONDUCTING BOOK BY CARUS VERLAG 

A clear conducting technique, the ability to lead lively rehearsals and a sound knowledge of vocal training are all essential attributes for any successful choral conductor.

Carus – one of the Choral ties’ project partner – developed the ideal toolkit for all aspiring choral conductors. This new practice aids for choir conducting include a handbook together with a practical manual written by conductors Anne Kohler, Jan Schumacher and Klaus Brecht, plus the world’s very first conducting app Conductor’s Coach.

The practice aids enable students of choral conducting – in fact, any conductors, music teachers or interested amateur choral conductors – to develop their conducting techniques and working methods, resulting in confident performances in front of every choir! (App and handbook available in German; English versions in preparation).

Check it out here