May 26, 2015—The UO Chamber Choir has placed second in the 14th Marktoberdorf International Chamber Choir Competition, a major European choral music festival. The choir also received recognition for best interpretation of the compulsory work sung by all participating choirs, Ergebung by Hugo Wolf (beating out two German choirs on this German-language piece).
The winning ensemble, Gracias Choir, hails from Seoul, South Korea.
The UO Chamber Choir, the most select ensemble in the university’s seven-choir choral arts program, is one of just ten choirs selected from around the world to participate in the festival, and one of only two from the U.S. The choir participated in two days of competition rounds on May 23 and 24, with the results announced today.
The seven-member jury ranked just three of the fifteen choirs at Achievement Level 1 (excellent performance at an international level), the UO Chamber Choir among them.
Now that the competition portion of the festival is done, the UO’s singing Ducks will not have much of a break. From Wednesday through May 31, the Chamber Choir will serve as the rehearsal choir for a choral conducting master class series offered by the Bavarian Music Academy. The UO Chamber Choir was the only participating ensemble selected for the honor.
The choir is directed by Sharon J. Paul, professor of music and head of the UO’s Vocal and Choral Studies area. Paul was recently recognized with a 2014-15 UO Fund for Faculty Excellence award.
Fans have followed the Chamber Choir’s travels—and can continue to follow them during the rehearsal choir week—by searching for #UOChoirTour2015 on Twitter and Instagram, and by following the UO School of Music and Dance on Facebook.