This April 7th-11th, the European School Brussels 1 Secondary Choir took part in the International Choir Festival and Contest – ‘Golden Voices of Montserrat’ – in Catalonia, Spain. 71 students participated under the direction of Joanna Musko, accompanied on the piano by Agnieszka Zywert and supported by six other Uccle teachers and staff.

We are delighted to share that the choir achieved great success at this, the first contest ever undertaken by the EEB1 Secondary Choir. It won 1st prize in the ‘Academic Singing’ category and 2nd prize in the ‘World Sacred Music’ category.

The youth performed both competition programmes brilliantly! 11 choirs from Turkey, Lithuania, Romania, Hungary, Georgia and Belgium took part in the competition, and artists from Germany, Kazakhstan and Morocco also participated in the Festival.

During the Opening Concert, it was already evident that the level of the participating ensembles was very high, which further motivated the youth in their preparations for the contest. This took place at the Parish Church of Sant Roma in Lloret de Mar.

The choirs were evaluated by an international jury of renowned conductors, composers and educators. We would like to thank everyone who cheered us on during the competition presentations! It was a memorable and very valuable experience for all participants, students and teachers alike.

One of the top highlights of the trip was giving a full-programme concert – ‘Canto por y para la juventud… con amor’ – for young people from four secondary schools in Barcelona. This took place at the Conservatorio Municipal de Música de Barcelona. The Choir received a very warm and enthusiastic welcome from the ‘full house’. We hope you will join us for the Concert on the 28th: LET OUR LOVE BE HEARD – by you!