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A lesson that Werner Stander, Choirmaster of the University of the Free State’s (UFS) institutional choir and part-time lecturer in the Odeion School of Music, took away from the recent World Symposium on Choral Music, is to be ‘an agent of change in this ever-changing world.’

As a member of the International Federation for Choral Music (IFCM), Stander joined choir conductors from all over the world at this year’s symposium held at the Atatürk Cultural Centre in Istanbul, Turkey from 25 to 30 April 2023. With the theme ‘changing horizons’, the symposium looked at the current world of choir music and what singing together could look like in the near and distant future.

Stander said the event promoted artistic excellence, cooperation, and exchange, “bringing together the finest choirs and choral leaders for performances, seminars, workshops, exhibitions, and choral reading sessions”.

The symposium also served as a platform to attract representation from all regions of the world with as many styles and traditions of ensemble singing as possible, in order to honour and celebrate the human practice of singing together.

During his time at the symposium, Stander rubbed shoulders with world leaders in choral music, and the attendees were serenaded by choirs from Missouri State University, the University of Hartford, University of Southern California, Elise Bradley – former conductor of the Toronto Children’s Choir, Jennifer Tham from Singapore, Maria Guinand from Venezuela, Lorenzo Donati from the Conservatory of Trento, Ragnar Rasmussen from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and Tonu Kaljuste from Estonia.

Before the year draws to a close, Stander is looking forward to attending “Edwin Gordon’s professional development levels course of Music Learning Theory at the University of Maryland in Washington DC in August, and the European Choir Games to be held in October”.