International Federation for Choral Music

On 16 September 2020, the European Choral Association - Europa Cantat (ECA-EC) hosted an Online Reception for potential recruiters and supporters of the World Youth Choir (WYC), in cooperation with the World Youth Choir Foundation Board and session manager Inês Moreira. The reception was part of the multi-annual cooperation project EP:IC (Emerging Professional: Internationalisation of music Careers) coordinated by the ECA-EC and co-funded by the European Union Creative Europe programme. EP:IC provides emerging musicians with invaluable skills and professional experience that complement their formal training and can help boost their careers at the international level. Understanding that collective music making is a powerful tool to bring people and nations together, the EP:IC project aims to assess and verify the value and impact of auditioned youth music ensembles in the professionalisation and internationalisation of careers. It intends also to improve the training of emerging professionals and to foster the creation of new ensembles across Europe. 

The goal of the WYC Online Reception was to present the World Youth Choir as a project which contributes in many ways to the professionalisation and internationalisation of careers of talented young singers. There is strong evidence that many World Youth Choir singers end up becoming well-known professional singers in different parts of the world thanks to their early experience in this special ensemble. Additionally, the reception provided an opportunity to promote the World Youth Choir with potential supporters, promoters, and session organizers. 

Guests at the reception were able to watch a presentation of the World Youth Choir and its activities, meet the people behind the project, and hear moving testimonials of WYC alumni who had originally been invited as soloists to the 2020 special project with the National Youth Orchestra of Germany in the frame of the Beethoven Anniversary year BTHVN (which unfortunately had to be cancelled). The soloists shared with the guests the incredible impact their participation in World Youth Choir sessions had on their professional careers and their connections to other professionals internationally. Since a live performance was not possible, the guests enjoyed a virtual choir video with WYC alumni singing An Irish Blessing, a song which has played a significant role in all past WYC sessions. Guests were presented with a link to access additional videos and informational material about the choir. At the end, some of the guests gathered with Board members and the session manager to have more private conversations in smaller groups and ask more specific questions. A lot of inspiring ideas came out of these group discussions, and the WYC Foundation Board will follow up on these suggestions.

If you would like to support the World Youth Choir in any way or if you would like to know more about what it means to host a session of the WYC, please write to manager@worldyouthchoir.org to ask for a link to the recorded session of the WYC Online Reception.