Dear friends of Eurojumelages,
From 26th October to 1st November 2025, the 2nd International Choir Singing Event of Eurojumelages took place in Autrans, France.
19 jumeleurs from 3 European countries came together to experience the language of music. At the end of the event, they reflected:
“We came with our individual voices and left as a choir“.
I highly recommend reading the following report by Elisabeth Dechenaux and Marie-Pierre Boisseau-Sillard in the hope that it will spark your interest in choir singing at Eurojumelages.
So I would like to appeal to you to “join in – because you can sing too!“ The next international choir singing event will take place in the pre-Christmas season from 6th December to 12th December 2026 in Neuwied-Engers, Germany, this time under the motto “In dulci jubilo“ - Now sing and be glad’ (Registration deadline: 30th May 2026)
Last but not least, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the organisers and choir singers for the successful event.
Peter Backes

International Choir Singing in Autrans, France

from 26th October to 1st November 2025

«We came with our individual voices and left as a choir!»

The projet
In 2024, our German friends Michaela and Rita embarked on a new challenging venture: to organize for the first time a Eurojumelages meeting dedicated to ‘International Choir Singing’, to attempt to sing choral works together. The venue chosen for this Eurojumelage premiere, was the music academy housed in Engers Castle, with its rehearsal rooms and terrace overlooking the Rhine. This turned out to be the ideal setting for this ambitious project.

The choristers together with choir director Willi had experienced such a fulfilling musical encounter and they had a strong desire to repeat this memorable encounter; This first International Choir Singing event of Eurojumelages set the tone for the organisation of the second such event that we organised in France, in the magnificent Vercors region, with the support of the French section Nord Isère.

The event took place from 26th October to 1st November 2025. 19 jumeleurs from three countries, namely Germany, France and Italy came to sing together. UNJPT and Eurojumelages through financial contributions, made it possible for the project to come to fruition. The choristers already present in Engers were delighted to meet again and also had warm welcomes for the newcomers.


The musical direction
Following an initial contact by Marie-Pierre, Olivier Delafosse did us the honour and agreed to be our choir director. Olivier has extensive experience conducting choirs, starting with the famous Grandes Écoles choir, and he currently conducts several musical ensembles in France, including the Mélisande choir in Versailles and the Paris chamber choir. Olivier was unanimously approved: His teaching skills, humor, patience, and mastery of English, which allowed him to make himself understood by everyone, enabled the choristers to discover a wide repertoire of four-part songs: soprano, alto, tenor and bass, and in four languages: French, Italian, English and German.  During each rehearsal, the participants supported each other in pronouncing the language that was foreign to them.  The chorister's workday Breakfast, physical and vocal warm-up, learning songs. Coffee break, naturalment!Lunch, a moment of relaxation, then back to practicing and another coffee break!

Relaxation

En fin d’après-midi pour ceux qui en avaient envie, piscine, sauna, hammam avant le diner! We never tire of singing! Most of the choristers gathered in the evening until late at night in the lounge to sing, sing and sing some more, always in good spirits, thanks to the enthusiastic accompaniment of Franco Mazzarella on guitar and Willi Elz on the accordion. One evening, Olivier even sat down at the piano to accompany us!

The representation

On the last day, we sang the pieces we had worked on in rehearsal, in front of an audience who had come specifically to listen to us. The 'Eurojumelages anthem - to the melody of Beethoven's 9th Symphony - in German, French and Italian

• in Italian: Bella ciao, Va Pensiero excerpt from Verdi's Nabucco;
• in German: Die Loreley;
• in English: Look at the world by John Ruter, Moon River by Henry Mancini, Hallelujah by Léonard Cohen, When the Saints go marching in;
• in French: Vois sur ton chemin by Bruno Coulais, Hymne à la nuit by JP Rameau.

Vincent Ginon, the pianist from Grenoble who has been accompanying several choirs in Isère for over fifteen years, helped give the performance the particularly lively tone that Olivier wanted. The choristers will have particularly fond memories of ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’, that magnificent, well-known gospel song, in which Vincent and Olivier's talents were perfectly matched. Danielle Théry, chairperson of the Nord Isère Twinning Association, accompanied by Alain Grauss, kindly came to be part of the audience. Marie-Hélène Conesa chairper of the Narbonne Twinning Association, also came with four friends to attend the concert and take part in the tour of the Vercors the following day with jumeleurs.
Both gave a short speech about the importance of the project and our representation.

Michaela Alber thanked us all for the success of this new edition: the organizers, the participants, and the associations that supported the project: Eurojumelages, UNJPT, and the Nord Isère Twinning Association. The relief after the performance: Olivier, Elisabeth, Vincent, Simone, Michaela et Marie-Pierre! Phew, we did it! …

The stay

The international choir singing took place in Autrans, a village located in the Vercors massif, not far from Grenoble, at the Escandille holiday village.

Autrans is known for having hosted the cross-country skiing, biathlon and Nordic combined events during the 1968 Olympic Games. The ski jumps remain in operation, equipped for use in both winter and summer and host numerous national and international competitions.

The excursions
Two excursions in the region provided an interlude to the choir rehearsals. The option to extend the stay by one day for sightseeing was also offered to all those who wished to do so.

Grenoble
The excursion to Grenoble included a visit to the Bastille, after a climb up in the ‘bubbles’ and a walk down through the gardens, followed by a guided tour of the city at night on a little train.

Visit to the museum of automata in Lans en Vercors
Created in 1982, the Magic of Automata comprises approximately 350 animated characters in an area of 1,500 m2. The automata are arranged in a setting accompanied by sounds and lights. This was a pleasant moment shared by the whole group on a beautiful sunny day.

Visit to the Vercors
For the jumeleurs staying an extra day, departure by carpool for a visit to the Vercors, including the fantastic gorge road, the Choranche caves, the village of Pont en Royan and its hanging houses, the water museum, and St Antoine Abbey.

« We came with our individual voices and left as a choir »

We are eagerly awaiting the 2026 International Choir Singing, which will once again be held at Engers Castle in Germany, with the theme of ‘Christmas Carols’. It will take place from 6th to 13th December 2026.
Please save this date in your calendars!

Elisabeth Dechenaux & Marie-Pierre Boisseau-Sillard
France