International Federation for Choral Music

2020 WORLD YOUTH CHOIR AUDITIONS

Are you or any of your choristers/students...

• Between 17 and 26 years old on July 1, 2020,
• A passionate choral singer,
• From a background of basic or semi-professional music education,
• Ready to meet new friends all over the world,
• Able to speak English at an intermediate level,
• Seeking a different professional challenge, and
• Eager to learn in a multicultural environment?

Then you are ready to apply for the 2020 World Youth Choir!

In July and August 2020, the World Youth Choir will have a special session in the frame of the festivities for the Beethoven 250th Birthday Anniversary Year. Joining the National Youth Orchestra of Germany (Bundesjugendorchester), the 2020 WYC programme will be Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and a commissioned work by Tan Dun entitled ‘’Nine’’.

• Session dates: July 30, 2020 (day of arrival) to August 20, 2020 (day of departure).
• Location: Rehearsal session in Bonn, Germany, followed by a tour with concerts in Germany, Netherlands, Austria and Italy
• First concert: August 8, 2020 - Beethoven 2020 Gala concert with the first performance of Tan Dun’s ‘‘Nine’’.
• Artistic Team: Tan Dun (USA), composer of the commissioned work, will conduct the first concerts in the tour, including the Gala concert in Bonn; Jörn Hinnerk Andresen (Germany) will conduct the remaining concerts. Soloists will be World Youth Choir alumni.

Additional opportunity

The European Choral Association – Europa Cantat, one of the patrons of the World Youth Choir, will be putting together a special European Youth Choir for the final concert of the Beethoven Anniversary year 2020 on December 17th2020. The choir will also perform Beethoven’s 9thsymphony with the West-Eastern Divan Ensemble conducted by Daniel Barenboim. In addition they will perform a short a cappella programme directed by Simon Halsey (UK) who will also prepare the choir. Singers under 30 with a European citizenship or living in a European country can apply for this project with the same audition material – however, deadline for applications is 31/10/2019. For more information see www.EuropeanChoralAssociation.org—> activities.

Important Dates

September 2019 - Worldwide recruitment will start via national recruiters and/or direct application for countries without national recruiters. The official information will be announced via the World Youth Choir website and social media.

October 31, 2019 - Deadline for aplying to the European Choral Association – Europa Cantat for the project with Daniel Barenboim and Simon Halsey as additional opportunity.

December 1, 2019 - Deadline for submitting audition materials to the international jury for the2020 World Youth Choir session. NOTE: Audition deadline dates in countries with National Recruiters may be earlier in order to facilitate national juries.

End of January 2020 - The international jury will announce the selected psingers for the World Youth Choir 2020 summer session.

See WYC website for more audition details (to be published soon).