Welcome to this first version of OpusChoral where all the choral music lovers will find recordings from all over the world as well as updated info regarding the choral music world.

OpusChoral is the music downloading site dedicated exclusively to choral music in all its expressions: classical, traditional, jazz, gospel, etc. It is possible to buy a single track or the complete album. The website offers also an editorial section where the user will be able to access to the choral music current events, particularly those regarding the recordings’ life.
OpusChoral has been created by choir lovers for choir lovers. It is an initiative from the International Federation for Choral Music (IFCM). We would like to thank its team for their support. OpusChoral is attached to the values that the IFCM has spread through its history through more than 80 countries.

Dear visitor, you have just entered a website in full development:

-    An already attractive catalogue consisting in more than 12000 files that belong to 15 labels from all over the world, (Germany, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cuba, Sweden), ensembles and festivals.  This catalogue will grow quickly;
-    A IT developed by the Senegalese company Imedia that offers the possibility to browse easily through the site, choose and listen an extract from the product and look up all the info that OpusChoral has formatted in order to be up to date with the choral world;
-    Regarding the catalogue availability. Despite it is currently legally limited in some territories, we are putting all our efforts together in order to offer the most parts of our catalogue to as many people as possible
-    Regarding the possibilities that you will have to tell us what you think about each product. Also, you will be able to submit us a record or records that you would like to sell in our site.

OpusChoral would like to thank everybody that has been made its creation possible. This people have been very generous with their time and advice.

At last, OpusChoral would like to emphasize its commitment with a legal offer that respects the law in each one of the countries where its products are available, respecting the artists, composers, authors and each one of the actors of the processes that allow us to listen to their recordings.
OpusChoral – July the 10th 2009

On the occasion of Helmuth Rilling’s 75th anniversary, the International Bach Academy Stuttgart created the Helmuth Rilling Award. Endowed with 20,000 Euros it is awarded every two years – for the first time in 2009. It honors a person with exceptional merits in the choral and symphonic fields, in particular in conducting and teaching music. It is an international prize.

The jury composed of Ton Koopman, Dennis Russel Davies, Zubin Mehta, Helmuth Rilling and Christian Lorenz unanimously choose María Guinand as the first recipient ever to receive this award.

Explaining the decision, the jury stated:
”You combine many aspects of what was and is crucial for Helmuth’s own work. You have quite a name in the international choral community. You represent a “young” continent and you opened many new horizons in choral music. You have built up your own network and artistic importance but have had your roots also for many years at the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart”

Programme des festivals.

The 4th edition of the choral singing festival has started Thursday at the Desbonnet theatre with a world class concert.

The Desbonnet Theatre was full packed for the first evening of the festival organized by the local vocal ensemble A travers chant. Nicolas Testa, the conductor of the choir and organizer of the festival, started the evening thanking the partners, the choirs’ singers and all the people that have made this fourth edition possible. A bank company gave the festival a 1000 euro check in order to support the work done by the organizers.
The Belgian ensemble Les Mélomanes de Binche performed first. They opened the festival with a very festive drinking song. The audience called for an encore.
This ovation was followed by Prélude de Lille who sang a varied repertoire that went from “we must joke” (Salvador) to “the burial of a dead girl”.
After a short intermission the singers from Plaint chant de Villeneuve d’Ascq honored the spring,
The six soloists that form the Cyrillique ensemble from Saint Petersburg has made the audience vibrate with a sacred music repertoire composed by contemporary composers from this Russian city. One of its members, promoting every time the Saint Petersburg national conservatory,  presented each one of the songs in a faultless French with a charming Russian accent. They finished their performance with a very  pleasant and enjoyable Marseillaise.
The fourth festival ends its program (21 choirs, six concerts in 4 days) today at the Desbonnet theatre with 2 concerts.
-    At 6 pm the children choir Watt’ Notes, Vent du Nord Tourcoing, Cantar Hem (Hem), and the vocal group Lezennois (Lezennes).
-    At 8 pm Watt'Notes (Wattignies), Variations (Lambersart), Attention chorale (Youth ensemble Lille), Choeur du Groenberg (Bergues).


OpusChoral- March 29th 2009

It is not by chance that during these times of economic crisis we are celebrating the 200 birthday of one of the greatest presidents of American history. The one who successfully lead the country during its biggest internal crisis until that moment. Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865). This republican who fought for slavery abolitions and for black people’s rights, ironically died during the funniest moment of the play Our American cousin. The people who attended never thought that their laughter would muffle the noise of the gunshot of the 0.44 caliber Derringer. After that night Abraham Lincoln became the first American president to be assassinated.

You would ask yourselves why we are publishing this short Lincoln review in a Choral site, because even if he was a great man and a great president he doesn’t have much to do with choral music. Well, black people and their cultural traditions that have to do with the slavery have a lot to do with the choral music we listen nowadays. The vocal jazz groups that we like so much nowadays have its roots in that tradition.

The jazz was born in Louisiana, place that received a high number of slaves coming from western Africa. These slaves had the tradition to use drums while they sang (it was an important element of their religion) but in most of the American states, the use of drums was strictly forbidden, there fore they had to replace them for the hands and the feet.  This native music started to be mixed with the influences that these slaves received from the environment especially at the beginning the military bands. The subject of these songs was work, they were working songs. The improvisation was (and is) the most important element because it was what make this music different from the whites’ well-structured written music. Jazz continued evolving until our days with numerous styles,  sub styles and fusions but it was casually 50 years after Lincoln’s dead that the word jazz  was first used officially:  A recording of   the Original Dixieland Band.

Nowadays we can find  an enormous variety of vocal groups specialized in this music style such as the Gold Company, Bobby McFerrin, Take 6, new York Voices, Swingle Singers and the Real Group amongst others. We invite you to enjoy this music style!

OpusChoral- February 12th 2009

In January 20th 2009, early in the morning and before this succession ceremony that was followed up by the whole world, a private religious service had place in Saint John Church, the White House chapel. The United States President, Barack Obama and his wife as well as his vice-president Joseph Binden and his family attended this ceremony.

The Saint John chapel choir conducted by Frank Albinder is made of 12 professional singers who sung for this special service the following pieces:

-          A Swahili psalm setting from Kenya

-           Eric Whitacre : "hope, faith, life, love"

 

-          Moses Hogan arrangement of  “This Little Light of Mine”

 

January 24th 2009  – OpusChoral – gratitude to  F. Albinder