LA TICH AJORNADA - THE TICH HAS POSTPONED

AJORNADA - POSTPONED

For causes beyond to the Federation of Clavé Choirs the III encounter of Men Choirs (TICH), caused by the current national and international socio-economical situation, that had to be celebrated on July of 2011 has postponed until new dates to determine"

Per motius aliens a la voluntat de la Federació de Cors de Clavé causades per l'actual situació socio-econòmica nacional i internacional, la III edició de la Trobada Internacional de Cors d'Homes (TICH) ha estat ajornada fins a noves dates per determinar

About the Festival ...

Introduction

The International Male Choirs Festival (Trobada Internacional de Cors d'Homes - TICH) it's an initiative of the a Federació de Cors de Clavé, which is calling now for the third edition (the festival it's being celebrated every five years) male choirs from all over the world to take part on the festival. The goals of the festival are to work along with international choirs, keep contact with them, discuss and promote the choral movement, as well as let them enjoy of the different cultures that are being represented on the festival around Catalonia. The first edition - on 2005 – was a complete success in every single concert that took place, as well as the quality of the international choirs. Besides of that, the social role of the festival was proudly reached, creating a link between the international, local choirs and their audiences.
For this edition, we are inviting up to five male choirs, they will discover our land, Catalonia, sing in different cities and towns, and sing all together in a marvellous venue, the Palau de la Música Catalana, the palace of catalan music.

Round table

As stated on the first edition, there will be an academic event, a round table, where the 5 choir conductors, univeristy teachers and choral music experts will discuss about the male choirs today, repertoires ... An abstract from the pasts editions can be found in http://www.malechoirs.cat/

Who is organizing the festival?

The Federació de Cors de Clavé (FCC) is the oldest choral association in Spain and Portugal, with more than 165 associated choirs all over the catalan culture region. We are giving to those choirs administrative, educational, musical and legal assistance to the choir singers and their music directors.
The FCC is also member of the Moviment Coral Català, member and co-fundator of the Festival Europa Cantat XV Barcelona 2003 and member of the Federation International of Choral Music.
Itself include mixed choirs, youths, infants, womens and the most representative, the men choirs. This Federation has the name of the founer, Josep Anselm Clavé, a important person in the Catalan history from the XIXth century, he also was the founder of the 1st men's choirs of Iberian peninsule. Due this reason,the FCC has an important paper in the social and cultural life in our country.

When and where will it take place?

The festival will take place from the 3th to the 8th of July, 2011, both days included. We do require the international choirs to arrive one day before the festival begins.
Each choir will perfom 3 local concerts, some of them will be in medium size towns or in small villages. For those concerts, the scenario is usually a romanic church, local theater or a social meeting point. Each of those concerts has usually a "welcome performance" of a local choir. You can find below a location map of the cities and towns which welcomed our choirs on the pasts editions.
On the 4th of July 2011, the 5 international choirs will perform on a marvellous venue, the Palace of Catalan Music (El Palau de la Música Catalana) probably the best concert hall in Barcelona, a modernist building with a wonderful sound. This concert will have an audience of up to 2.000 people. Since we are a non profit organization, all our concerts are free.
The international choirs, accommodated in a hotel in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, will also have a guided tour and visit some of our cultural highlights.

Where took the lasts editions places?

The pasts editions took places in 19+16 catalan locations:

2005 year: Barcelona, Berga, Cabrils, Castellar del Vallès, Castelldefels, Cubelles, Figueres, Gavà, Gelida, Juneda, La Garriga, Malgrat de Mar, Palau Solità i Plegamans, Premià de Mar, Tàrrega, Sabadell, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Viladecans and Vilafranca del Penedès.

2008 year: Barcelona, Berga, Castellar del Vallès, Castelldefels, Cubelles, Figueras, Gavà, Gelida, Juneda, La Garriga, Malgrat de Mar, Palau Solità i Plegamans, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Viladecans, Vilafranca del Penedès and Vila-seca.

Calling for Male Choirs! Summer 2011!

Introduction

The “Federació de Cors de Clavé” (Federation of Clavé's Choirs) is a non-profit organization declared of public interest by Spanish government that gathers together about 165 choirs, whose some of them are male choirs. It is the oldest choir federation in Catalonia –its origins date back to 1862- and it works in the geographic area where Catalan language is present.
On 2005 and 2008, we have organized the 1st and 2nd Male Choirs International Festival (www.malechoirs.cat), in which 6 and 5 choirs respectively, from around the globe took part: Basque Country, USA, Wales, Serbia, Czech Republic and Yugoslavia in 2005 and Denmark, United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Germany and Holland. It was an international and successful event for culture and choir music.

The 3rd MALE CHOIRS INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

It will take place from 2th to 8th July, 2011.

Requisites:
• To be a male choir outside the Catalan speaking language area.
• To assume the expenses of travelling to the festival area (Barcelona's metropolitan area).
• To engage during the festival in 4 performances: 3 all over Catalonia and one in the main act that will be held in the “Palau de la Música Catalana” (Barcelona) on Sunday the 3 th of July, 2011.
• To perform the compulsory piece “Les Flors de Maig“ from Josep Anselm Clavé, the organization will deliver the scores anticipatory, as well as a CD recording.
• Take part on a round table with university experts about the male choral music movement.

What do we offer?

• Accommodation for the choir from Saturday the 2nd to Friday the 8th 2011, both included. Up to 50 attendants (only singers, conductor, and music players) in double, triple and four bed rooms.
• In the case that the choir travels using their own mean of transport – e.g. coach -, the organization will assume most of the expenses derived from inland trips to performing places.
• The possibility to arrange the accommodation –in charge of invited choir- of companions, always prior upon arrival with time enough. The cost will be detailed in the next few weeks.

How to apply?

Note:
• Applying for the Festival implies accepting the conditions and rules established by the organization and the eventual modifications.
• Invited choirs have to pay, at least two months before the Festival, a deposit of 600.00 €, that will be returned at the beginning the Festival.
• Invited choir will have to settle the accommodation of their companions at least 45 days before the Festival.



Application form

Choir’s name:
Address:
City:
Country:
e-mail:
website:
Amount of singers:
Amount of instrumentalists:
Instruments needed? Which ones?
Choir type:
· Male choirs
· Barbershop Male Choirs
· Academic Male Choirs
· Gregorian Chant Male Choirs
· Orthodox Chant Male Choirs
· Male Ensembles
· Barbershop Male Ensembles
· Academic Male Ensembles
· Synagogue Male Choirs
· Boys Choirs
· Others, please specify
Amount of companions:

Contact person (must speak English, Italian, Catalan or Spanish):
Name:
e-mail:
Phone and Cell phone: /




A committee of musical experts will be in charge of selecting the choirs. The result of the selection will be published on November, 2010.

Interested choirs should send, by September the 30th, the application along with a brief history of the choir, experience and relevant facts, interpretation style, recordings and all what they consider relevant to:

Federació de Cors de Clavé
Plaça de Víctor Balaguer 5, 4art
E-08003 Barcelona (Spain)
info@malechoirs.cat
www.malechoirs.cat

This newsletter is only a way to communicate with choirs interested on this event, if you are receiving it and you are not interested on it, just reply this e-mail with the subject: delete, and your e-mail will be automatically deleted from our database. Thank you!

Les Flors de Maig, el cant comú al Palau de la Música

Un dels objectius de la Trobada Internacional de Cors d'homes és la de divulgar peces del repertori català de veus masculines, per la qual cosa, es lliura als directors de les corals participants un cançoner, igualment a l'acte central de la trobada que tindrà lloc el diumenge 3 de juliol de 2011 al Palau de la Música catalana totes les corals participants interpretarant com a cant comú la peça musical de Josep Anselm Clavé "Les Flors de Maig".

En aquest bloc, en els arxius adjunts, es troben les partitures, un enregistrament sonor i la transcripció fonètica d'aquesta obra de Josep Anselm Clavé.

La 3a Trobada Internacional de Cors d’Homes

L’any 2011 està previst de realitzar la 3a Trobada Internacional de Cors d’Homes. Lluny queden aquells dies previs a la celebració del Fòrum Universal de les Cultures Barcelona 2004, en els quals vàrem plantejar, seguint la crida que se’ns va fer per a participar-hi, l’oportunitat de donar a conèixer l’especificitat coral d’homes sols, conscients que era una realitat compartida en molts països fins i tot més enllà d’Europa.

Sempre ens hem plantejat la realització d’aquesta activitat com un revulsiu intern del col·lectiu de cantaires de veus iguals. Si volem avançar i millorar, hem de ser capaços de conèixer i de donar a conèixer, de compartir, d’aprendre i d’ensenyar, i quina millor forma que l’organització d’una trobada periòdica, que es transforma cada tres anys en un espai d’estudi, i de festa per donar a conèixer arreu del territori aquesta realitat coral, de la qual la FCC n’és el màxim exponent a Catalunya. Hem de ser capaços de generar espais i oportunitats que vagin més enllà dels espais propis i/o més propers. Si no ho fem així, estem condemnats al fracàs i a l’estancament.

És per això que aquestes trobades les enfoquem com un espai d’aprenentatge i d’im

plicació dels nostres col·lectius. No volem fer tan sols actes brillants, sinó que el que volem és aprendre, conèixer i millorar els nostres col·lectius de cantaires! Generar les oportunitats perquè això sigui possible.

Els cors de veus iguals són una formació coral que ens personalitza i ens fa diferents. És a partir d’aquesta diferència que ens plantegem les relacions internacionals, amb d’altres col·lectius que també tenen la seva especificitat i tradició. La Federació de Cors de Clavé és l’única federació que aglutina els actuals cors d’homes catalans, per l

a qual cosa té un deure envers aquests col·lectius específics de cara a la seva potenciació, creixement i vitalitat. Les Trobades Internacionals de Cors d’Homes tenen aquesta finalitat social intrínseca i nostra.

Els cors masculins són escassos i relativament rars, sigui quin sigui l’entorn on es troben. Gairebé tots pateixen d’una manca de cantaires i, molts, d’un excessiu envelliment dels components. Ara bé, internacionalment parlant no sempre és així i hi ha notables diferències.Mentre que uns cors procedeixen d’una tradició coral antiga, que es pot vincular ja sigui a les antigues capelles religioses (sobretot en cors centreeuropeus o de l’Europa de l’Est) o a les tradicions cíviques d’homes que canten (com serien alguns de l’Europa del nord o els nostres cors de Clavé), altres s’han fundat com una alternativa moderna al món coral mixt. En aquest darrer grup hi ha cors de l’Europa occidental que cerquen un llenguatge atractiu dins de les tradicions de l’Europa de l’Est, o cors que fent emblema per exemple d’una orientació sexual “alternativa” encara avui, han aconseguit un altíssim nombre de cantaires i un espai gairebé privilegiat en alguns mitjans de comunicació.

La qüestió candent és què podem fer per incentivar els cors masculins? Les respostes no són clares ni unívoques. Només des de la diversitat es poden entendre els cors d’homes avui, i és aquesta varietat el que enriqueix el panorama i ofereix interessos a sectors socials ben diversos. I sempre amb l’objectiu principal que els cors masculins afavoreixin la reunió i el diàleg social, que siguin un lloc de trobada, de gaudi i d’intervenció en la vida de les comunitats respectives.

Cal imaginació, voluntarisme i empenta. Aquesta Trobada és una resposta concreta a aquest repte.

Welcome

Welcome to the official blog of the International Meeting of Male Choirs that will be held in Barcelona during the first week of July, 2011.