Winners announced at inaugural Hull International Choir Competition
Florence Lockheart
Tuesday, May 2, 2023
Interkultur, the organisation behind the World Choir Games, has celebrated the results of its first competition in the UK
The Hull International Choir Competition has announced the results of its inaugural competition. Running from 27 April to 1 May and involving a total of 27 choirs from across 10 nations, this year’s competition saw 17 golden and 15 silver diplomas awarded alongside wins in eight categories.
This was the first British event organised by Interkultur, the choir competition and festival organisation behind the world’s biggest choir competition, the biennial World Choir Games. Choirs competed for trophies created by Hull-based artisans Liz Dees, Andy Ellis and Nadine Storrer
The full list of category winners is included below:
- Category A1 – Mixed Choirs (Difficulty Level I): Cordydd from Great Britain/Wales
- Category B1 – Mixed Choirs from (Difficulty Level II): Palanga Chamber Choir from Lithuania
- Category B2 – Choirs of Equal Voices from (Difficulty Level II): Humber Harmony from Great Britain
- Category G1 – Children's Choirs: Tygerberg Children's Choir from South Africa
- Category G2 – Youth Choirs of Equal Voices: Farnham Youth Choir from Great Britain
- Category G3 – Youth Choirs of Mixed Voices: Cornwall Youth Choir from Great Britain
- Category P – Pop, Jazz, Gospel: Vox Aurea from Finland
- Category S – Sacred Choral Music: Southern Spirit Singers from Great Britain
Southern Spirit Singers director Andy King said: ‘We’ve taken part in international competitions such as the European Choir Games before, and it’s always brilliant to meet amazing choirs from all over the world. Hull was fantastic host city, and the Minster has a really special acoustic. We had a great experience and we’re really proud to win the Sacred category there.’
Choirs performed for a jury including competition artistic director and educator, Mathew Wright MBE; conductor, co-founder and CEO of the Irish Institute of Music & Song, Michael Dawson; Norwegian singer and conductor, Tove Ramlo-Ystad; Slovenian conductor, composer, director and author, Karmina Šilec; Finnish choir conductor Sanna Valvanne and Welsh composer and vice-president of the Llangollen International Eisteddfod and the North Wales International Music Festival, Paul Mealor.
The competition’s highest scoring choir in a single round was Vox Aurea from Finland, who achieved a total score of 26.36 in the Pop, Jazz and Gospel category. Special prizes were awarded to British choirs Humber Harmony, Cornwall Youth Choir and Choros Amici.