Every three years since 1961, the European Choral Association - Europa Cantat organises a unique festival in a different country: the EUROPA CANTAT festival. The event gathers over 4000 participants coming from all over Europe and the world to share their passion for singing and discover one another's cultures by attending ateliers and workshops, perform in final concerts, listen to invited choirs, eat, sleep and have fun together. A smaller edition, called Europa Cantat Junior and aimed for children and youth choirs, will take place in Vilnius in July 2022.
Each three years, an American country is honoured to invite all the choral conductors and singers of the world to participate in the América Cantat Choral Festival and discover the American choral music. During one week, renowned choirs of local and international prestige are engaged in artistic and academic activities, meeting colleagues and building and exchanging friendship. In each edition of this festival, several workshops and study-tours take place under world renowned conductors and composers. America Cantat took place in Argentina (1992 and 1996), Venezuela (2000), Mexico (2004), Cuba (2007), Brazil (2010), Colombia (2013), Paradise Island, Bahamas (2016) and Panama (2019). The America Cantat 10 Festival will take place in the City of La Plata, Argentina (capital of the Province of Buenos Aires), 11-15 October 2023. It will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the first version of America Cantat which was held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, in 1992.
The same concept was also created in the Asia Pacific region. The first Asia Pacific Cantat took place in Taiwan in 2007.
The first Africa Cantat was initially planned for August 2020, but was instead launched online due to Covid-19. The launch was a resounding success, with dozens of virtual concerts by 20 choirs from ten different countries, ten webinars given by experienced directors, networking and vocal warm-up sessions, and a virtual safari. To keep the flame alive, a networking session was held online in August 2021, followed by two webinars for choral directors in 2022.
The second Africa Cantat was organized in Yaoundé from 1-6 August 2023 and attended by hundreds of choirs from all Africa. The festival took place on the Nkolbisson campus of the Catholic University of Central Africa in Yaoundé. This festival initiated by the Confederation of African Choral Music (ACCM) under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture and Arts of Cameroon, Africa Cantat 2 is organised by the Association of Friends of the Madrigal Choir of René Esso of Cameroon, and supported by the IFCM, the European Choral Association, A Coeur Joie International (ACJI), Afrikiyo, and the Cameroon Federation of Choral Music A Coeur Joie (FECAMUSH-ACJ).
Official magazine of the International Federation for Choral Music, the International Choral Magazine is published quarterly in the four official languages of IFCM: English, French, German and Spanish. It is distributed in more than 80 countries on the five continents and is the official voice of choral music around the world.
Read moreOur focus at the moment is to unite the choral calendars of international choral organisations. Meanwhile please consult the calendar of choral events published by the European Choral Association - Europa Cantat here.
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