European Grand Prix for Choral Singing
The European Grand Prix for Choral Singing (in French, Grand Prix Européen de Chant Choral, commonly abbreviated as European Choral Grand Prix or EGP) is an annual choral competition between the winners of six European choral competitions. It was inaugurated in 1989.
Despite its name, the EGP is not limited to European choirs; this is because choirs from any country can join the choral competitions in any of the EGP’s member-cities. As of 2007, one choir from Japan and three choirs from the United States have won the EGP, while a choir from the Philippines has won the EGP twice. In addition, the contest is not limited to adult choirs; two of the grand prize-winning choirs are children’s choirs.
As of 2015, four choirs have won the EGP twice: the Philippine Madrigal Singers (1997 and 2007), APZ Tone Tomšič (2002 and 2008), Jauniesu koris “Kamer…” (2004 and 2013) and University of Utah Chamber Choir (renamed from the University of Utah Singers) (2006 and 2015).
As of 2022, two conductors have won the EGP twice: Stojan Kuret, Slovenia (2002 and 2010) and Avip Priatna, Indonesia (2018 and 2022), both with two different types of choirs.
Organizing committee and member cities
The EGP is organized by the organizing committees of the following choral competitions, from which the EGP contenders are selected:
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Concorso Polifónico Guido d’Arezzo (International Guido d’Arezzo Polyphonic Contest) – Arezzo, Province of Arezzo, Italy
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Béla BartókInternational Choir Competition – Debrecen, Hajdú-Bihar county, Hungary
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International Choral Competition Gallus Maribor – Maribor, Slovenia
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Certamen Coral de Tolosa(Tolosa Choral Competition) – Tolosa, Basque Country, Spain
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Florilège Vocal de Tours (Tours Vocal Competition) – Tours, Indre-et-Loire, France
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International May Choir Competition «Prof. G. Dimitrov» – Varna, Varna Province, Bulgaria