Choristers to compete in international festival

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The Madeleine Choir School choristers will compete in the Queen of the Adriatic Sea Choral Festival and Competition June 4-6, which will be broadcast on YouTube.

SALT LAKE CITY – The Madeleine Choir School’s Schola choristers will have an unprecedented opportunity to participate in the Queen of the Adriatic Sea Choral Festival and Competition, which usually takes place in Cattolica, Italy. However, due to the ongoing pandemic, the festival and competition will be held virtually this year.

The Schola choristers will perform alongside 30 other choral assemblies from Italy, Japan, China, the United Kingdom, Poland, Philippines, Armenia, Sweden, Russia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Canada. The local group is competing in the sacred music and children & youth choirs categories. They entered the competition with two videos that they recorded in the Cathedral of the Madeleine earlier this month. Only two other choirs from the United States – the Oklahoma State Concert Chorale and the Spirit of OSU Vocal Ensemble from the Oklahoma State University – will compete in the festival, which will run June 4-6.

MCS Choir Director Melanie Malinka said the choir does not usually participate in choral competitions, because in a normal year it is too busy with other commitments.

Also, “the focus of our program is to enhance the worship life at the Cathedral of the Madeleine through our singing, which means our choristers create beauty with their voices to comfort and spread joy to anyone coming through our doors at the cathedral,” she said. “So, it feels odd to us to engage in competition with other choirs, given that beauty is so abstract and difficult to measure. But, if there is anything COVID has taught us this year, it is that we have to be flexible and be willing to try some new things.”

To give graduating choristers “something memorable that they can look back on,” Malinka and other choir leaders sought out opportunities such as the competition this year, she said.

“In addition, it has been hard to keep all of our choristers motivated with limited singing opportunities; preparing for the competition gave us something to work towards as a team,” she said.

“I am incredibly grateful for our choristers and their ability to adapt,” Malinka said. “This has been a challenging year to be a singer. Many opportunities have been taken away and singing with masks, at 10 feet apart, and with small groups, is not easy. Yet all of our students have adapted and have made great progress as musicians, continuing to serve with their voices at the Cathedral of the Madeleine. Being able to share these young people’s amazing work with people is an honor and we are grateful for the opportunity to participate in the Queen of the Adriatic Sea Choral Festival and Competition.”

The performances of the Schola choristers can be viewed on the festival’s YouTube page June 4-6.