Singing, signing, dancing at the EJCF: a celebration of joy
The European Youth Choir Festival took place in Basel and the region for the 14th time. Over 60 children's and youth choirs from 13 countries received an enthusiastic response from an estimated 40,000 visitors.
After the megawatt volume of the Eurovision Song Contest had died down, Europe's youth, singing from around 2750 throats, transformed the Regio Basiliensis into a surging sea. The jointly intoned plea Dona nobis pacem could persuade the warmongering potentates to make peace.
The human voice is the most precious instrument. When the breath makes the vocal chords vibrate, when facial expressions and gestures support the message of the music and lyrics, then it hits the other person right in the heart. The days and nights of the European Youth Choir Festival (EJCF) were one big jubilant song and a celebration of solidarity between generations and nations on the Ascension weekend. Thanks to the immense commitment of festival director Kathrin Renggli and her volunteers, this youth choir biennial with 19 festival choirs and 45 guest choirs went perfectly on the stages indoors and outdoors in beautiful weather.
It began with a brilliant choral spectacle in the St. Jakobshalle, which was packed with prominent guests. The Basel Federal Councillor Beat Jans welcomed the young people and festival guests in English with a witty comparison between a Federal Council meeting and a choir rehearsal, both of which usually end harmoniously. The amateur drummer was spontaneously invited to give a sample of his skills. He beat the drumheads and hi-hats with sticks he had hastily brought in. This was followed by beat after beat of pieces sung by heart and performed in groups, such as the new composition for a thousand voices, controlled live on the mixing desk Mono by bassist James Varghese. The final song was the festival hit Music is Everywhere. This was followed by workshops, country focuses, studio concerts, choir directors' meetings, church services, choir boat trips on the Rhine and a cozy picnic on the Schützenmatte.
Nature swarming and earthquake scares
Where to begin with the list of highlights that were unending over the five days and evenings? A few specialties should be singled out, such as the strict a cappella movements of the Freiburger Chœur St-Michel followed by lively Bovet dances and a groovy Pink Floyd arrangement; then the old cantigas of the Spanish Nubah and the legendary homages to the rapturous nature of the Icelander Huldur Choir. At the opening, Masis Aram Gözbek fired up the choirs gathered on the high seat and then his Boğaziçi Youth Choir from Istanbul with its powerful vocals and calls from Anatolia and the Black Sea region.
Powerful images from Cameroon embodied the Mboa Choir with animal calls from the wilderness and primal chants of betrothal and mourning to martial calls, spurred on by drums and foot stomping. The work evokes a haunting image of the horror of the Basel earthquake of 1356. Earthbibdema composition commissioned by the Basel Boys' Choir to the Latvian Ēriks Ešenvalds.
Singing glass and snarling dandelions
The performance in the traditional costumes of the Romanian Radio Children's Choir from Bucharest. The chants with stretched vowels and twisted consonants in the rain dance and in a wedding scene sounded like something from another time.
Courtly scenes were sung and danced by the New Amsterdam Youth Choir in magnificent costumes. Swaying and swaying as they walked and jumped, bowed and knelt, accompanied by fiddle and lute in keeping with the times. Dressed in salmon-colored robes, the girls of the Tiara Choir from Riga The rims of the glasses, variously full, accompany the lovely singing: magical sounds as if from a glass harmonica.
Finally, a large-scale performance by the Young Symphony Orchestra of the Basel Music School. They ventured into Wagner's Lohengrin-They won the masterclass with rich brass and finely drawn strings. 300 young people performed the popular work Lionteeth by the Swede Anders Edenroth for the Swiss premiere. Under the fervent direction of Raphael Immoos, the vocal and instrumental voices conquered the bared lion's teeth with lips and tongues.
The conclusion of the five-day youth choir meeting: a cheerful celebration of vocal and human encounters, as well as an excellent performance by the conductors, who challenged their choirs to top vocal and physical performances. The audience acknowledged the performances of the international elite choirs and the regional school choirs with standing ovations.
