10.08.2010: A week with Rajaton and Bob Chilcott

We are excited to announce that we will be returning to Festival 500 once again in the summer of 2011. But this time there is a bit of a twist. We will not be participating in the choir festival, but instead, in a small vocal ensemble program which will be run by the six members of Rajaton, an absolutely amazing vocal ensemble from Finland, and also by Bob Chilcott - former member of the renowned King's Singers (and coincidentally, he helped Rajaton develop when they were first starting out much the same way that they will now help us).

The week consists of rehearsals, seminars, coaching sessions and a lot more. No schedules have been posted, but I am sure this will be a week that will truly help us to develop as an ensemble. Only twelve ensembles were invited to participate, so we know that it will be a program filled with very capable ensembles. One group that we do know will be there is Vocado (emphasis on the second syllable). They are a terrific sextet from Sweden, and we have actually come to know them pretty well, despite never having actually met. Through randomly stumbling across their website, we heard the piece, 'A Cradle Song,' written by Joel Nilson who is the bass of the group. He kindly let us use this piece on our album and we've kept in touch ever since. We are really looking forward to working with them and sharing different ideas about rehearsal techniques etc., and actually being able to enjoy one another's company.

The tentative plan is to go a week early and perform concerts in villages along the way from the west coast of the island toward St. John's. It should be an amazing experience.

It is quite strange to think that we first heard Rajaton at this very festival in 2001. None of us had ever heard a sound like it; it is safe to say they were the most unique and musically satisfying 'thing' we had ever come to know. Now, ten years later, we return to actually work with them. Crazy.

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