Three dedicated choral singers, Deanna Farrell ‘23, Shea Manley ‘25, and Anneliese Bragg ‘24 competed in a national choral competition, “Concours International Choral en Provence”, last summer in Bandol, France with their peers in Columbus Children’s Choir New World Singers.

   The New World Singers competed against 16 countries in the Youth Children category and came home with second place according to Choral Events! They were the only choral group from the U.S. and performed in multiple cities on their tour around Europe. The performances were held in Barcelona and multiple cities in Provence. 

   Manley, who has been part of New World for four out of her eight years in Columbus Children’s Choir, explained the abundance of unique cultures she encountered.

   “My favorite part was experiencing the culture because the fact that they have such a big choir program in Europe you can tell they really appreciate music,” Manley said. “They are really impressive and I love soaking in their culture.”

   The New World Singers performed in many impressive cathedrals in the heat of summer and shared their talents with some of the locals. Farrell has been a member of the Columbus Children’s Choir for nine years and New World Singers for five out of nine years. She enjoyed the artwork in a cathedral in Provence.

     “The design inside was gorgeous,” Farrell said. “All of the archways were so pretty… I was looking around, taking in every single detail.”

   Manley also commented on the beauty of a cathedral in Provence where they sang with a Dutch choir.

   “We sang at this beautiful church and there was tons of granite,” Manley said. “It was just mind-blowing!”

   The competition had an opening and closing ceremony where all of the choirs gathered around each other and celebrated their successes. 

   “My favorite part was the opening ceremony,” Farrell said. “I really liked getting to see all of the others outside in the ceremony. It was really cool to see everyone out of competition mode.”

   The singers also got to explore the cities and enjoy tourist attractions. They took a boat ride on the Mediterranean sea and toured some of Gaudi’s work in Barcelona. One of Manley’s favorite memories was when the choir spontaneously burst into song to entertain visitors in The Arena of Nîmes and at local restaurants.

   There was a lot of preparation to get to the “Concours International Choral en Provence.” The choir held a boot camp for two weeks prior to the tour to hone their performance. 

   “It was a lot of work but it paid off,” Farrell said.

   To find out more about Columbus Children’s choir, visit their website at https://columbuschildrenschoir.org/. Come support the Columbus Children’s Choir at their next performance!

Gallery • 4 Photos

Photo Courtesy of Reese Manley '24: The New World Singers wait to enter a basilica named Santa Maria del Pi in Barcelona, Spain. They performed in front of many locals.