Romania was well represented at the 5th World Choir Games that took place in Graz, Austria this summer and brought home 1 gold medal and 5 silver medals:

• JUNIOR VIP Children Choir (from Cluj-Napoca), conducted by Anca-Mona Marias, won the silver medal at the “Children’s Choirs” category;
• SOUND Choir of Romania, conducted by Voicu Popescu, won the gold medal at the “Mixed Chamber Choirs” category and  the silver medal at the “Folklore” category;
• CONSONANCE Choir (from Bucharest), conducted by Lacramioara Pauliuc, won the silver medal at the “Mixed Youth Choirs” category and the silver medal at the “Musica Sacra – open category” category;
• CARMINA TENERA Choir (from Bucharest), conducted by Constantin Popescu, won the silver medal at the “Folklore  – open category” category ;

Romania was represented by 6 choirs and participated in 9 categories. The other 2 choirs that didn’t won any medal at this competition are the Corala Memorial choir and the Vlăstarele Orăştiei choir.

World Choir Games (former Choir Olympics) event is the largest choir competition worldwide and is organized for amateur choirs from all over the world, no matter which continent they come from or which musical genres are represented in their repertoires or which artistic ambitions they have.

The top 3 countries according to the number of won medals are: China – 37 medals (12 gold), Austria – 35 medals (8 gold) and Russia – 31 medals (5 gold). The choirs from South Africa won the most gold medals: 16. Congratulations! :)=-

This 5th edition of the World Choir Games had a record number of 441 choirs representing 93 countries form all over the world. The choirs had a jury of 71 musicians, performed in more than 600 representations and 28 specific categories.

The next World Choir Games will take place in Shaoxing, China, in July 15 – 26, 2010 and will be 6th edition of this competition. I’m sure that the best Romanian choirs will take part at this event and demonstrate once again that good music is highly valued in Romania.

Congratulations to all the Romanian choirs for their talent and the work & dedication they put  to participate at this competition. We know that “Participation is the highest honour“, but I am proud that our choirs brought home medals and a new enthusiasm for future competitions. Keep up the good work! |happy|

For more information visit www.musica-mundi.com

PS. Some YouTube delights:

JUNIOR VIP Children Choir

CONSONANCE Choir

SOUND Choir of Romania – Cimpoereasa (Gheorghe Danga)