European Grand Prix for Choral Singing

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The European Grand Prix for Choral Singing (in French, Grand Prix Européen de Chant Choral, commonly abbreviated as European Choral Grand Prix or EGP) is an annual choral competition between the winners of six European choral competitions. It was inaugurated in 1989.

Despite its name, the EGP is not limited to European choirs; this is because choirs from any country can join the choral competitions in any of the EGP’s member-cities. since 1995Template:Dated maintenance category (articles)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"., one choir from Japan, one choir from Argentina, two choirs from Indonesia, and two choirs from the United States have won the EGP, while two choirs from the Philippines and United States have won the EGP twice. In addition, the contest is not limited to adult choirs; three of the grand prize-winning choirs are children's choirs.

As of 2022, four choirs had won the EGP twice: the University of the Philippines Madrigal Singers[1][2] (1997 and 2007), APZ Tone Tomšič (2002 and 2008), University of Utah Chamber Choir (renamed from the University of Utah Singers) (2006 and 2015), and Vesna Children's Choir (2000 and 2017).

The 30th European Grand Prix for Choral Singing taking place in Maribor, Slovenia, on April 21, 2018 had the first win from an Indonesian choir. The Resonanz Children's Choir (TRCC), led by conductor Avip Priatna, has won an award at the EGP 2018.[3]

In the summer of 2019, Youth choir "Kamēr..." became the 1st and currently the only choir having won the EGP three times (2004, 2013, and 2019).

As of 2022, two conductors have won the EGP twice: Stojan Kuret (2002 and 2010) and Avip Priatna (2018 and 2022).

Organizing committee and member cities

The EGP is organized by the organizing committees of the following choral competitions, from which the EGP contenders are selected:

  1. Concorso Polifónico Guido d'Arezzo (International Guido d'Arezzo Polyphonic Contest) - Arezzo, Province of Arezzo, Italy
  2. Béla Bartók International Choir Competition - Debrecen, Hajdú-Bihar county, Hungary
  3. International Choral Competition Gallus Maribor - Maribor, Slovenia
  4. Certamen Coral de Tolosa (Tolosa Choral Competition) - Tolosa, Basque Country, Spain
  5. International Baltic Sea Choir Competition (IBSCC) - Jūrmala, Region of Jūrmala, Latvia
  6. International May Choir Competition «Prof. G. Dimitrov» - Varna, Varna Province, Bulgaria

Each individual contest is usually referred to by the name of its host city instead of the competition's official title. The grand prize winners of each contest are automatically eligible to compete at the EGP.

The hosting of each annual EGP competition is rotated among the six member cities.

History

The European Grand Prix for Choral Singing was created in 1988 through the initiative of the competitions of AREZZO (Italy), DEBRECEN (Hungary), GORIZIA (Italy) and TOURS (France) Two others have also been associated: VARNA (Bulgaria) in 1989, and TOLOSA (Basque Country/Spain) in 1990. In 2008 Gorizia stepped out of the Association and MARIBOR (Slovenia) joined it. In 2024, JURMALA (Latvia) became a new member and TOURS (France) ceased its activity.

Regulations

Eligibility

As mentioned earlier, the contest is open only to the grand prize winners of the six-member European choral competitions in the previous year. In other words, if a choir wins the grand prize in any of the six cities' choral contests, it is eligible for then next year's EGP. Consequently, this also means that, unlike other choral competitions, the EGP does not solicit participants to the contest; no choir may directly apply or audition in order to join the EGP. If an eligible choir backs out, a substitute choir may take its place; as a penalty, any choir that backs out will not be eligible to compete in any of the six qualifying contests for the next year.

No choir may win the grand prize in more than one qualifying competition in a single year. For example, if a choir is named the grand prize winner in Arezzo, it is automatically disqualified to compete in the contests in the five remaining cities for the rest of the year.

There are no specific regulations prohibiting a former finalist (or even a former laureate) from competing in (or even winning again) the EGP more than once. The Philippine Madrigal Singers (laureate of the 1997 EGP) have won the 2006 Florilège Vocal de Tours,[4] going on to win the Grand Prize in 2007 in Arezzo, Italy. In the same competition, the Madrigal Singers competed with the Vesna Children's Choir (laureate of the 2000 EGP), who won the grand prize of the 2006 Tolosa competition.[5]

Repertoire and choir membership

Each competing choir is required to sing in the same group/category as they performed in respective competitions. Choirs are encouraged to perform songs from various eras and composers. Songs with accompaniment (by any instrument) are allowed as long as the total length of accompanied songs does not exceed ten (10) minutes. The host city determines the total maximum performance time allowed to each finalist.

Each competing choir is also required to have the same number of singers it had from the qualifying competition, plus or minus ten percent (10%) of that number. The total number of singers per choir may be a minimum of 12 singers and a maximum of 60 singers regardless of the number of voice sections or groups; this is because the eligibility requirements vary for each of the six qualifying competitions. Because of this, it is possible for mixed-voice choirs to compete directly against all-male and all-female choirs; it is also possible for children's choirs to compete against adult choirs (and even win, as in 2000, 2001, 2017, and 2018).

The grand prize winner

The EGP grand prize winner, or laureate, is awarded a diploma, a trophy and additional prizes to be determined by the host city, including a cash prize of up to 4,000 Euros (usually awarded).

The EGP winner is not allowed to compete in any international choral competition, member of the European Grand Prix Association, for two years.

Laureates

The following are the lists of grand prize winners for the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing.[6][7][8][9]

Laureates per year

Laureates of the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing per year
Year Edition Host Choir Director/Conductor City of Origin Country of Origin
1989 1 Template:Flagicon Arezzo Kammerkoret Hymnia Poul Emborg and Fleming Windekilde Copenhagen Script error: No such module "flag".
1990 2 Template:Flagicon Debrecen (postponed) NA NA NA
1991 3 Template:Flagicon Tours Chamber Choir of the Conservatoire Tadas Šumskas Vilnius File:Flag of Lithuania (1988-2004).svg Lithuania
1992 4 Template:Flagicon Gorizia St Jacobs Kammarkör Gary Graden Stockholm Script error: No such module "flag".
1993 5 Template:Flagicon Varna Jauna Musica Vaclovas Augustinas and Romas Skapas Vilnius File:Flag of Lithuania (1988-2004).svg Lithuania
1994 6 Template:Flagicon Tolosa The Mats Nilsson Vocal Ensemble Mats Nilsson Stockholm Script error: No such module "flag".
1995 7 Template:Flagicon Arezzo Kallos Choir Fumiaki Kuriyama Tokyo File:Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Japan
1996 8 Template:Flagicon Debrecen Pro Musica Leánykar Dénes Szabó Nyíregyháza Script error: No such module "flag".
1997 9 Template:Flagicon Tours University of the Philippines Madrigal Singers Andrea Veneracion Quezon City Script error: No such module "flag".
1998 10 Template:Flagicon Gorizia University of Mississippi Concert Singers Template:Webarchive Jerry Jordan Oxford, MS Script error: No such module "flag".
1999 11 Template:Flagicon Varna Lunds Vocal Ensemble Ingemar Månsson Lund Script error: No such module "flag".
2000 12 Template:Flagicon Tolosa Vesna Children ChoirTemplate:Efn Alexander Ponomariov Moscow Script error: No such module "flag".
2001 13 Template:Flagicon Debrecen Magnificat Children's and Youth Choir Valéria Szebellédi Budapest Script error: No such module "flag".
2002 14 Template:Flagicon Arezzo A.P.Z. Tone Tomsic Stojan Kuret Ljubljana Script error: No such module "flag".
2003 15 Template:Flagicon Tours Kamerinis choras Brevis Gintautas Venislovas Vilnius File:Flag of Lithuania (1988-2004).svg Lithuania
2004 16 Template:Flagicon Gorizia Youth Choir "Kamer..." Māris Sirmais Riga Script error: No such module "flag".
2005 17 Template:Flagicon Varna Allmänna Sången Cecilia Rydinger Alin Uppsala Script error: No such module "flag".
2006 18 Template:Flagicon Tolosa University of Utah Singers Brady Allred Salt Lake City Script error: No such module "flag".
2007 19 Template:Flagicon Arezzo University of the Philippines Madrigal Singers Mark Anthony Carpio Quezon City Script error: No such module "flag".
2008 20 Template:Flagicon Debrecen A.P.Z. Tone Tomsic Urša Lah Ljubljana Script error: No such module "flag".
2009 21 Template:Flagicon Tours Coro Universitario de Mendoza Silvana Vallesi Mendoza Script error: No such module "flag".
2010 22 Template:Flagicon Varna Vokalna akademija Ljubljana Stojan Kuret Ljubljana Script error: No such module "flag".
2011 23 Template:Flagicon Tolosa The Swedish Chamber Choir Simon Phipps Gothenburg Script error: No such module "flag".
2012 24 Template:Flagicon Maribor Sofia Vokalensemble Bengt Ollén Stockholm Script error: No such module "flag".
2013 25 Template:Flagicon Arezzo Youth Choir "Kamer..." Jānis Liepiņš Riga Script error: No such module "flag".
2014 26 Template:Flagicon Debrecen S:t Jacobs Ungdomskör Mikael Wedar Stockholm Script error: No such module "flag".
2015 27 Template:Flagicon Tours University of Utah Chamber Choir Template:WebarchiveTemplate:Efn Barlow Bradford Salt Lake City Script error: No such module "flag".
2016 28 Template:Flagicon Varna UT Insieme Vocale Consonante Lorenzo Donati Santa Firmina Script error: No such module "flag".
2017 29 Template:Flagicon Tolosa Vesna Children ChoirTemplate:Efn Nadezhda Averina Moscow Script error: No such module "flag".
2018 30 Template:Flagicon Maribor The Resonanz Children's Choir Avip Priatna Jakarta Script error: No such module "flag".
2019 31 Template:Flagicon Arezzo Youth Choir "Kamer..." Aivis Greters Riga Script error: No such module "flag".
2020 32 Template:Flagicon Debrecen (postponed) NA NA NA
2021 (not held) (not held) NA NA NA NA
2022 33 Template:Flagicon Tours Batavia Madrigal Singers Avip Priatna Jakarta Script error: No such module "flag".
2023 34 Template:Flagicon Debrecen Chamber Choir Sophia Olexii Shamrytskyi Kyiv Script error: No such module "flag".
2024 35 Template:Flagicon Varna Zero8 Rasmus Krigström Stockholm Script error: No such module "flag".
Total 33 laureates (none in 1990,2021)

Laureates per country

Laureates of the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing per country
Country Laureates Notes
Script error: No such module "flag". 8 wins Five choirs from Stockholm
Script error: No such module "flag". 3 wins All from Vilnius
Script error: No such module "flag". 3 wins All from Ljubljana; APZ Tone Tomšič winning twice
Script error: No such module "flag". 3 wins University of Utah Chamber Choir (renamed from University of Utah Singers) winning twice
Script error: No such module "flag". 3 wins Jauniesu koris "Kamer..." winning thrice – 1st choir to win three times
Script error: No such module "flag". 2 wins Vesna Children's Choir winning twice
Script error: No such module "flag". 2 wins
Script error: No such module "flag". 2 wins Philippine Madrigal Singers winning twice - 1st choir to win twice
Script error: No such module "flag". 2 wins All from Jakarta
Script error: No such module "flag". 1 win
Script error: No such module "flag". 1 win
Script error: No such module "flag". 1 win
Script error: No such module "flag". 1 win
Script error: No such module "flag". 1 win
Total 33 wins

Laureates per continent

Laureates of the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing per continent
Continent Laureates
Europe 24 wins
Asia 5 wins
North America 3 wins
South America 1 win
Total 33 wins

References

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  1. ↑ [1] Template:Webarchive List of winners at the 2007 Arezzo competition, including the GPE
  2. ↑ [2] Template:Webarchive "Madrigal Singers win European Grand Prix for the second time". The Philippine Daily Inquirer, August 27, 2007.
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ [3]Template:Category handler[<span title="Script error: No such module "string".">usurped]Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". List of winners at the 2006 Florilege de Tours, from the official Florilege website.
  5. ↑ [4] Template:Webarchive. News article in Spanish
  6. ↑ [5]Template:Category handler[<span title="Script error: No such module "string".">usurped]Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". List of GPE Winners, from Florilege Vocal de Tours official website.
  7. ↑ [6] Template:Webarchive List of GPE Winners, from GPE official website.
  8. ↑ [7] Template:Webarchive List of GPE Winners, from Concurso Tolosa official website.
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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Notes

Template:Notelist

External links

European Grand Prix for Choral Singing - GPE Official home page

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