Day 12: Cinio cyw iâr enillydd enillydd (Winner winner chicken lunch)
With an early morning wake up, everyone scrambled to get their hair concert ready into buns and prepare themselves for a full day of competitions and performances. Once everyone ate breakfast, we loaded the bus and were all off for the day! Eric led a meditation on the bus to get everyone in competition mindset while bobby pins were being passed around left and right (thank you Anjali for purchasing 500). A quick warm up in the Competitors Club on festival grounds and then we were off to a waiting room to compete in the Seniors Children Choir division.
The competition concert was incredible to witness. Ensemblel began wtih the angelic and elegant Salve Regina and transitioned into eclectic and energized Panda Chant II. They were incredibly focused and engaged in Eric's every move!
After the competition, singers sat in the audience and listened to the rest of the competitors from the Senior Children’s category. Every performance was captivating and the singers knew the competition would be tough. If you want to understand how the singers felt watching their competitors, one singer looked me dead in the eyes and said, “we’re cooked.” Translating here, that meant: we’re finished/ not going to win/ no way we’re getting first.
Finally, it was adjudication time! The announcer presented the raw scores in order of appearance on stage. The singers patiently listened, the lowest score was 87 and then we heard “Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir, 95”, we got 95 points!!!! There was a full 2 point difference between us and the second place winners! We were all ecstatic about the news and most of us could not believe the score! The adjudicators gave us commenttary about the repertoire, specifically they said that the singers “caressed the text.” Since Ensemble won the Senior Children’s Choir category, they were expected to perform and compete against the winner from the Youth Choir and Junior Youth choir categories to compete for Youth Choir of the World.
After the adjudication time and exciting news, singers were interviewed by the local Welsh news channel. Then we all walked back into Llangollen center for a delicious three course buffet of salads (to many singers' delight), gluten-free fruit cobbler, and their main course of winner winner chicken lunch! Once the singers scarfed down their food, they gave a quick performance in the town square to practice their competition repetoire while serenading the town. Ensemble walked back onto the festival grounds to sing yet another outdoor spotlight concert. The crowd loved Old Joe Clark the most, with audience goers saying “brilliant.”
Next, the singers gathered for the parade of nations and walked to the center of Llangollen with the rest of the competeing choirs. It was a beautiful representation of cultures coming together to celebrate the beauty of music! The townspeople and visitors were very welcoming to the different countries and their singers!
We peeled out of the parade to make it to our dinner reservation at a cafe. We all sat in a children’s themed dinner room with a full playpen (similar to McDonald’s). Very quickly after dinner, we headed back again into the festival grounds to prepare for the evening concert. The evening concert opened with a parade of flags on stage, so the leadership team waved our flag on stage. After a beautiful instrumental quartet, the winner of the Junior Youth Choir (ages 12 and under) from Wales sang their two winning pieces. Following them, Ensemble sang. Reader– I don’t know how to correctly express how electric this specific performance was–it was simply breathtaking. The audience helped energize our tired singers, and they sang an INCREDIBLE set. We were so proud as we (chaperones, bus drivers, and tour guides) watched them from the audience. Panda II & Salve Regina. After Ensemble’s exquisite performance, the winner of the Youth Choir (ages 18-25) from the Philipines sang their two winning pieces. Both of the choirs from Wales and the Philipines were magnificent!
The adjudicators were able to score the choirs quickly with help by a performance from the royal harpist, Alis Huws, who performed at King Charles III coronation! Next, a dance group based in London comprised of people with Ukrainian heritage, performed a mix of traditional and modern dance.
Finally, it was time to announce the winner of the Youth Choir of the World… The sound the singers made when the announcer said “and the winner is… Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir”, was not receptive to good vocal hygiene but we let it slide because — WE WON!!!!!!! Eric and the singers were absolutely in tears, hooting and hollering. No one could believe the results and many tears, hugs, smiles, high-fives, and cheers were shared. The kids were so excited they even managed to get Bob on facetime!
On the ride home, Eric took the mic and shared some beautiful sentiments that explained why we were able to win today. Eric mentioned these victories were a testament to all the training and years spent in the choirs, today’s wins weren’t because of short and intense training, but because of years of training and development. The wins today have been a cummulation of multiple years of practice, voice lessons, music theory, but also, more importantly, the support from all of our communities. Whether it's the members of Ensemble themselves, or the people who make singing possible (that's you parents, friends, alumni, chaperones, bus drivers, choir staff), we would not have been able to do what we did today, without our communities!
And on that note, it's time for bed because we get to do it all again tomorrow!!!!!!!
