For the benefit of those who did not receive the early editions of our newsletter perhaps a few initial basic facts will be appropriate: WSCM is the most important returning event in the international choral world. It takes place every three years and the most recent gatherings were in 2005 in Kyoto (Japan) and in 2002 in Minneapolis (USA). This year’s Symposium which will be held July 19th through 26th in Copenhagen (Denmark) will be the 8th in the row so the abbreviation WSCM8 is appropriate in more than one way. It will be hosted at Copenhagen’s new state-of-the-art opera house which is located on the waterfront vis-a-vis the royal palace.

 

Following the tradition of past symposia the Copenhagen Symposium will present a large number of workshops and master classes with conductors, composers and other specialists from all over the world. A superb selection of some of the world’s best choirs will be giving concerts as part of the day-time program at the opera and at night in city churches and concert halls. Activities at the opera will be reserved for Symposium delegates while the evening concerts will also be open to the public. Most of the choirs and workshop holders were selected because of their relevance to the overall theme of the week as a whole: “Choral music meets its audience”. The ambition is to provide new inspiration by exploring as many aspects as possible of how traditional ways of presenting choral music to an audience could be challenged and developed; by using special choreography, lighting, elements of dance or drama or by actively involving the audience in the performance.