“The purpose of the competition is to stimulate the development for, and draw attention to, the vocal polyphonic art music. We urge the composers to choose lyrics that are relevant to our time, and thus we hope to challenge the traditional view of choral music.”

Sofia Söderberg Eberhard

(Short announcement in English)           (Short announcement in Swedish)

Now that the days have grown darker, and the nights have gone colder, we look back on two days in 2011 which were imprinted in our minds: March 11 and July 22. Two days that, more than others, have left traces. We recall the sorrow, the fear, the powerlessness, and the anger, but also how hope, solidarity, and light indefatigably broke through during the darkest of times. Therefore to us, Christmas this year will hold reflection as well as joy, and we want to share those reflections and that joy with you.

One day a year we should all pretend
that death has put its soul to rest.
No great illusions drawn to an end
and no one shot for a four-dollar quest.

Stig Dagerman (English interpretation Spoke Wintersparv)

Music by Tormis, Takach, Whitacre and others.

Klosterkyrkan, Lund, Saturday December 10, 6 pm

Sankt Johannes kyrka, Malmö, Friday December 16, 7.30 pm

Tickets can be booked at Kulturcentralen in Malmö or at kulturcentralen.nu.

Svanholm Singers was founded in 1998 and has quickly become established as one of Sweden’s foremost male chamber choirs. We are today 20 members, conducted by Sofia Söderberg Eberhard. Read more about Svanholm Singers here.

We hope to see you there!

The 1:st July Svanholm Singers went to Tegnby Church on Orust to participate in the 15:th Chamber Music Festival of Stenungsund. It was such a beautiful summer night! Our program was a mixture of both old sacral music of among other Tomas Tallis: “Missa Sine Nomine”, male choir classics like “Kung Liljekonvalje” of Wikander, and contemporary music like “Inre och Yttre Landskap” composed by Nörgård to the poetry of Tomas Tranströmmer. The concert was a success with a big audience showing up, and when eventuallty all the singers managed to reach Tegneby (a few singers got stuck on the highway) we managed to sing quite well too. The organizers of the concert hosted a beautiful supper after the concert where we had schrimps and other delicacies from the west coast. Thank you Chamber Music Festival for a wonderful experience, we hope that we some day will be back!

We’ll soon be back with the plan för 2011. New countries, new composers and new projects.