Europa Cantat News - March 2015

Below you will find our March newsletter, reminding you of the Deadline for Applications for the Choralp Singing Week in Briançon and updating you on the last stage of the VOICE project. As usual at the end you will also find some news from the international associations we belong too, this months from IFCM and the European Music Council. Please forward this newsletter to your singing friends, if you work in a choral association, forward it to your members or translate the news which you find essential into your own language. Don´t forget to like our facebook page and follow us on Twitter! With best regards  Sonja Greiner, Secretary General on behalf of the European Choral Association - Europa Cantat www.EuropeanChoralAssociation.org Deutsche Übersetzung >> hier.Traduction françise >> ici

Content: 01 Don’t miss Choralp! 02 ECA-EC facebook page 03 Obituary – Maria Martorell 04 ECA-EC Membership involvement Day 05 The Inclusive Power of Collective Singing 06 Youth News – Youth Guide online 07 Exciting last VOICE meeting in Bonn 08 Don’t miss the festival in Pécs! 09 News from Musica International 10 IFCM – news on WSCM 2017 11 EMC European Forum on Music in Riga 12 News from IMC 13 Culture Action Europe event in Athens

	Don’t miss Choralp! Deadline for applications for the Choralp Singing Week is on March 31st 2015.Sing the Dettingen Te Deum by Haendel with Jean-Marie Puissant (FR) or go aon a journey through ancient and contemporary world music and harmonies with Marleen de Boo (BE).More information on www.choralp.fr
01

	ECA-EC facebook page Do not forget to like ECA-EC page on facebook to be part of our online community and be always updated to the choral world news.
02

Obituary – Maria Martorell Our Catalan choral friends have informed us that Maria Martorell i Codina passed away on Sunday, March 21st2015 at the age of 91. Through her brother Oriol Martorell, Maria was connected to the European Federation of Young Choirs (now European Choral Association - Europa Cantat) from the very beginning. But most of all she played a crucial role in the development of the Catalan children’s choir assocation SCIC. Maria  was one of the fo-founders of SCIC in 1967 and was part of the management team during the first years. She then became the coordinating secretary (1989 – 1997) and later head of the editorial team for the magazine of the association “La Circular” for which she worked until 2011, often reprinting articles from ECmagazine. She permanently searched for new repertoire, adapted foreign songs to the Catalan language and organized seminars for conductors, choir exchanges and meetings. In 2013 the Catalan government awarded Maria the highest distinction, the “Creu de Sant Jordi” (the Sant Jordi Cross) in appreciation of her merits (see newsletter 7/2013)                                                                                                                                                                   Those wishing to send their condolences to the family can write to Montserrat Martorell C/Can Patoi 15, 08394 Sant Vicenç de Montalt, Catalonia, Spain - canpatoi@gmail.com.

03

ECA-EC Membership involvement Day At its last meeting in Bonn at the beginning of March the Board of the European Choral Association – Europa Cantat decided to try a new model of membership involvement in connection with the conference and general assembly in Helsinki in November 2015. It was decided to offer the membership the option to arrive one day earlier, on Thurday, November 12th 2015 and to attend different sessions on Friday, November 13th in the morning and early afternoon in which the members will be offered to participate in discussing the programme, activities and communication of the association and developing new formats. Reserve the date in your calendar now! Further information will be spread with the invitation to the conference and General Assembly in July 2015.

04

The Inclusive Power of Collective Singing The European Choral Association – Europa Cantat submitted an application to the “Europe for Citizens” Programme of the European Union on March 1st 2015 for the project “The Inclusive Power of Collective Singing”. In this project, which shall run from August 1st 2015 until January 31st 2017, the European Choral Association – Europa Cantat, based in Germany, is cooperating with 17 other civil society organizations (choral associations as well as social institutions and foundations) in 14 other European countries. At least 250 people will gather at different activities in Finland, France, Germany, Serbia, Spain and the Netherlands to debate, exchange knowledge, experience and visions, and to prepare a campaign on the benefits of collective singing. For details see project description >> here

05

Youth News – Youth Guide online The European Choral Association – Europa Cantat was a partner in the project “Make Music! Be Heard” coordinated by the European Music Council and its Youth Committee. One of the results of this project was the publication of an online “Youth Guide” which you will find >> here.Are you looking for a job opportunity in the European music sector? Then the Youth Guide is your chance to find the right placement to gain new experiences. This guide lists opportunities made available to young people by music organisations such as  internships, workshops, volunteering, competitions, call for artists, masterclasses etc.

06

Exciting last VOICE meeting in Bonn The VOICE project is coming to a conclusion at the end of May. We organised a series of exciting partners' meetings in Bonn to share and evaluate the project's results and methods with the help of the board of ECA-EC and invited choral organisations. The meetings were fruitful and many partners emphasised that participating to such a project changed their way of working, on the European level with new contacts and trusted partners to rely on, but also on the national level, through enhanced use of cooperation and partnership. After three years, the project is true to its subtitle, and a "vision on innovation" did emerge from the combined efforts of the partners. A public reception, in the presence of Angelica Maria Kappel, Deputy Mayor of Bonn, was organised to present the project, and the first results of the Singing Europe research, with the musical support of the MultiKultiChor Bonn. Last but not least, a "social media workshop" was organised to help choral organisations optimise their use of the online tools in their global audience development strategies.

07

Don’t miss the festival in Pécs! Preparations have accelerated in the organising team of Pécs: The Music Commission of ECA-EC and the Regional Artistic Committee had an important meeting at the beginning of February together with the Music Office of the festival, during which the participants were distributed to the long ateliers they had applied for. There are many ateliers which are already full, but for some can still  welcome applicants! Check the actual list of still open ateliers on the festival website!The Programme for Conductors and Composers, which also will include sessions interesting for managers, is getting more detailed day by day! It has something to offer for all conductors – even if you can only join the festival for a day or two! We also added a new 4 day long Basic Conducting Intensive Course. led by Timothy Brown.You can’t join the festival for the whole week? Don’t worry, our one day Discovery Ateliersare for you! You can register for one, two or more days and enjoy a different music with a different conductor each morning.Apply and gain a lifetime experience in an international environment and also improve your professional skills with the help of well-known conductors!

08

	News from Musica International We are happy to announce that the 2015 General Assembly of the association Musica International will take place on July 31, 2015, 9:30 in Pécs (Hungary), during the Europa Cantat XIX Festival. If you are not a member, yet, but want to find out more about Musica International during the festival, please contactoffice@musicanet.org
09

IFCM – news on WSCM 2017 World Symposium On Choral Music 11,Barcelona, Spain, 22 – 29 July 2017 IFCM is happy to announce the members of the two commissions which will prepare the programme of the coming World Symposium on Choral Music in Barcelona. WSCM11 Artistic Committee: Representing IFCM:Ana Maria Raga (Venezuela), Ko Matsushita (Japan), Junita van Dijk (South Africa) andPhilip Brunelle (USA).Representing FCEC: Xavier Baulies, Raimon Romaní and Josep Vila.WSCM11 Executive Committee: Representing IFCM: Michael J. Anderson (USA), Håkan Wickström (Finland) and Rudolf de Beer (South Africa/Norway) Representing FCEC: Montserrat Cadevall, Josep Antonio and Lluís Gómez. In a few weeks IFCM will announcethe call for choirs and lecturers for the Artistic Programme of the World Symposium on Choral Music 11 in Barcelona in 2017 – we will keep you updated.

10

EMC European Forum on Music in Riga Register now for the European Forum on Musicorganised by the European Music Council and co-hosted by the Latvian Music Council in Riga, Latvia, 11 – 14 June 2015, under the motto “Access to music is digital?”Rather than just hearing about new technologies, markets or ways on how to improve an artist’s visibility through digital means, participants of the EMC’s 5th European Forum on Music will discuss the synergies between the digital world and ‘real life’. The Forum will look into how new technologies facilitate the work of cultural institutions, how improved access to culture helps raise people’s interest in music, and explore the interplay between the digital world and the one away from the keyboard.Further details on the Website of the European Music Council >> here.

11

News from IMC A funding application for the project "Empowering African youth to harness the potential of the music sector as enabler and driver of development" submitted by the International Music Council - IMC to the UNESCO International Fund for Cultural Diversity has been approved by the 8th Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.The project aims to provide young African musicians and music professionals with opportunities and efficient tools for them to become the next generation of agents of the diversity of musical expressions in Africa as well as strong advocates of the role of culture as driver and enabler of development.Further information on the IMC Website >> here.

12

Culture Action Europe event in Athens Athens, where do we go from here? Sharing and learning with other European cities and beyond May 21-23, 2015, Athens, Greece  Culture Action Europe, in partnership with British Council and Agenda 21 for Culture-UCLG, and supported by a coalition of civil society organisations on the ground, are organising an international meeting in Athens under the title of “Changing Cities” on May 21-23, 2015 to discuss on the present and future of the city, and how culture (not limited to artistic life, but seen as a large set of human activities) can be integrated as a core component of urban strategy and policy towards sustainability. More on the Website of Culture Action Europe >> here

13

	The European Choral Association is supported by the European Union, the German Ministry of Youth and the City of Bonn Member of: International Federation for Choral Music - IFCM, European/International Music Council (EMC-IMC), Culture Action Europe, Musica International, Choral Festival Network