SUHAR Korua among the four finalists of the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing

The Basque choir will head to Varna this Saturday to take part in a competition that will bring together the four best choirs in Europe

On 14th September, SUHAR Korua will take part in the prestigious European Grand Prix of Choral Singing in Varna (Bulgaria), representing the Tolosa Choral Contest. Under the direction of Esteban Urzelai, the choir will compete alongside some of the best choirs on the continent, reaffirming the quality and strength of Basque choral music on the international scene.

The musical director, Esteban Urzelai, stressed that ‘it is a special competition, as there is only one prize: there are no second places, different categories or public prizes. It's all about giving our all. This is what we have been working on over the last few months, and this has led us to achieve many other objectives: we have worked hard on the sound quality of the group and on the musical level, we have fine-tuned our repertoire to the end, the group is more united and stronger than ever.... We are aware that being in a ‘contest of champions’ like this is a prize in itself, but once we get this far we will give everything we have on stage to get the Grand Prize’.

SUHAR Korua, who have recently toured China, will present in Varna a varied programme including romantic, renaissance, contemporary works and Basque folk songs. With this selection, they seek to confirm the success obtained in Tolosa and to captivate the jury and the international audience that will attend this event.

SUHAR Korua arrives at this event as the last winner of the Tolosa Choral Competition, where in November last year it won all the possible prizes, including the Kutxa Grand Prix, the public prize, and the first prizes in the polyphony and folklore categories, among others. This success enabled it to secure its participation in the European Grand Prix of Choral Singing, where the winners of the tournaments that make up the Grand Prix circuit will compete against each other in a competition that will determine the best among the winners.