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European Grand Prix for Choral Singing

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The European Grand Prix for Choral Singing (in French, Grand Prix European de Chant Choral, commonly abbreviated as European Choral Grand Prix or GPE) is an annual choral competition between the winners of six European choral competitions. It was inaugurated in 1989.

Despite its name, the GPE is not limited to European choirs; this is because choirs from any part of the world (inside and outside Europe) can join the choral competitions in any of the the GPE's member-cities. As of 2006, two choirs from the United States, one choir from Japan and one choir from the Philippines have won the GPE. In addition, the contest is not limited to adult choirs; two of the grand prize-winning choirs are children's choirs.

The latest winner of the GPE (2006, in Tolosa, Italy) is The University of Utah Singers from Salt Lake City,  United States.


Organizing committee and member cities

The GPE is organized by the organizing committees of the following choral competitions, from which the GPE contenders are selected:

  1. Concorso Polifónico Guido d'Arezzo (International Guido d'Arezzo Polyphonic Contest) - Arezzo, Italy
  2. Bela Bartok International Choir Competition - Debrecen, Hungary
  3. Concorso «Cesare Augusto (C.A.) Seghizzi» (C.A. Seghizzi Competition) - Gorizia, Italy (also known as the Seghizzi contest)
  4. Concurso Coral de Tolosa (Tolosa Choral Competition) - Tolosa, Spain
  5. Florilège Vocal de Tours (Tours Vocal Competition) - Tours, France
  6. International May Choir Competition «Prof. G. Dimitrov» - Varna, Bulgaria

Each individual contest is usually referred to by the name of its host city instead of the competition's official title. The grand prize winners of each contest are automatically eligible to compete at the GPE.

The hosting of each annual GPE competition is rotated among the six member cities. The last GPE in 2006 was held in Tolosa, Basque Cuontry, Spain.


Regulations

Eligibility

As mentioned earlier, the contest is open only to the grand prize winners of the six member European choral competitions in the previous year. In other words, if a choir wins the grand prize in any of the six cities' choral contests, it is eligible for then next year's GPE. Consequently, this also means that, unlike other choral competitions, the GPE does not solicit participants to the contest; no choir may directly apply or audition in order to join the GPE. If an eligible choir backs out, a substitute choir may take its place; as a penalty, any choir that backs out will not be eligible to compete in any of the six qualifying contests for the next year.

No choir may win the grand prize in more than one qualifying competition in a single year. For example, if a choir is named the grand prize winner in Arezzo, it is automatically disqualified to compete in the contests from the five remaining cities for the rest of the year.

There are no specific regulations prohibiting a former finalist (or even a former laureate) from competing in (or even winning again) the GPE more than once. For example, the Philippine Madrigal Singers (laureate of the 1997 GPE) have won the 2006 Florilège Vocal de Tours, making them eligible for the GPE for the second time (in 2007). [1]

Repertoire and choir membership

Each competing choir is required to sing the same repertoire program that they performed in respective competitions. Choirs are encouraged to perform songs from various era and composers. Songs with accompaniment (by any instrument) are allowed as long as the total length of accompanied songs do not exceed ten (10) minutes. The host city determines the total maximum performance time allowed to each finalist.

Each competing choir is also required to have the same number of singers it had from the qualifying competition, plus or minus ten percent (10%) of that number. The total number of singers per choir may be a minimum of 12 singers and a maximum of 60 singers regardless of the number of voice sections or groups; this is because the eligibility requirements vary for each of the six qualifying competitions. Because of this, it is possible for a mixed-voice choirs to compete directly against all-male and all-female choirs; it is also possible for children's choirs to compete against adult choirs (and even win, as in 2000 and 2001).

The grand prize winner

The GPE grand prize winner, or laureate, is awarded a diploma, a trophy and additional prizes to be determined by the host city, including a cash price of up to 4,000 Euros (usually awarded).

The GPE laureate is not allowed to compete in any international choral competition for seven years (i.e. until after the next time the same host city where they won gets to host the GPE again). Because of its strict regulations, no choir has won the GPE more than once. However, if the Philippine Madrigal Singers win the grand prize in 2007, they will be the only choir in the competition's history win the GPE grand prize twice (see Eligibility, above).

List of Winners

The following are the list of grand prize winners for the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing. [2] [3] [4]

Laureates of the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing
Year Host Choir Director/Conductor City of Origin Country of Origin
1989 Arezzo Kammerkoret Poul Emborg and Fleming Windekilde Copenhagen  Denmark
1990 Debrecen (postponed) NA NA NA
1991 Tours Chamber Choir of the Conservatoire Tadas Sumskas Vilnius  Lithuania
1992 Gorizia St Jacobs Kammerchör Gary Graden Stockholm  Sweden
1993 Varna Jauna Musika Vaclovas Augustinas and R. Skapas Vilnius  Lithuania
1994 Tolosa The Mats Nilsson Vocal Ensemble Mats Nilsson Stockholm  Sweden
1995 Arezzo Kallos Choir Fumiaki Kuriyama Tokyo  Japan
1996 Debrecen Pro Musica Leanikar Denes Szabo Nyiregyhaza  Hungary
1997 Tours Philippine Madrigal Singers Andrea Veneracion Quezon City  Philippines
1998 Gorizia University of Missisipi Concert Singers Jerry Jordan Oxford, MS  United States
1999 Varna Lunds Vocal Ensemble Ingemar Mansson Lund  Sweden
2000 Tolosa Vesna Children Choir Alexander Ponomariov Moscow  Russia
2001 Debrecen Magnificat Children Choir Valeria Szebelledi Budapest  Hungary
2002 Arezzo A.P.Z. Tone Tomsic Stojan Kuret Ljubljana  Slovenia
2003 Tours Ensemble Brevis Gintautas Venislovas Vilnius  Lithuania
2004 Gorizia Jauniesu Koris "Kamer..." Maris Sirmais Riga  Latvia
2005 Varna Allmånna Sangen Cecilia Rydenger Ahlin Uppsala  Sweden
2006 Tolosa The University of Utah Singers Brady Allred Salt Lake City  United States

Here are the tally of winners by country as of 2006:

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