The Flemish Amaranthe choir is the new world champion in the female chamber choirs’ category. The choir from Oudenaarde in East Flanders won the gold medal in their category for the second time in a row. The world championships were held in Gangneung, South Korea.
The Flemish women saw off competition from four rivals and gave an excellent rendition of the Song of Brabant, the Belgian national anthem, during the award ceremony. Amaranthe received a score of 91% from the jury.
The choristers were over the moon with the result. “We had an exhausting flight, didn’t get much sleep and still performed well. We are so happy” said one chorister.
The Flemings repeated their victory of the Champion of the World Choir Games staged in Antwerp and Ghent in 2021. 355 choirs were represented at this year’s Games. The Flemings were the only Belgian choir.
Conductor Johannes Dewilde explained that each choir’s performance, lasting 20 minutes, consists of three works of the choir’s choice and one work from the choir’s country of origin. The Flemings picked a work by composer Nora Thys including Spanish choir music and composed on the occasion on the present Games.