In the run up to this year’s International Choir Festival of the Pueri Cantores in Munich, a wave of young musicians swept across Germany: as part of a large-scale “pre-festival”, 13 German children’s and youth choirs in seven dioceses welcomed international partner choirs a few days before the main festival. Guests from Brazil, France, Italy, DR Congo, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the USA visited German host choirs in Berlin, Freiburg, Cologne, Augsburg, Speyer, Erfurt, Fulda and smaller towns – bringing with them music, culture, and their first shared concert experiences. The choirs then traveled together to the festival in Munich, where they joined around 4,400 participants in 170 choirs from 18 countries under the motto “Cantate Domino – Vielstimmig für den Frieden – #comeandsing.”
Cologne Cathedral Choirmaster Eberhard Metternich was responsible for the pre-festivals, which were very close to his heart: “The pre-festivals are a wonderful way to get in the mood for the big International Pueri Cantores Festival in Munich and enable the guest choirs to get in touch with German choirs even before the main event. The choirs can thus exchange musical and spiritual ideas and get to know a piece of regional culture, because in addition to encounters and hospitality, it is above all about a shared experience of faith across language barriers. Especially in times of many global challenges, personal exchange is a strong sign of the peace we want to sing about and live together. Accommodating guests in host families creates intense personal contacts and makes a valuable contribution to an international understanding.”
In addition to a wide range of leisure activities (excursions, games and fun, sightseeing, barbecues…), the partner choirs rehearsed together, celebrated Mass, gave concerts, sang peace prayers, and came together in larger numbers for sending ceremonies.
Participating Choirs
Jugendchor St. Oswald, Buchen (Germany) – Pueri Cantores “D. Zamberletti”, Macerata (Italy)
Mädchenkantorei am Freiburger Münster, Freiburg (Germany) – Le Choeur d’Enfants de Bretagne, Rennes (France)
Jugendchor Unterwegs und Junger Chor Achern-Fautenbach, Achern-Fautenbach (Germany) – Arautos do Grande Rei, Xaxim (Brazil)
Singschule DoReMi, Waldshut (Germany) – Petits Chanteurs de la Trinité, Béziers (France)
Mädchenchkantorei am Paderborner Dom, Paderborn (Germany) – Chorale Pueri Cantores Saint Dominique Savio, Bujumbura (Burundi) (unfortunately the choir had to cancel on short notice)
Kinder- und Jugendchor der Mescheder Stiftsmusik, Meschede (Germany) – Młodzieżowy Chór Miejski Canticum Novum, Wodzisław Śląski (Poland)
Jugendchor der Antoniusmusik Wuppertal, Wuppertal (Germany) – Pueri et Juvenes Cantores Torrespaccata, Rom (Italy)
Kölner Domchor und Mädchenkantorei am Kölner Dom, Köln (Germany) – Pueri Cantores de la Catedral de Granada, Granada (Spain)
Augsburger Domsingknaben, Augsburg (Germany) – Maîtrise des Chartreux, Lyon (France)
Kinder- und Jugendchor am Erfurter Dom, Erfurt (Germany) – Pueri Cantantes Cathedralis, Stockholm (Sweden)
St. Jacobus Schifferstadt, Schifferstadt (Germany) – Golden Gate Boys Choir, Oakland/California (USA)
Dommusik Speyer, Speyer (Germany) – Canarinhos de Petrópolis, Petrópolis (Brazil)
Kinder- und Jugendchor der St.-Hedwigs-Kathedrale Berlin, Berlin (Germany) – Petits Chanteurs de Grenoble, Grenoble (France)
