Today has been a very busy and wonderful day. The choir met up at various breakfast times, and after enjoying another remarkable spread of food, they found small groups and headed out to shop, see a museum, or simply wander through the area.
We boarded our bus around noon to head back to the Sibelius Hall, where they had a very tasty lunch ready for us and all the other performing choirs. Now well fed, the choir had a final rehearsal before the first competition. Dr. Crane meticulously polished their four pieces for the first competition, then declared them ready.
Those of us not in the choir were able to hear two choirs before Singers; they were both very good, and the audience appreciated them. Singers then entered and performed:
Charles Wood: Hail, Gladdening Light
Einojuhani Rautavaara: Lähtö
Paolo Orlandi: Occhi di bragia
Ernesto Herrera: Salmo 150
They have rehearsed these pieces intensely the entire school year, and they gave a truly stunning performance of each piece. I don’t know how they could have improved anything. The audience loved the performance, and applauded enthusiastically throughout at the end.
No results have been announced yet, but the choir has been invited to perform another set at the Grand Prize Competition Sunday afternoon. That seems to bode well…
The choir members had a chance to sit in the concert hall and relax for a bit before our bus arrived, and were able to talk with some of the audience members, who are choir-music-lovers.
After finding a quick dinner and changing clothes, most of the choir walked over to a nearby beautiful church to hear a concert from an outstanding youth choir of high school age singers from Helsinki, who were spectacular. I am not sure I’ve ever heard that quality of music-making from that age group. The concert finished with an adult Swedish amateur choir. “Amateur” mostly means not paid—they were very good!
Tomorrow is a big day, so I’ll quit now. In case any of you would like to see the Program Book of the Lahti Nordic Voices Choir Festival, below is a link. It works better on a larger screen than your phone. https://tinyurl.com/5c454uwk