The International University Choral Festival was a non-competitive international festival for university choruses held in the United States. Five festivals were held between 1965 and 1982.

History

The idea for an International University Choral Festival was conceived by Marshall Bartholomew, director of the Yale Glee Club, who had witnessed the power of singing during his work with prisoners of war during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He passed his idea onto James Bjorge who, with the composer and president of the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

William Schuman William Howard Schuman (August 4, 1910February 15, 1992) was an American composer and arts administrator. Life Schuman was born into a Jewish family in Manhattan, New York City, son of Samuel and Rachel Schuman. He was named after the 27th U.S. ...

, arranged the first festival in September 1965. The purpose was to raise choral standards and to enhance international relations through singing. Choirs paid the cost of travel to get to the US but once there all expenses were covered by the Festival. Twenty university choruses participated in the first festival in 1965 singing in New York at the Lincoln Center, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

and

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...

and in Washington D.C. at the Washington Cathedral, followed by a concert tour of university campuses. Choirs were asked to include music from their country in their program, both indigenous and contemporary. The second festival was held in 1969. The third in 1972 was attended by choirs from 16 countries: the Monteverdi Choir,

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

, Germany; Coral da

Universidade de São Paulo The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

, Brazil;

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

Glee Club, Japan; Academic Choir of Szczecin Technical University, Poland; Coro Universitario de San Juan, Argentina; Béla Bartók Choir,

Eötvös Loránd University Eötvös Loránd University (, ELTE, also known as ''University of Budapest'') is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, ELTE is one of the largest and most prestigious public higher education institutions in ...

, Budapest, Hungary; Gandharva Choir, New Delhi, India; London Student Chorale,

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, Great Britain;

Amsterdam University The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlands still in operati ...

Choir, Netherlands; Nyonza Singers, Kampala, Uganda; Choeur Madrigal de L' Université de Strasbourg, France;

Ewha Womans University Ewha Womans University () is a private women's research university in Seoul, South Korea. It was originally founded as Ewha Haktang on May 31, 1886, by missionary Mary F. Scranton. Currently, Ewha Womans University is one of the world's largest f ...

Glee Club, S. Korea;

Copenhagen University The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. The University of Copenhagen c ...

Music Students Choir, Denmark; University of Auckland Festival Choir, New Zealand; Brno Academic Choir, Czechoslovakia; United States Universities Choir . The programme for the massed choir concert in 1972, conducted by Robert Shaw, included: ''Declaration Chorale'' by William Schuman, ''In Ecclesiis'' by

Orlando di Lasso Orlando di Lasso ( various other names; probably – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lassus stands with William Byrd, Giovanni Pierlui ...

, ''Rosa Amarela'' by Hector Villa-Lobos, ''Solov'yem Zalyetnym (The Fleeting Nightingale)'' by

Alexander Alyabyev Alexander Aleksandrovich Alyabyev (; ), also rendered as Alabiev or Alabieff, was a Russian composer known as one of the fathers of the Russian art song. He wrote seven operas, twenty musical comedies, a symphony, three string quartets, more th ...

, the Japanese folksong ''Sohran Bushi (Fisherman's Work Song)'' arranged by Osamu Shimizu,

spirituals Spirituals (also known as Negro spirituals, African American spirituals, Black spirituals, or spiritual music) is a genre of Christian music that is associated with African Americans, which merged varied African cultural influences with the exp ...

''My God is a Rock'' and ''Soon-ah will be done, Psalm 90'' by

Charles Ives Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, actuary and businessman. Ives was among the earliest renowned American composers to achieve recognition on a global scale. His music was largely ignored d ...

, ''

Hallelujah Chorus ''Messiah'' ( HWV 56), the English-language oratorio composed by George Frideric Handel in 1741, is structured in three parts. This listing covers Part II in a table and comments on individual movements, reflecting the relation of the musical se ...

'' by

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

and ''Dona Nobis Pacem'' by J.S. Bach. Marshall Bartholomew conducted the choirs in ''

Gaudeamus Igitur "Gaudeamus igitur" (Latin for "So let us rejoice") or just "Gaudeamus", also known as "De brevitate vitae" ("On the Shortness of Life"), is a popular academic commercium song in many European countries, mainly sung or performed at university ...

.'' At the fourth festival in 1974 there were 12 foreign choirs and a specially formed United States Universities Chorus. As in previous festivals the choirs toured in the US between them visiting 100 universities, colleges and schools in 23 states before coming together to sing in the Kennedy Center and the Lincoln Center. Choir conductors also attended seminars in choral conducting. The fifth festival in 1982 was called Choruses of the World. Choirs from ten countries performed sponsored by the Kennedy Center and the city of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. The festivals were directed by James R. Bjorge, Robert Shaw was the music director and the associate music directors were Thomas Hilbish and Willi Gohl. Matthew Bartholomew was Honorary Festival Director.

Recordings and videos

* The Second International University Choral Festival (1969) * The Third Lincoln Center International Choral Festival (1972) * The Third International Choral Festival at the United Nations, 28 April 1972 * The Fourth Lincoln Center International Choral Festival (1974)

References

{{Reflist

History

Recordings and videos

References

Further reading