International Francophone Choir Festival in Edmonton July 7th—15th, 2012

Choralies internationales 2012, planned for July of 2012 in Edmonton, will be a musical and cultural event of international calibre. With more than a 1000 choristers coming from France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, the Congo, Martinique, South America, the US, Quebec and from across Canada, this festival will be one of the largest cultural gatherings in the history of Western Canada. These major international festivals are almost always held in Europe and very rarely in Canada. In 2012, it will be Edmonton's turn to host the world. The festival's theme “Toi, moi, tout un monde!” [You, Me, Quite a World!],  based on the piece of the same name by Edmonton composer France Levasseur-Ouimet, aptly states the very inclusive, multicultural nature of this event.
The Choralies internationales 2012 will be held in Edmonton from July 7th to 15th 2012. It will include several components:

1. Massed-choir singing in which the 1000-1500 singers from around the world will prepare a common repertoire of 15 pieces to sing in the final gala concert at the Winspear Centre for Music on July 15th. Each participating country/province will contribute one piece to this repertoire with the balance being drawn from Alberta composers, notably France Levasseur-Ouimet and Allan Bevan. The rehearsals for this portion of the festival will take place during the mornings on the campus of the University of Alberta throughout the week.
2. Each afternoon the large group will subdivide into approximately ten smaller groups, each working with a master conductor to prepare a large-scale piece for concerts at the end of the week. A variety of conductors will be chosen to lead these sessions, with approximately 1/3 each coming from abroad, Québec and Western Canada. One of the pieces prepared will be the Alberta masterpiece Elles s'appelaient Marie mentioned above, which will be featured at the final concert. These workshops/rehearsals will also take place on the U of A campus as well as some downtown churches
3. Several concerts will take place each evening featuring many of the invited choirs from around the world. These will be held in several locations downtown, notably McDougall United Church, All Saints' Cathedral, First Presbyterian, as well as, we hope, City Hall. We also intend to have an outdoor stage downtown that would feature choral singing during the noon hour, perhaps as part of the Street Performers' Festival.

The invited main chorus will be Les petits chanteurs de Saint-Marc, the ensemble that was featured in the multiple award-winning film Les choristes (The Chorus). Arguably the most famous choir in the world at present, their participation alone will bring the notoriety of the festival to a new level and Alberta audiences will delight in their performances. They have accepted to do a tour of Alberta at the end of the festival.

Opening and closing gala concerts will be held in the beautiful Winspear Centre for Music. These performances will represent the largest choral concerts that have been held to date in this world-class concert hall.

More details will soon be available on the web site: http://www.csj.ualberta.ca/choralies2012/