Winners of the 2021 Cork International Choral Festival were announced over the weekend at the festival’s final online gala concert performance, presented by Berlin based a cappella group ONAIR.
The festival which ran from April 28 – May 2nd, was staged online for the first time ever this year and featured 82 choirs (including 48 international choirs) from across Ireland and around the globe, who submitted their competition entries by video.
This year’s festival opened on Wednesday night with the reading of a specially commissioned poem ‘A Singing City’ by Cork poet Billy Ramsell, read by arts broadcaster Elmarie Mawe.
Four online gala concerts, by acclaimed Irish ensembles Anúna, Chamber Choir Ireland, Resguram and German group ONAIR were staged each evening, along with pre-concert talks, workshops and events, as well as the fiercely contested national and international competitions.
Speaking as the festival drew to a close, Artistic Director, Peter Stobart said, “I am delighted that we were able to go ahead with the Festival in a new way this year, even if we have all been missing the usual personal interactions which are such a huge part of the normal Festival experience.
“We were pleased that choirs from across the globe were able to create and send us their choral videos and that the appetite to join us has been as strong as ever.
“My thanks go to all those who have taken part for putting their time and energy into this different way of making music, and especially to the unseen sound and video engineers who have worked so hard behind the scenes.
“The Festival will be back next year, and we hope to have a much more live experience for you once again.”
Festival manager, Elaine Fitzgerald added, “We are really pleased to have been able to stage the Cork International Choral Festival in 2021 after the disappointment of 2020. It is a fantastic achievement by the entire team who have worked so hard for 12 months to see it come to fruition. We are equally thrilled by the participation of the choirs from across the globe who have played a huge role in this year’s festival and we look forward to welcoming as many choirs and singers as possible to Cork in the very near future.”
At 5pm the jury results were finally announced for all sections of the prestigious and varied national and international competitions.
