The European Grand Prix for Choral Singing (in French, Grand Prix Européen de Chant Choral, commonly abbreviated as European Choral Grand Prix or EGP) is an annual choral competition between the winners of six European choral competitions. It was inaugurated in 1989.

Despite its name, the EGP is not limited to European choirs; this is because choirs from any country can join the choral competitions in any of the EGP’s member-cities. , one choir from Japan, one choir from Argentina, two choirs from Indonesia, and two choirs from the United States have won the EGP, while two choirs from the Philippines and United States have won the EGP twice. In addition, the contest is not limited to adult choirs; three of the grand prize-winning choirs are children's choirs.

As of 2022, four choirs had won the EGP twice: the University of the Philippines Madrigal Singers List of winners at the 2007 Arezzo competition, including the GPE "Madrigal Singers win European Grand Prix for the second time". The Philippine Daily Inquirer, August 27, 2007. (1997 and 2007), APZ Tone Tomšič (2002 and 2008), University of Utah Chamber Choir (renamed from the University of Utah Singers) (2006 and 2015), and Vesna Children's Choir (2000 and 2017).

The 30th European Grand Prix for Choral Singing taking place in Maribor, Slovenia, on April 21, 2018 had the first win from an Indonesian choir. The Resonanz Children's Choir (TRCC), led by conductor Avip Priatna, has won an award at the EGP 2018.

In the summer of 2019, Youth choir "Kamēr..." became the 1st and currently the only choir having won the EGP three times (2004, 2013, and 2019). On October 26th 2025 "Kamēr..." accomplished the fourth EGP title in Tolosa, Basque Country, Spain.

As of 2022, two conductors have won the EGP twice: Stojan Kuret (2002 and 2010) and Avip Priatna (2018 and 2022).

Organizing committee and member cities The EGP is organized by the organizing committees of the following choral competitions, from which the EGP contenders are selected:

Concorso Polifónico Guido d'Arezzo (International Guido d'Arezzo Polyphonic Contest) - Arezzo, Province of Arezzo, Italy Béla Bartók International Choir Competition - Debrecen, Hajdú-Bihar county, Hungary International Choral Competition Gallus Maribor - Maribor, Slovenia Certamen Coral de Tolosa (Tolosa Choral Competition) - Tolosa, Basque Country, Spain International Baltic Sea Choir Competition (IBSCC) - Jūrmala, Region of Jūrmala, Latvia International May Choir Competition «Prof. G. Dimitrov» - Varna, Varna Province, Bulgaria

Each individual contest is usually referred to by the name of its host city instead of the competition's official title. The grand prize winners of each contest are automatically eligible to compete at the EGP.

The hosting of each annual EGP competition is rotated among the six member cities.

History The European Grand Prix for Choral Singing was created in 1988 through the initiative of the competitions of AREZZO (Italy), DEBRECEN (Hungary), GORIZIA (Italy) and TOURS (France) Two others have also been associated: VARNA (Bulgaria) in 1989, and TOLOSA (Basque Country/Spain) in 1990. In 2008 Gorizia stepped out of the Association and MARIBOR (Slovenia) joined it. In 2024, JURMALA (Latvia) became a new member and TOURS (France) ceased its activity.

Regulations

Eligibility

As mentioned earlier, the contest is open only to the grand prize winners of the six-member European choral competitions in the previous year. In other words, if a choir wins the grand prize in any of the six cities' choral contests, it is eligible for then next year's EGP. Consequently, this also means that, unlike other choral competitions, the EGP does not solicit participants to the contest; no choir may directly apply or audition in order to join the EGP. If an eligible choir backs out, a substitute choir may take its place; as a penalty, any choir that backs out will not be eligible to compete in any of the six qualifying contests for the next year.

No choir may win the grand prize in more than one qualifying competition in a single year. For example, if a choir is named the grand prize winner in Arezzo, it is automatically disqualified to compete in the contests in the five remaining cities for the rest of the year.

There are no specific regulations prohibiting a former finalist (or even a former laureate) from competing in (or even winning again) the EGP more than once. The Philippine Madrigal Singers (laureate of the 1997 EGP) have won the 2006 Florilège Vocal de Tours, List of winners at the 2006 Florilege de Tours, from the official Florilege website. going on to win the Grand Prize in 2007 in Arezzo, Italy. In the same competition, the Madrigal Singers competed with the Vesna Children's Choir (laureate of the 2000 EGP), who won the grand prize of the 2006 Tolosa competition. . News article in Spanish

Repertoire and choir membership Each competing choir is required to sing in the same group/category as they performed in respective competitions. Choirs are encouraged to perform songs from various eras and composers. Songs with accompaniment (by any instrument) are allowed as long as the total length of accompanied songs does not exceed ten (10) minutes. The host city determines the total maximum performance time allowed to each finalist.

Each competing choir is also required to have the same number of singers it had from the qualifying competition, plus or minus ten percent (10%) of that number. The total number of singers per choir may be a minimum of 12 singers and a maximum of 60 singers regardless of the number of voice sections or groups; this is because the eligibility requirements vary for each of the six qualifying competitions. Because of this, it is possible for mixed-voice choirs to compete directly against all-male and all-female choirs; it is also possible for children's choirs to compete against adult choirs (and even win, as in 2000, 2001, 2017, and 2018).

The grand prize winner The EGP grand prize winner, or laureate, is awarded a diploma, a trophy and additional prizes to be determined by the host city, including a cash prize of up to 4,000 Euros (usually awarded).

The EGP winner is not allowed to compete in any international choral competition, member of the European Grand Prix Association, for two years.

Laureates The following are the lists of grand prize winners for the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing. List of GPE Winners, from Florilege Vocal de Tours official website. List of GPE Winners, from GPE official website. List of GPE Winners, from Concurso Tolosa official website.

Laureates per year + Laureates of the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing per yearYearEditionHostChoirDirector/ConductorCity of OriginCountry of Origin 1989 1 Arezzo Kammerkoret Hymnia Poul Emborg and Fleming Windekilde Copenhagen 1990 2 Debrecen (postponed) NA NA NA 1991 3 Tours Chamber Choir of the Conservatoire Tadas Šumskas Vilnius 1992 4 Gorizia St Jacobs Kammarkör Gary Graden Stockholm 1993 5 Varna Jauna Musica Vaclovas Augustinas and Romas Skapas Vilnius 1994 6 Tolosa The Mats Nilsson Vocal Ensemble Mats Nilsson Stockholm 1995 7 Arezzo Kallos Choir Fumiaki Kuriyama Tokyo 1996 8 Debrecen Pro Musica Leánykar Dénes Szabó Nyíregyháza 1997 9 Tours University of the Philippines Madrigal Singers Andrea Veneracion Quezon City 1998 10 Gorizia University of Mississippi Concert Singers Jerry Jordan Oxford, MS 1999 11 Varna Lunds Vocal Ensemble Ingemar Månsson Lund 2000 12 Tolosa Vesna Children Choir Alexander Ponomariov Moscow 2001 13 Debrecen Magnificat Children's and Youth Choir Valéria Szebellédi Budapest 2002 14 Arezzo A.P.Z. Tone Tomsic Stojan Kuret Ljubljana 2003 15 Tours Kamerinis choras Brevis Gintautas Venislovas Vilnius 2004 16 Gorizia Youth Choir "Kamer..." Māris Sirmais Riga 2005 17 Varna Allmänna Sången Cecilia Rydinger Alin Uppsala 2006 18 Tolosa University of Utah Singers Brady Allred Salt Lake City 2007 19 Arezzo University of the Philippines Madrigal Singers Mark Anthony Carpio Quezon City 2008 20 Debrecen A.P.Z. Tone Tomsic Urša Lah Ljubljana 2009 21 Tours Coro Universitario de Mendoza Silvana Vallesi Mendoza 2010 22 Varna Vokalna akademija Ljubljana Stojan Kuret Ljubljana 2011 23 Tolosa The Swedish Chamber Choir Simon Phipps Gothenburg 2012 24 Maribor Sofia Vokalensemble Bengt Ollén Stockholm 2013 25 Arezzo Youth Choir "Kamer..." Jānis Liepiņš Riga 2014 26 Debrecen S:t Jacobs Ungdomskör Mikael Wedar Stockholm 2015 27 Tours University of Utah Chamber Choir Barlow Bradford Salt Lake City 201628 VarnaUT Insieme Vocale ConsonanteLorenzo DonatiSanta Firmina 2017 29 Tolosa Vesna Children Choir Nadezhda Averina Moscow 2018 30 Maribor The Resonanz Children's Choir Avip Priatna Jakarta 2019 31 Arezzo Youth Choir "Kamer..." Aivis Greters Riga 2020 32 Debrecen (postponed) NA NA NA 2021 (not held) (not held) NA NA NA NA 2022 33 Tours Batavia Madrigal Singers Avip Priatna Jakarta 2023 34 Debrecen Chamber Choir Sophia Olexii Shamrytskyi Kyiv 202435 VarnaZero 8Rasmus KrigströmStockholm202536 Tolosa Youth Choir "Kamer..."Jurģis CābulisRiga Total 34 laureates (none in 1990,2020 and 2021)

Laureates per country + Laureates of the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing per countryCountryLaureatesNotes 8 wins Five choirs from Stockholm 4 wins Jauniesu koris "Kamer..." winning four times – 1st and only choir to win both three and four times 3 wins All from Vilnius 3 wins All from Ljubljana; APZ Tone Tomšič winning twice 3 wins University of Utah Chamber Choir (renamed from University of Utah Singers) winning twice 2 wins Vesna Children's Choir winning twice 2 wins 2 wins Philippine Madrigal Singers winning twice - 1st choir to win twice 2 wins All from Jakarta 1 win 1 win 1 win 1 win 1 win Total 34 wins

Laureates per continent + Laureates of the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing per continentContinentLaureates Europe 25 wins Asia 5 wins North America 3 wins South America 1 win Total 34 wins

References

Notes

External links European Grand Prix for Choral Singing - GPE Official home page Official web sites for each member-city: Arezzo Debrecen Maribor Tolosa

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