{"id":1478,"date":"2016-08-04T11:49:56","date_gmt":"2016-08-04T15:49:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mansfieldu.wpengine.com\/?p=1478"},"modified":"2016-08-17T10:52:04","modified_gmt":"2016-08-17T14:52:04","slug":"peggy-dettwiler-travels-to-russia-to-judge-world-choir-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/munews.mansfield.edu\/?p=1478","title":{"rendered":"Peggy Dettwiler Travels to Russia to Judge World Choir Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

MANSFIELD, PA\u2014<\/strong>Three times Peggy Dettwiler, director\"Peggy<\/a> of Choral Activities at Mansfield University, brought her ensemble, the Concert Choir, to the World Choir Games (also known as the Choral Olympics) traveling to Graz, Austria in 2008, Cincinnati, OH in 2012 and, most recently Riga, Latvia in 2014.<\/p>\n

The students came back not only with lots of unforgettable memories but also with gold medals for each of the categories they participated. In 2008, MU students were world champions in the Spiritual and Gospel categories and, under the direction of Professor Sheryl Monkelien, also in Vocal Jazz.<\/p>\n

Last month, Dettwiler traveled without her choral ensemble and the usual MU \u00a0entourage of supporters to Russia, where this year\u2019s World Choir Games were held in Sochi, a resort area on the shores of the Black Sea\u2014a mixture of beach and ski resort, and, because of its mineral springs in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, also a spa town exuding old-fashioned Tsarist elegance.\u00a0 Two years ago, Sochi hosted the Winter Olympics<\/p>\n

Olympic symbols such as flags and national anthems were very much in evidence also in this festival devoted to the choral arts.\u00a0 In fact, Dettwiler was chosen to bring in and help hoist the Flag of the World Choir Games in the opening ceremony to the sounds of the Choral Olympic Hymn. The organizers chose six conductors to represent Russia, Asia, Australia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas.\"Peggy<\/a>\u201cI was so honored and thrilled to represent one of the world\u2019s five continents\u2014the Americas, Dettwiler said. \u201cWe even rehearsed for it several times, as nothing could be left to chance in this professional show recorded for broadcast in many countries of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Russian organizers did not want to repeat the mishap of 2014, when the last of the five Olympic rings did not pop up properly during the fireworks\u2014a minor blemish that was given ample coverage in Western media; meanwhile the image of the five rings with the fifth only producing a meager pop has become an iconic logo used in advertisements: the Olympics with a knowing wink.<\/p>\n

But then the work began.\u00a0 After being properly introduced to the jury rules, the 58 jurors from 41 countries, including Dettwiler, went about their responsibilities: evaluating, in a cohort of seven judges for each of the categories, more than 12,000 singers in 283 choirs from 36 countries.\"web<\/a><\/p>\n

They notated their impressions on a scale from one to 10, the latter being perfect in various aspects–intonation, choral tone, faithfulness to the score, and artistic presentation for each piece being performed.\u00a0 The highest and lowest scores were later thrown out to avoid the perception of favoritism or malevolent intent.<\/p>\n

Eighty or more points garnered a gold medal, 60-plus a silver, and 40-plus a bronze.\u00a0 Dettwiler served on the juries for the Mixed Youth Choirs, Children\u2019s Choirs, Vocal Jazz, Gospel, Pop Choirs, Music of Spirit and Faith, Spiritual, Contemporary Music categories.<\/p>\n

Dettwiler shared that it was fascinating to be on the other side, a juror instead of a conductor whose choir was being adjudicated. Knowing how many valid opinions go into the assessment of a performance makes her appreciate even more, how well the Concert Choir has been ranked in the three World Choir Games in which they have participated.\u00a0 But she was also reminded of the wonderful opportunity to meet great choral musicians and hear fabulous choirs.<\/p>\n

She said it was particularly moving was meeting a blind choir from China, another with a significant number of singers in wheel chairs, and choirs from Jordan and Iran. Interkultur, the organizers of all these games, is true to their mission: \u201cParticipation is the greatest honor!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANSFIELD, PA\u2014Three times Peggy Dettwiler, director of Choral Activities at Mansfield University, brought her ensemble, the Concert Choir, to the … Continue reading >Peggy Dettwiler Travels to Russia to Judge World Choir Games<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1480,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-1478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/munews.mansfield.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/web-Dettwiler-WCG-2.jpg?fit=960%2C720&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6V0yH-nQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1149,"url":"https:\/\/munews.mansfield.edu\/?p=1149","url_meta":{"origin":1478,"position":0},"title":"Peggy Dettwiler to Judge International Competition","author":"Terry Day","date":"January 4, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"MANSFIELD, PA\u2014 Peggy Dettwiler, director of Choral Activities at Mansfield University, has been invited to serve as a member of the international jury for the 2016 World Choir Games (WCG) to be held in Sochi, Russia this July. Dettwiler is no stranger to the WGC, leading the MU Concert Choir\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Peggy Dettwiler","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mansfieldu.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Peggy-Dettwiler-300x237.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":634,"url":"https:\/\/munews.mansfield.edu\/?p=634","url_meta":{"origin":1478,"position":1},"title":"Peggy Dettwiler awarded Presidential Coin for Excellence","author":"Terry Day","date":"April 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"MANSFIELD, PA\u2014 Mansfield University President Fran Hendricks awarded the MU Presidential Coin for Excellence to Peggy Dettwiler, professor of Music and director of Choral Activities at MU, on April 11.The presentation was made after Dettwiler directed the Mansfield Festival Chorus performance of A German Requiem by Johannes Brahms at Steadman\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"MU President Fran Hendricks presents the Presidential Coin for Excellence to Peggy Dettwiler.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mansfieldu.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Coin-Dettwiler-1024x683.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mansfieldu.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Coin-Dettwiler-1024x683.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mansfieldu.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Coin-Dettwiler-1024x683.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":258,"url":"https:\/\/munews.mansfield.edu\/?p=258","url_meta":{"origin":1478,"position":2},"title":"Concert Choir Strikes Gold at International Competition","author":"Terry Day","date":"July 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"MANSFIELD, PA\u2014 The Mansfield University Concert Choir won three Gold Medals at the 2014 World Choir Games in in Riga, Latvia over the weekend. The Mansfield ensemble, directed by Peggy Dettwiler, medaled in all three categories they sang in. MU finished second in the Spiritual category, behind the Stellenbosh University\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"MU Concert Choir at the Sacred Accompanied competition.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mansfieldu.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Concert-Choir-WCG-1-300x228.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1270,"url":"https:\/\/munews.mansfield.edu\/?p=1270","url_meta":{"origin":1478,"position":3},"title":"Peggy Dettwiler Named Honored Artist of The American Prize","author":"Terry Day","date":"March 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"MANSFIELD, PA\u2014 Peggy Dettwiler, professor of Music and director of Choral Activities at Mansfield University, has been selected as an Honored Artist of The American Prize. Honored Artists are individuals who have proven themselves to be musicians of \u201csustained excellence\" over a number of seasons as contestants in the competitions.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Peggy Dettwiler","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/munews.mansfield.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Peggy-Dettwiler.jpg?fit=1200%2C949&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/munews.mansfield.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Peggy-Dettwiler.jpg?fit=1200%2C949&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/munews.mansfield.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Peggy-Dettwiler.jpg?fit=1200%2C949&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/munews.mansfield.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Peggy-Dettwiler.jpg?fit=1200%2C949&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/munews.mansfield.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Peggy-Dettwiler.jpg?fit=1200%2C949&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":248,"url":"https:\/\/munews.mansfield.edu\/?p=248","url_meta":{"origin":1478,"position":4},"title":"Concert Choir Departs for Europe","author":"Terry Day","date":"June 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"MANSFIELD, PA\u2014The Mansfield University Concert Choir departed for the 2014 World Choir Games on Monday, June 30. The majority of the Choir and their party traveled by bus from MU to Philadelphia, where they will meet several students who lives in southeast Pennsylvania and will then fly to Europe. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Conert Choir & travel party before boarding the bus.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mansfieldu.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Corncert-Choir-depart-1-300x268.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1744,"url":"https:\/\/munews.mansfield.edu\/?p=1744","url_meta":{"origin":1478,"position":5},"title":"Concert Choir Takes Center Stage at Carnegie Hall","author":"Terry Day","date":"February 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"MANSFIELD, PA\u2014\u201cHow to get to Carnegie Hall?\u201d is the question on the front of some t-shirts sold at gift shops in New York City, and the answer is given on its back: \u201cPractice, practice!\u201d\u00a0Not that this advice is wrong,--the Mansfield University the Concert Choir practiced a lot during the fall\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Carnegie Hall\"","block_context":{"text":"Carnegie Hall","link":"https:\/\/munews.mansfield.edu\/?tag=carnegie-hall"},"img":{"alt_text":"The finale with MU\u2019s Lucas Lourenco, soloist, surrounded by 450 singers--on stage, in the balconies, and on the floor, in Carnegie Hall","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/munews.mansfield.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/web-Concert-Choir-Carnegie-2.jpg?fit=1080%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/munews.mansfield.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/web-Concert-Choir-Carnegie-2.jpg?fit=1080%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/munews.mansfield.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/web-Concert-Choir-Carnegie-2.jpg?fit=1080%2C720&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/munews.mansfield.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/web-Concert-Choir-Carnegie-2.jpg?fit=1080%2C720&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/munews.mansfield.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/web-Concert-Choir-Carnegie-2.jpg?fit=1080%2C720&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/munews.mansfield.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/munews.mansfield.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/munews.mansfield.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/munews.mansfield.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/munews.mansfield.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/munews.mansfield.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/munews.mansfield.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/munews.mansfield.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/munews.mansfield.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/munews.mansfield.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}