MIDLAND, Mich., Aug. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Center Stage Choirs of Midland Center for the Arts was awarded The Silver Diploma Award recently at the World Choir Games in Riga, Latvia. The choir won the award in the "Mixed Chamber Choir" category. Joining 34 singers from Center Stage Choirs' Chorale and Camerata were singers from the Great Lakes Bay Region.
Also earning a silver diploma was DE3, a quartet of male singers from the choir: Robert Sandoval, Bradley Phillips, David Aukerman and David King.
The competition was the culmination of a two-week European tour for the mid-Michigan group that ended July 20, 2014. A total of 44 singers took part in concerts given in Prague, Czech Republic and Leipzig and Jueterbog, Germany. Repertoire included a variety of Americana: some barbershop, spirituals, and contemporary American compositions. The ensemble also gave a sung benediction at the Terezin Memorial in the Czech Republic, which commemorates the victims of Nazi persecution.
The choir was among 27,000 singers in the 470 choirs from 80 countries who participated in the Games. Acceptance to the Games required submittal of three recordings, then the choir was pre-evaluated in Riga by three judges before their final five-judge competition performance.
"The adjudication process was every helpful for all of us," says Music Director James Hohmeyer. "Everybody in the choir got a chance to improve their skills. They sang the entire one-hour program from memory!"
The Midland ensemble also was among a group of about 800 singers who sang the competition's closing concert, accompanied by the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra. The concert was broadcast on Latvian television.
In Leipzig, the group sang at St. Thomas Church, where Johann Sebastian Bach was cantor for many years. The local group also presented a friendship concert in Salaspils, Latvia, along with a choir from China and a choir from Sweden. And The American-born Prince William zu Lobkowicz came to greet the choir when they performed their concert at Lobkowicz Palace in Prague. "Not many people get a chance to see the prince," Hohmeyer enthused.
Midland Center for the Arts | 1801 W. St. Andrews Rd. | Midland, MI 48640 | (989) 631-5930 | mcfta.org
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SOURCE Midland Center for the Arts
