I am still recovering from jetlag after my life-changing week at the Gondwana World Choral Symposium in Sydney, Australia. This trip was made possible by a generous grant from the Greater Columbus Arts Council. It was an experience that I will not soon forget.

Choral music has the ability to inspire and uplift us. This was indeed the experience that I had while attending the Gondwana World Choral Festival in Sydney, Australia. I spent a week immersed in the inspiring and uplifting stories, folklore, and songs of some of the best children’s choirs from around the world.

The seven days of the festival began and ended with a gala performance in the beautiful Sydney Opera House. The people of Sydney are so lucky to have such an amazing performance venue in their city. I was overwhelmed by the beauty, capacity, impeccable acoustics, and most importantly, the support of the community. To my amazement both concerts were filled to capacity (2,679 seats) with audiences that were engaged in every note of every performance. You could hear a pin drop until the final note of each performance was sung, at which point, the audience erupted in a roar of thunderous appreciation.

The remainder of the festival was spent attending demonstrations, master classes, seminars, round table discussions, workshops, and concerts at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. I was able to experience the indigenous rhythms and songs of Australia’s Torres Strait Islands and Indonesia’s Aceh province. I was immersed in A Cappella singing of the highest caliber performed by The Idea of North. I was treated to top notch performances that were both visually and musically satisfying from the following choirs: Estonian Television Girls’ Choir, Guangdong Experimental Middle School Choir, Inner Mongolia Youth Choir, La Cigale de Lyon Girls’ Choir, Miami Children’s Chours, Nagoya Children’s Choir, Riga Cathedral Girls’ Choir and Toronto Children’s Choir.

If you enjoy choral music, I would highly recommend you seek out and listen to performances by these choirs. I think you will be as amazed and inspired as I was.

Jeanne Wohlgamuth
Artistic Director
Columbus Children’s Choir

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