Classical Notes: December 10, 2010 Archive

The Best of the Best of the...Best?

Posted at 2:48 PM on December 10, 2010 by Elena See
Filed under: Awards & Accomplishments, Musical philosophy

What happens when you've got a list of 20 and 13 all come from the same geographical area? Well, in the case of choirs and choral ensembles - you make a statement like this: British choirs are the best in the world! And not only are British choirs making that statement - the editor of a major classical music magazine has made that statement and so has American composer Eric Whitacre.

Gramophone, the classical music magazine that proclaims to be "the world's authority on classical music since 1923," asked an international jury to name the world's leading choirs. 13 of the 20 on the list are British ensembles and according to composer Eric Whitacre, there are several reasons why this is true, including excellence in sight reading, brilliant and crystal clear tone and an in-depth and thorough education in the history and technique of music.

So, what do you think? If you had to list your top 3 or 5 or 10 - would they be Minnesota groups? American groups? European ensembles? And why?