Vannes Men’s Choir

Vannes Men’s Choir – France

At the initiative of Malgorzata Pleyber, its female conductor, the Chœur d’Hommes du Pays Vannetais (CHPV) took shape in 1996, in a region – Morbihan – where this kind of group was rather rare. The number of singers has grown rapidly to its current composition of around fifty, divided between the four traditional sections (Tenor 1 and 2, Baritone and Bass).
The classical religious repertoire of the early years has been expanded to include Romanticism and various European and world music styles, not forgetting the great opera choruses.
The Chœur d’Hommes has also opened up to contemporary works, aiming to integrate into its sound space songs of our time, sometimes disconcerting but always worthy of interest.

July 2000: The choir placed 10th at the Llangollen International Festival in Wales.
July 2006: The choir took part in the International Festival of Sacred Music in Rome.

In April 2010 – in competition at the International Festival ‘Interkultur’ in Venice, the choir was awarded a gold diploma in the category ‘Men’s Choirs’ and a silver diploma in the category ‘Sacred Songs’.
In June 2012, in competition at the Vienna International Interkultur Festival, the choir was again awarded a silver diploma in the Men’s Choir category and a silver diploma in the Sacred Song category:
In August 2014, the choir won a silver diploma in the Men’s Choir category at the renowned Singing World Festival in St Petersburg.
In September 2016, in competition at the 6th ‘Canço Miditerrania’ festival in Barcelona and Lloret de Mar, the choir won first prize in the Seniors category, a silver diploma in the ‘Sacred Song’ category and a bronze diploma in the ‘Pablo Casals’ category.

Malgorzata Pleyber, Conductor

Malgorzata Pleyber grew up in a country where people sing like they breathe. At school, in the street, at home. In Poland, as in all the countries of Eastern Europe, making your vocal chords vibrate makes your soul tingle, ‘opens your heart, makes you happy. Malgorzata Pleyber followed the classical training of a classical pianist at a conservatory in Krakow.

Her passion for choral conducting was revealed at a very early age. At the age of 15, she directed her first male choir! ‘I’ve always loved men’s voices, that vibrancy. In France, of course, she has never stopped singing and teaching, ‘it’s my job, my opportunity, my passion’: as a teacher at the departmental music conservatoire in Vannes, she gives the ‘la’ to two choirs: a polyphonic ensemble of 74 people and a choir of 27 women.

Outside the conservatoire, she gives piano lessons and also directs Nova Voce and its 18 choristers, ‘a small ensemble of great quality’. Malgorzata Pleyber has also been the figurehead of the famous Vannes men’s choir since 1993. In the beginning, ‘we were just a few friends. Now we’re sixty!

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