• July 4^th – Arrival day (Varna, Bulgaria)
• July 5^th – July 11^th – rehearsal period in Varna
• July 8^th or July 9^th – excursion to Balchik
• July 12^th – concert in Varna, part of the Varna Summer Festival
• July 13^th – trip to Sozopol and concert, part of the Solinaria Youth Festival
• July 14^th – free day in Sozopol; trip to Sofia in the late evening with the night train
• July 16^th – concert in Sofia, part of the Sofia Music Weeks Festival
• July 17^th – goodbye time and leaving

*the programme may be subject to changes.

After careful considerations of all the 94 applications we received from 32 countries, we are beyond happy to announce the selected participants of the EuroChoir 2024!

The ensemble will feature 40 singers hailing from 19 different countries.

The selection process was undertaken by an international committee including:
– Donka Miteva and Marco Amherd, as the EuroChoir´s conductors
– Xavier Devillers, as representative of the European Choral Association
– Gancho Ganchev, as representative of the Bulgarian Choral Union

LIST OF SELECTED SINGERS

Soprano 1:
Alissa Neff – Switzerland
Ieva Zvejniece – Latvia
Katharina Hünger – Germany
Lieke Maier – The Netherlands
Samanta Bernāte – Dzene – Latvia

Sing with our excellent conductors

MARCO AMHERD studied conducting, organ and economics in Zurich, Freiburg im Breisgau and Toulouse. He is the Artistic Director of the Davos Festival and the Schweizer Vokalconsort and conducts several ensembles in the Zurich region. In 2024, he will collaborate with the Zurich Opera, the Freiburger Barockorchester and the Zürcher Singakademie. 

His repertoire focuses on the vocal and organ music of Bach, Schütz and Reger as well as compositions of the 20th and 21st centuries. Marco Amherd has won prizes at numerous international competitions (including the Bach Competition Wiesbaden, Silbermann Competition Freiberg, Kurt Bossler Competition Freiburg, and the Mendelssohn Competition Aarau). From 2016 to 2018, he held a scholarship at the German Music Council’s Conducting Forum.

Linking music, literature and socially relevant topics is particularly close to Marco Amherd’s heart. His concert programmes thus always follow a common thread, telling dramatic, humorous and at times serious stories.

DONKA MITEVA studied choral conducting at the State Academy of Music in Sofia and orchestra conducting at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf. She worked with numerous ensembles in Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Portugal, South Africa, Panama, China a.o.

Donka was awarded the 1st Prize at the 7th Int. Competition for young conductors in St. Petersburg and the 3rd Prize at the 5th Int. Conducting Competition Jeunesse Musicales in Bucharest.

2007-2011 she was a conductor and choir director at the State Opera in Münster, Germany and in 2011 she was appointed Artistic Director and Conductor of Collegium Musicum Berlin.

She also teaches Conducting since 2019 at the University of Arts in Berlin. Donka has made it her mission to offer guidance and support to young choral and orchestra conductors, offering them opportunities to work with the Collegium Musicum Berlin Ensembles on a regular basis.

Donka is a sought-after clinician, adjudicator and workshop leader at many prestigious international events such as the World Choir Games, European Choir Games, Grand Prix of Nations and is also a member of the World Choir Council.

As a singer Donka was a member of the European Youth Choir, the World Youth Choir and the European Chamber Choir and is very excited to be one of the conductors for the 2024 EuroChoir Project that will be hosted by her home country Bulgaria in July 2024.

Who can apply?

• Young singers between 18 and 30 years old (singers over 30 are still able to apply, but priority will be given to younger candidates)
• Good sight readers ready to prepare scores in advance
• English will be the working language.

Applications for the EuroChoir 2024 end on 18 February 2024! 

How to apply?

Here is your application form!

Keep in mind that you need a google account to fill in the form. Please fill in your personal information as well as submit the additional files required until 18 February 2024.

The audition for 2024’s session consists of:

• an audio recording (a capella) of the bars 1-24 for the Soprano, Alto, Tenor and for the Bass until bar 33 (with dynamics) of Johannes Brahms’s “Warum ist das Licht gegeben dem Mühseligen” [Score available here]
• an audio recording of a solo song (Lied / art song or folk song) of your choice. The song has to be no more than 2-3 minutes long. It can be sung a capella or with accompaniment
• an audio recording (a capella) of the following warm up exercise (your singing range), starting from suitable key for the voice:
  

• a photo
• [optional] letters of recommendation by your organisation(s)
• [optional] letters of recommendation by conductor(s) or teacher(s)

Please clearly name your files with LastName_FirstName_filecontent (ex: Miteva_Donka_Brahms.mp3)

Every applicant will receive an email letting them know if they have received a place in Eurochoir 2024.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to eurochoirbulgaria@gmail.com.

Tuition fees (per person and country)

* Indirect members are members of member organisations of the European Choral Association in categories A1 and A2 (see here) or members of the Friends of the European Choral Association. The full list of country groups is found right here. In case of doubt which group your country belongs to, please contact us.

The fee includes all the activities, accommodation, travel costs during the session and meals. Scores will be an additional cost, but will be subsided and singers will keep the scores post-course.

Payment Instructions

When your application is approved (after 1 April 2024), you will receive an email with further instructions on paying your tuition fee.

We are very happy for your interest in applying for the EuroChoir 2024 session!

We appreciate your understanding that many details will only be firmed up nearer to the time of the session, and in the meantime, we hope this FAQ will help.

For any further questions, please contact the EuroChoir 2024 session organisers: eurochoirbulgaria@gmail.com

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to eurochoirbulgaria@gmail.com.