The incredible power that music has to unite people was demonstrated in a spectacular way in September 2025 when 15 members of Lauderdale Community Choir (plus 2 guests) travelled to Spain to perform in a massed choir event in Barcelona.
Organised by German company Interkultur who design projects to bring choirs and individuals together to work with professional conductors on a specific repertoire, we were there to perform a concert under the baton of the acclaimed American composer and conductor Eric Whitacre.
Lauderdale choir has already been represented in New York and Berlin in similar projects in recent years. Even so, those who headed to Barcelona could not have expected the unforgettable and emotional choral experience that awaited us.
Rehearsing since February, the repertoire was not an easy one. The ‘Seal Lullaby’ and ‘Sing Gently’ were familiar and perhaps the most well-known of Eric Whitacre’s works, both already performed by the choir in our previous concerts. Not so the ‘Sacred Veil’ and ‘Cloudburst’ (in Spanish!!). The former is a beautiful and emotionally charged body of work composed in response to the death of a close friend of Eric Whitacre himself. ‘Cloudburst’ was just hard! But the programme was interspersed with three traditional gospel songs, a Laura Mvula piece and an unusual setting of a Bach’s ‘Come Sweet Death’ with additional choreographed movement, to offer a wider variety of genres.
Rehearsals alongside 500 other singers from 39 countries began under Eric himself two days before the concert, in the breathtaking Palau de la Musica Catalana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, famous for its stunning decorative interior, sculpture and ornamentation. But also, as we found out, acoustically perfect.
The sound of the massed singers, as well as the wonderful local professional choir, piano accompanist and cellist was extremely moving – but we were all totally inspired by the genius that is Eric Whitacre, with his humour, captivating style of conducting and immense warmth. Two days later, the concert itself was very well received by a full house, and friendships and promises to meet again were made.
Outwith rehearsal commitments, the group found plenty to do in lovely Barcelona, from swimming in torrential rain, visiting the extraordinary modernist creations of Antoni Gaudi such as Parc Guell and La Sagrada Familia and exploring the café culture of this vibrant city.
Just like those who sang under Eric Whitacre in New York last year, the group have memories to cherish for many years to come – and some new pieces to share with the choir perhaps for future concerts back home!
Rosi Capper, October 2025
Haiku by Ros:
Barcelona Rocks.
Palace of Music
An iridescent wonder
Hearts sing together.
Poem by Meg – Silence and Song
Immersed in iridescence;
myriad tinted-glass panels
of vibrant colours
bathe the Palao de la Musica Catalana,
in Barcelona.
Sublime auditorium
with its multi-coloured cupola,
stucco mouldings,
illuminated pilasters –
its scattered light.
Breathing steadily,
silently,
setting the scene
for the concert to come.
Over five hundred voices –
a world of languages,
hushed.
Pianist, cellist,
choir in place,
our esteemed composer,
revered conductor
arrives on stage
to a rapturous reception.
With a sense
of euphoria,
we breathe in, eyes wide,
alert and smiling –
‘Sing, sing gently as one’.