The Trinity College Senior Chorale is very proud to have won first place in the Male Choir division of the 2019 Summa Cum Laude International Youth Music Festival held from 5 to 10 July in Vienna, Austria.
The competition featured 32 music ensembles from 13 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, South America and the USA. Mercedes College and Penrhos College also took part in the festival and won second and third place respectively in the Treble Choir division.
The Summa Cum Laude Festival is Europe’s premier global music festival for choirs, bands and orchestras, and is held annually in the two most important concert halls of Vienna; the Golden Hall of the Musikverein and the Great Hall of the Konzerthaus.
Music students from Trinity College and Mercedes College travelled together on a two-week tour through Austria, Czech Republic and Hungary over the July school holidays.
In addition to the festival, they also participated in a variety of concert programmes and workshops with international musicians.
With the tour over, music students at Trinity and Mercedes are preparing for their next competition, the Performing Arts Festival for Catholic Schools and Colleges (CPAF).
This annual festival runs throughout the months of August and September, and the two schools will compete together in a variety of divisions, including choral, concert band and string orchestra sections.
In 2018, Trinity and Mercedes were the joint recipients of the CPAF’s award for the Best Secondary School Musical, and Trinity won the highest honour of the festival, the coveted Zenith Award for Secondary Metropolitan Schools and Colleges for the 15th consecutive year.
Dr Robert Braham has been leading the Trinity music programme for many years.
When asked what makes it different from other schools, he said: “a successful performing arts programme in a boys’ school needs support from the school’s leadership and from parents and a high level of teamwork among the staff”.
“Once the boys take ownership for their performances everyone can build a culture of excellence.”