Vancouver’s Chor Leoni Men’s Choir, Artistic Director, Diane Loomer, C.M., and Associate Conductor Erick Lichte ended an 18 day tour of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Italy with stellar performances at the 51st Seghizzi Concorso Internationale Di Canto Corale in Gorizia, Italy, where they received a dozen prizes including second place in the Grand Prix, and won a total of €6500. The Seghizzi Competition, held July 12 to 15, drew fifteen adult choirs of all voice types (mixed, women’s choirs, men’s choirs) from Canada, Columbia, Croatia, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Poland, and Russia.
List of Awards
• 24th Grand Prix Seghizzi – 2nd place, €1000
• 1st Prize Cup and €2500, 19th Century Music category
• 1st Prize Cup and €2500, 20th Century Music category
• Domenico Cieri Cup for program of artistic interest
• Rachele Basuino Cup for best performance of sacred music in Italian
• 1st place, gold placement, Spirituals & Gospel
• Prize for highest score overall
• Prize for overall male choir equal voices
• Audience Favourite Award (overall Folk & Traditional, Spirituals & Gospel, Pop & Jazz category)
• Audience Favourite Award (specifically Popular & Jazz)
• 2nd place, silver placement, Pop & Jazz
• 3rd Prize, silver placement and €500, Folk/Spirituals/Pop category overall
“Wins are always exciting but the implications and relevance of wins are often far-reaching,” says Loomer. “Chor Leoni’s triumphs at the Seghizzi International Competition in Italy feel especially sweet since they mean a more world-wide recognition of choral accomplishments and excellence coming from Canada. Perhaps the fact that we won so many firsts in various categories, as well as winning both ‘audience favourite’ awards and ‘best artistic programming’ tells me that we are achieving our mission of performing a widely eclectic assortment of choral music and doing it well.”
Chor Leoni’s 20th Anniversary season both celebrates and honours the seminal role of Diane Loomer, C.M., as Founder and Artistic Director of the ensemble, as she prepares to step into the role of Conductor Emerita at the end of the 2012/13 season. The season includes newly commissioned works by Peter Togni, Robert Sund, and R. Murray Schafer and culminates in a grand concert involving special guests and alumni at the Chan Centre (March 23, 2013).
Chor Leoni’s next appearance is their popular At Home fundraising event on September 26. Held in a grand and gracious home, this evening features the “choir of lions” in a very up close and personal milieu where choir members meet attendees and burst into song from amongst them.
Intonations of Immortality, the choir’s 20th Remembrance Day program includes performances in Nanaimo, West Vancouver, and Vancouver (November 10 and 11). Focusing on the ephemeral quality that lives on in collective memory once an individual passes, this program includes the premiere of a new work by Canadian composer Peter Togni plus works by Smith, Lauridsen, Lennox, Thompson and more.
Chor Leoni’s Christmas offering, Luminous Night, (December 18 and 19 at St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church) focuses on the sacred light of Christmas and other Solstice traditions. Favourites old and new, including the new work by Robert Sund, will enwrap the audience in a warm blanket of sound as Chor Leoni celebrates the return of light in many traditions.
Chor Leoni & Friends, held at the Chan Centre on March 23, brings together guest artists and luminaries from the choir’s past two decades and alumni in a grand celebration of the choir’s past and exciting future as the choir honours Diane Loomer, C.M. in music and words.
The choir’s final production of their 20th anniversary is Best of Bard (June 17 & 24), a program drawing upon audience favourites from the choir’s riotous tradition of fun and music performed on the BMO Mainstage tent at Bard on the Beach.
For further information and to purchase season tickets visit chorleoni.org To view an online season brochure click here.
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