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The University of Warsaw “Spring of Choirs” Festival brings together university ensembles from four 4EU+ partner universities

More than 200 singers from university choirs of Charles University, Heidelberg University, Sorbonne University and the University of Warsaw participated in the 3rd international edition of the “Spring of Choirs”, University of Warsaw’s choir music festival.


During the 3rd international “Spring of Choirs” Festival held on 8-12 May 2019, live performances were given by more than 200 students representing four academic choirs: 45 choristers from Charles University (Collegium Pedagogicum Univerzita Karlova), 59 - from Heidelberg University (Collegium Musicum Heidelberg), 38 - from Sorbonne University (Chœur & Orchestre Sorbonne Universités) and 60 singers from the Academic Choir of the University of Warsaw.



The Central Campus of the University of Warsaw and other places throughout the city became concert venues: Students performed in the Auditorium Maximum, Column Hall of the University’s Institute of History, Saint Martin’s Church, Church of the Holiest Saviour and the Gardens of the Royal Castle in Warsaw, where the newly completed lower garden was reopened to the public on 10 May.


The opening concert on 8 May gathered all the participating choirs as well as guest performers from Jan III Sobieski High School in Warsaw. During the second day of the festival, on Europe Day, the students gave a combined performance of “Ode to Joy”.



The festival marks an important step towards a more intensive cultural cooperation among 4EU+ partners and is the first out of several planned initiatives aimed at building a sense of community among students of the 4EU+ Alliance. The support offered by the University of Warsaw enabled the organisers to host international guests during the four days of the festival. “It is amazing that the 4EU+ gives us this unique opportunity to cooperate”, said Hubert Świątek, Chairman of the UW Academic Choir Board and the coordinator of the Spring of Choirs Festival.



The entry to the festival was free of charge and open to the members of the university community and the wider public.



The participants gave enthusiastic feedback on the event. “It was such a challenge to organise this big choir festival so quickly, and you have successfully achieved it! We all were impressed by your warm welcome, fascinated by the city steeped in history and beautiful concert places, and of course very happy to meet you and all the partners and to participate in these concerts. It was a rewarding and unforgettable experience of discovery and sharing for the students,” wrote Océane Urgell-Drobnik, manager of Chœur & Orchestre Sorbonne Universités.


Prof. Lenka Rovna, Vice-Rector of Charles University and member of the 4EU+ Steering Committee, congratulated the organisers. “This is giving me and my colleagues from Charles University and 4EU+ hope and courage to promote the project of European University Alliance further. This is not about bureaucracy, but about real people,” she added.




Photo credits: Mirosław Każmierczak/UW Academic Choir/ University of Warsaw