Aarhus Vocal Festival - Day 3 - May 13, 2006
Danish Radio is covering parts of this event, being broadcast
nationally. Even I got interviewed this morning! It was
strange, because it was all in Danish, and the interviewer would
switch to English right at the very end. It went something like
this, from my point of view:
Lars (the interviewer): "Bjørken deerga
nørken børken oogen sweegen, and then you mix it,
right Bill?"
Me: Ummm... yeah.
Today was very, very busy and jam-packed! no less
than 21 full performances by great groups, 2 separate competitions
- one each for choirs and vocal groups. Top prize in each competition
is 15,000 Danish Kroner (approximately US$2600), with the second
and third place winners in each category winning 7,500 DKK (US$1300)
each. A total of 6 nice cash prizes!
There was a bit of overlap in that a "choir" could be
12 or more, a "vocal group" 14 or less, so there were
a couple "contemporary"
groups in the choir competition and vice-versa.
The esteemed judges - Matthias Becker, Jens Johansen, and Andrea
Figallo
The last group in the choral competition, Denmark's Vox11,
reminded me much
of the North American collegiate A Cappella groups - a look and
sound that I haven't heard
much at this festival.
Next up were Apes and Babes from Norway. I worked on their
2004 album, "Rå", but this was the first time
I've ever seen them live! Video
Here!
Pussy DeLuxe, from Germany, incorporates electric bass with their
vocals.
Before anyone reels back in terror, do remember this is a "vocal
festival" rather than an "A Cappella festival"!
One of the rules of the competition included a compulsory song
for a more even comparison - here
is a video
of one of 6 versions of "Feelings" we heard that day!
A photo-op with reSound!
I visited reSOUND! in Sweden a couple years ago, as well
as baSix here in Denmark,
so it was fun seeing friends of mine from different countries
all sitting together at mealtimes.
Yeah, I think this board will do for the concert tonight!
Rajaton, of Finland, opened the show and kept everyone entranced
for the next hour.
Video Here!
Awards ceremony between acts for the two competitions.
In the choral competition, the 15,000 DKK prize went to Vivid
Voices, of Germany.
7,500 DKK each to Vox 11 and Groovy Voices, both of Denmark.
In the Vocal Group competition, the 15,000 DKK grand
prize went to Norway's Apes and Babes,
and 7,500 each to Niniwe (Germany) and Nfinity (Denmark)
My dear friends of baSix take the stage!
I have been working with this group for a few years over several
projects, but this was the first
time I've seen them perform live. Video
Here!
baSix with both their live and album engineers!
Afterwards, we all went to another late night afterparty with
much singing - there are 41 groups here - plenty to go around!