A few weekends ago, the Kantiléna choir from Brno in the Czech Republic, produced an amazing concert at the First Presbyterian Church, here in Moorestown, NJ. The concert also featured the Philadelphia Boys Choir.  During their stay in the Philadelphia area, my family hosted five singers for a couple days. Kantiléna’s performance was outstanding, so I would like to tell you a bit more about it, as well as the choir.  

The choir was founded in 1956 by Ivan Sedláček as the Šlapanický Children’s Choir. Six years after their founding, they would go on to win a national competition in Bratislava and began to garner attention. By 1967, the choir, renamed as Kantiléna, had evolved into a highly selective group. The style of the choir is somewhat based on the teachings of Professor Jiří Bára and Professor Anna Barová. Barová, in addition to her pedagogical work, also happened to be a famed soloist of the Janáček Opera in Brno. Since 1984, Kantiléna has been operating under the Brno Philharmonic, carrying out rehearsals in the philharmonic building and collaborating with them. Kantiléna has continued performing, as well as competing globally, since its founding, performing over 1,500 concerts and winning two gold medals at the World Choir Olympics along with numerous other competitions.  

During their USA tour, the choir performed in Washington DC, New York, and New Jersey. I greatly enjoyed Kantiléna’s performance, and two things stood out to me. The first was the high level of articulation and diction. Every member of the choir sang clearly even though some of pieces were in languages other than Czech (Finnish, for example!). The second notable aspect of the performance was the balance among the parts. While only having sopranos and altos, the music was complex and often required 4 parts. Each section was perfectly balanced which contributed to the clarity of the performance and is something that I think is overlooked in some choir performances.  

The experience of being able to host some of the singers was great, and I would definitely do it again. I was able to learn much more about Czechia, which is a country that I knew very little about. Music is something that brings cultures and people together and I got to feel that connection firsthand during Kantiléna’s stay. A few weekends ago, the Kantiléna choir from Brno in the Czech Republic, produced an amazing concert at the First Presbyterian Church, here in Moorestown, NJ. The concert also featured the Philadelphia Boys Choir.  During their stay in the Philadelphia area, my family hosted five singers for a couple days. Kantiléna’s performance was outstanding, so I would like to tell you a bit more about it, as well as the choir.  

The choir was founded in 1956 by Ivan Sedláček as the Šlapanický Children’s Choir. Six years after their founding, they would go on to win a national competition in Bratislava and began to garner attention. By 1967, the choir, renamed as Kantiléna, had evolved into a highly selective group. The style of the choir is somewhat based on the teachings of Professor Jiří Bára and Professor Anna Barová. Barová, in addition to her pedagogical work, also happened to be a famed soloist of the Janáček Opera in Brno. Since 1984, Kantiléna has been operating under the Brno Philharmonic, carrying out rehearsals in the philharmonic building and collaborating with them. Kantiléna has continued performing, as well as competing globally, since its founding, performing over 1,500 concerts and winning two gold medals at the World Choir Olympics along with numerous other competitions.  

During their USA tour, the choir performed in Washington DC, New York, and New Jersey. I greatly enjoyed Kantiléna’s performance, and two things stood out to me. The first was the high level of articulation and diction. Every member of the choir sang clearly even though some of the pieces were in languages other than Czech (Finnish, for example!). The second notable aspect of the performance was the balance among the parts. While only having sopranos and altos, the music was complex and often required 4 parts. Each section was perfectly balanced which contributed to the clarity of the performance and is something that I think is overlooked in some choir performances.  

The experience of being able to host some of the singers was great, and I would definitely do it again. I was able to learn much more about Czechia, which is a country that I knew very little about. Music is something that brings cultures and people together and I got to feel that connection firsthand during Kantiléna’s stay.