Children’s choir festival: 250 children sing from December 8th to 10th in Linz and the surrounding area

It is a special event in many ways. Not because it only takes place in Upper Austria every 27 years. “Every year there is a youth or children’s choir festival or a state youth choir meeting in a different federal state,” explains co-organizer Stefan Kaltenböck of the Wheel of the Austrian Choir Association. After Vienna and Salzburg, this year it’s Upper Austria’s turn: from December 8th to 10th, ten choirs (one from South Tyrol) and 250 children in Linz will share “the joy of singing. There are zero competitive thoughts at this meeting.” Nevertheless, participation is an honor: “The state choir association selects the choirs; it is also an award for their work.”

After singing together to get to know each other on Friday, there are five concerts on Saturday: A host choir meets two other choirs – in Linz in the Adalbert Stifter Gymnasium (5 p.m.), the Martin Luther Church (5 p.m.), but also in the Musikhaus Walding (5 p.m.), in St. Florian Abbey (4:30 p.m.) and in the Wilhering Collegiate Church (4 p.m.). On Sunday all choirs sing on Linz Cathedral Square. “If you’re there from eleven to one, you can experience all ten. It’s certainly a great atmosphere when 250 singing children are bustling around,” says the Innviertel native from Ried, who studied in Graz. He himself gained his first choir experience “as a little dwarf at the age of six” with a folk music group. At the age of 16 he led his first choir – made up of friends from the Catholic Youth. “It was said: You can play a little piano, you do it.” In 2019 he took over the position of choir director at the Linz Music High School from Wolfgang Mayrhofer – “a jackpot”. He also teaches children’s and youth choir conducting at the Bruckner University in Linz. “Singing is diametrically opposed to the tendency of individualism and the idea of ​​achievement. In a choir it only works together, it doesn’t really matter whether I’m the best in this group or not.” And: “Any person who can speak can learn to sing.” (kasch)

Info: www.chvooe.at/events/
1510 children’s choir festival