Festival of choirs in Gossau

Guests enter the festival mile through a large, signposted gate right next to the train station; this event is billed as a "festival of short distances". It feels as if you are entering the grounds of a folk festival, a wrestling or yodeling festival for example. There are sausage and drinks stalls, ice cream and other down-to-earth fare.

Older gentlemen sit together with white wine or beer and sing a folk song. A large marquee awaits music enthusiasts, and a veritable circus tent rises up in the middle of the festival meadow. Other concert venues are grouped around the grounds. On the afternoon of the first day, there isn't much going on yet. The May sun is hotter than usual at this time of year and beads of sweat glisten on the foreheads of the choir masters.

The Ascension weekend is traditionally a festival-intensive date. After the biennial European Youth Choir Festival was able to take place last year - albeit in a smaller form - this period was free this year for the Festival of Choirs and the Swiss Children's and Youth Choir Festival (Skjf). Both events therefore took place at the same time, the Skjf under the motto "Save the singing planet" from May 26 to 29 in Winterthur. The Swiss Singing Festival made a virtue out of necessity. It literally created a link between the festival locations and invented a new format with intergenerational singing: on Friday, May 27, a singing train brought various children's and youth choirs from Winterthur to Gossau; these performed so-called puzzle concerts together with adult choirs.

A wide range of events covering many aspects of singing is now common at major choir festivals. The weekend from Friday, May 20 to Sunday, May 22, as well as the Ascension weekend in Gossau belonged to around 340 choirs, 9000 singers and choral associations from all cantons. There were 125 concerts to enjoy at 9 venues, including festive concerts and church services. On the singing islands, ensembles were able to perform and be heard spontaneously in the open air. There were also the very popular concerts from half past nine in front of experts. Here, the choirs were assessed objectively by experts and received advice on how to improve their singing. At the same time, there were daily "Encounter Concerts", which focused on the interaction between choirs - encounter is one of the basic principles of the festival. Singing together with the audience was cultivated in the afternoon concerts.

The educational side was not neglected either. In taster workshops, participants could learn the secrets of overtone singing from Marcello Wick or be taught the yodeling technique by Nadja Räss. Under the guidance of Bliss, the successful Swiss a cappella band, ensembles were able to work on the musical realization of a song, performance, expression and stage presence.
Monday to Wednesday were "Gossau School Days". The local schools organized their own festival with rehearsals and concerts.

The festival kicked off with plenty of top-class shows. The bar for singing culture was set high on the very first day. The two formations Singfrauen Winterthur (directed by Franziska Welti) and Cantaurora (directed by Peter Appenzeller) gave a rendezvous at the festival concert in St. Andrew's Church. Under Welti's suggestive direction, the women's choir impressed with catchy arrangements and impeccable intonation. With a block of songs from the Ukraine, they set a sign of solidarity. Peter Appenzeller and his top choir focused on songs from Graubünden. The subtleties, pianos and dynamics on offer here were astonishing. The two choirs performed one song together and the audience was humorously encouraged to sing along.

The evening recording for the SRF music channel in the circus tent featured four top choirs. After the jointly sung festival song (composed by Guido Helbling), the enchanting children's and youth choir Coro Calicantus from Locarno, the Chœur des Armaillis de la Gruyère with touching folk song arrangements, the ambitious Consonus Vocalensemble and the highly musical Bündner Jugendchor took turns to perform (listen on: https://www.srf.ch/audio/so-toents).
The opening ceremony on Saturday was well attended. In the presence of Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter and many local celebrities, Beni Thurnheer presented a varied show in the marquee.

What makes this Swiss singing festival so special, however, are the countless singing associations, men's and women's choirs that do a great job year in, year out. At eight in the evening, the members of the Sängerbund Meiringen men's choir were waiting at the station for the train home. Tired but happy, they reported on their singing in front of the experts: "It went very well, almost too well. Everything went just as we had planned," said one of the singers proudly.