The University of Gdańsk Academic Choir travelled to Portugal, where it was the first Polish academic choir to take part in the 3rd LISBON SINGS International Choir Festival, organised by Interkultur.

Twenty-eight ensembles from 17 countries took part in the event, including Estonia, Finland, Serbia, Austria, Brazil and Puerto Rico. It was an opportunity to learn about many cultures and musical traditions. The UG choir was the first Polish academic choir to take part in the competition part of the festival.

Thanks to the great commitment and work of the entire team, the UG Choir received the following awards:

- winning in the Sacred Music category,

- gold diploma in category A1- mixed choirs, professional level.

'We are very happy to have had the opportunity to take part in such a wonderful, multicultural event. It is a great honour for us and a motivation to keep going. In recent times we have been focusing on participating in local choir competitions and on our own artistic projects. After 5 years we managed to go to a foreign festival and proudly represented the University of Gdańsk and Poland,' says the conductor of the ensemble, dr Aneta Majda.

The trip was made possible thanks to the support of the University of Gdańsk, the UG Academic Cultural Centre ‘Alternator’, the PSSE Media Operator, the Gdańsk Society for the Promotion of Academic Culture and a special fundraiser organised for the trip.

The trip to Portugal was also connected with the organisation of a concert of choral music entitled. 'Lisbon & Gdańsk Sing' in collaboration with the Lisbon Community Choir - a choir established in 2017, integrating the multicultural, singing community of Lisbon. The choirs, after presenting their repertoires to a large audience, jointly performed the song ‘Queda de Imperio’ by Portuguese singer Vitorino. The event was held under the patronage of the Polish Embassy in Lisbon.

'The performance with the Lisbon Community Choir showed us how important it is to learn about music and choirs from other countries. It is thanks to such events that we derive the greatest joy from singing together and from the opportunity to make new friends in different parts of the world,’ emphasises the band's manager Zofia Bełdzińska.

The entire concert:

Lisbon Community Choir and Gdansk University Choir

After their return, the University of Gdańsk Academic Choir is not slowing down and on December 1, they will perform at the competition auditions at the Stefan Stuligrosz Polish Choir Grand Prix in Poznań, for which they received a nomination during the International Festival of Choir Song in Międzyzdroje as the best Polish choir of the festival.

Congratulations!