MEDIA RELEASE – For Immediate Release
They went in search of Gold and that’s exactly what the Amabile Young Women’s Ensemble found in Greece…and more!
On Sunday night, the girls and women of the powerhouse Amabile Choirs, picked up two Golds in two days of competition in Preveza, Greece. The choir also picked up the best marks from the festival judges: a score of 91.0 at the town’s 19th international competition of sacred music, part of the four-day International Choir Festival – essentially two festivals-in-one.
The Amabile ensemble is part of the Amabile Choirs of London, Canada – eight choirs and ensembles for girls and boys, ages 8 through adult. They are getting used to a global stage and to turning heads with their performances. The ensemble recently sang the National anthems for the four Gold medal winners (Korea, Russia, USA and Canada) at the ISU World Figure Skating competition, to critical world-wide acclaim.
The London-based choir is participating in the festival as the Amabile Young Women’s Ensemble, combining Amabile Youth Singers and Prima – the Amabile adult women’s choir. The 32 Amabile girls and women ended their first competitive performance Friday morning in the ensemble category with Canadian composer Mark Sirett’s “Watane”.
When the hardware was handed out Sunday evening, that piece earned them the judges award for best performance of folklore music, in addition to the ensemble gold and 500 Euros.
Saturday’s competition was for a youth choir, so three older singers in the ensemble, cheered from the audience. That performance won Gold in the youth category and 400 more Euros.
Sunday night’s triumph capped four days of competition indoors mixed with joyful outdoor concerts, where the ensemble was often asked to sing the Greek National anthem – and even took a request at an impromptu performance.
On a sightseeing stop, a few singers shared the anthem with the scenery. A group of visiting Italians asked for their anthem too, and the choir members were happy to oblige. The choir is conducted by Amabile co-founder Brenda Zadorsky, who also took an Amabile ensemble to Preveza in 1999… the first visit by any Canadian choir to that festival.
“We’re definitely ambassadors for our country, for our city, for our families and for Amabile. It’s an honour to be able to carry that banner,” she said.
The sacred music competition featured a dozen choirs: seven from Greece, with Amabile, as Canada — and London’s — ambassador, alongside choirs from Ukraine, Manila and two from Bulgaria.
Along the way Amabile became part of the Canada Day festivities at the Air Canada Rouge ribbon-cutting ceremony, celebrating its first international flight at Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport. Naturally they sang both the Greek and Canadian national anthems.
Amabile continues to tour Greece with performances at a number of informal concerts before returning on Friday.