Choir gathering before final performance
Choir taking stage at
On the second day of the competition Fullerton College Concert Choir woke up exhilarated from their win from the night before. They quickly got ready to head to Staadsaal, Spittal's town hall, as they were scheduled to be the first group to perform the "required" pieces for the festival. Staadsaal was known to be a difficult venue since the acoustics were not as good; the small space, crowded room, and all the doors being closed "swallowed" all the sound. At 9am the choir took the stage to sing Mr. John Tebay's interpretation of the three pieces: "Exultate Deo", "Sera di Liguria", and "Ergebung".
Once again the choir gave an incredible performance, which was clearly appreciated by the crowd's lengthy applause. With all the drawbacks of the venue it did not hinder the students one bit. They were thrilled about how well they sang "Sera Di Liguria" since this piece was purposely written with many difficult traps for the musicians, such as odd rhythms, perfect unisons, and lack of conventional cords.
After performing, the choir stayed to observe the other groups' interpretations of the songs. When all the choirs were finished everyone dispersed for the afternoon. At this time the groups were able to practice and wrap-up any loose ends before performing their "choice" pieces later that evening.
At 7:30pm all the choirs came back to the castle to perform the third category of the festival, their choice songs. Fullerton College was assigned the 9th position that evening and was able to enjoy a few other choirs before performing themselves. The students thought many of the other groups had chosen some beautiful pieces and performed impressively. Once their time came up the choir gathered together to
head to the stage. The three "choice" pieces Fullerton College chose were: "Psalm 57", "O Magnum Mysterium", and "Gloria".
The choir had an excellent final performance! All three songs wowed the audience and the group received quite an intense appreciation of applause, whistles, and kind words from the audience and their competitors. After the 10th choir had performed the officials once again instructed everyone to return in approximately an hour as they discussed the performances. The second night placements were different than the first night, as the choirs were placed by their average scores from the "required" and "choice" pieces.
Around 11pm the judges were ready to announce the scores of each choir and a bit of commentary. In the same manner as the night before, the judges started by announcing the 10th place and offering commentary in German, then in English. They continued to announce 9th, 8th, 7th...and 4th place choirs. Then when the group was not announced as the 3rd place winners the suspension from the previous night returned. As the judges were about to announce the 2nd place winner the choir gathered together, all very anxious to hear whether they would make 2nd or 1st place. Fullerton College Concert Choir got 2nd place for their "required" and "choice" performances!
Fullerton College Concert Choir's average score from the two performances was 93 points! This was only two points less than the 1st place winners, the Czech Republic choir. This was quite an impressivefeat as it is typical for only the 1st place winner to score in the 90's.
Way to go Fullerton College Concert Choir!!!
Open-air singing party
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