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Published: July 21st 2013
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Competition day 2 - started the morning with our folk song set, which went extremely well. We then changed quickly, and wandered out into the plaza by the conference centre to do a bit of rehearsing of El Hambo on the off chance that we were going be in the Grand Prix competition. As we were rehearsing on the stairs, a small group of Chinese children came over, curious, and EM showed them the score and had them follow along. They loved it. At one point we asked them to sing... But the problem was that they didn't speak English, so they had to run for a translator. Once they did, though, and our request was passed on, they sang for us, and it was lovely. In return we sang "Tell My Ma" and then the ultimate meeting of cultures occurred when a mutual knowledge of some Justin Bieber songs was discovered, and we all sang together.
We had to leave then, though, and head to the Marktplatz for an
11:00 "Friendship Concert", which was basically a half-hour set, followed by half-hour sets from three other choirs (Germany, Korea and ... somewhere else). As that was going on we grabbed some time to continue El Hambo rehearsal and then have lunch before the
2:00 results announcement in the market square.
Rehearsal did not go particularly well, especially the A1 part, as it quickly became fairly evident that almost none of us had truly ever learned the line properly. Results announcements were
at 2:00, so we crammed into the (very hot - it was 30 degrees) Marktplatz and started to listen. Results were announced in reverse order - lowest score first, leading Ho to the highest score. There's a points system, and a certain number of points got you either a bronze level, a silver level, or a gold level. The highest score in each class (provided they got a gold level) won the class.
Our first category was announced - the chamber competition. There were four competitors in the class, and it was down to the final two when we were called. It was disappointing to hear that we were second... Especially given that there may be some issues with rules and the winner and such, but more on that later. The second of our classes to be announced was the folk class. Again, down to the final two when we were called. We were beaten by some Chinese children that apparently had acrobatics in their act, so... I guess that makes sense. The sacred music class was the last class to be announced, and we came in fourth there. It was disappointing that we didn't win any of our classes and get to compete in the Grand Prix, but it relieved me of the stress of having to learn El Hambo by rote in 2 hours. And honestly, that was an immense relief. During our short rehearsal I was close to tears thinking I wouldn't be able to do it.
We headed back to the hotel to drop of excess stuff and shower and such, and then several of us headed back into town to find dinner. After lots and lots of schnitzel, it was time for sushi, and we actually found a really good (and apparently the only) sushi restaurant in town. After that it was back to the hotel for drinks to drown our sorrows/celebrate not having to sing El Hambo. It was at the hotel that we found out that Heather has re-read the rules, and the Chamber category apparently requires a minimum of 6 people in the choir. The winners only have 5. I'm not sure what approach HJ is going to take about this.
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Heather Friedenthal
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I love reading this, Kate. Keep me updated about what, if anything, happened with the rules thing in the Chamber class.