Edmonton’s Belle Canto Choir is back home — fresh off a trip to sing at the 2025 International Choir Competition in France.
“We were very excited to go to Provence and to spend some time on the Mediterranean was a thrill for all of us,” Cantilon Choir Program founding artistic director, Heather Johnson said.
Over the span of its 30 year history – the choir has been part of many international competitions and tours, but never in the south of France.
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“We were hopeful we could hold our own in the competition — we didn’t really know. It’s been a long time since we’ve done an international competition,” Johnson said.
Out of 22 choirs, theirs was the only one there from North America. Belle Canto competed in four categories and won them all.
“It was very exciting to hear our name announced as the winners — not only one time, but actually a few times over,” choir member Heather Friedenthal said.
Because they came in first place in all of their categories, they were asked to compete in the Grand Prix finale where they came out on top as well.
“It was just so exciting to be rewarded – for some of us especially who have been doing this for a very long time,” Friedenthal said.
The community choir is made up of about 30 members, thrilled to finally win together on an international stage.
“It was the tour of a lifetime,” Johnson said.
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