Egersunds
Mandssangforening - Egersund’s Men’s Choir - has come to be
one of the largest male
choirs in Norway, in a
period when many amateur choral groups struggle to keep up their
membership.
The choir in the
southwest of Norway is now approaching 80 singers and keeps
growing. The choir was
founded on the
country’s independence day, May 17, in 1901, partly as an
expression of a strong
national movement
after several centuries of domination first by Denmark and later
Sweden. Egersunds
Mandssangforening has
long been a central actor in traditional activities of the city,
such as memorial
ceremonies on May 17
and the yearly church concert at Christmas. Particularly during
the last decade,
the choir has
developed into a cultural force of importance in its community.
Among the central events
in the later years
have been a full dinner show based on the works of the Swedish
national poet Carl
Michael Bellman, an
outdoor concert at sunset with the rugged North Sea coast as a
spectacular
background and
“Oktoberfest à la Egersund” - all drawing huge crowds. Naturally,
the choir consists
of amateurs only, from
all walks of life, just doing their best - which the conductor
for most of the last
20 years, Bernhard
Kielland, patiently tries to improve one tiny step at a time,
once every week. The
leader of the singers
since 2001 is Alf Sverre Andersen who was awarded the
cultural prize for his
contributions to the
community of Egersund in the fall of 2010. The goal of the choir
is to keep creating
“golden moments”. An
important factor in this respect is the conscious involvement of
the wives of the
singing men. Certainly
being allowed to sing here is one of the most precious moments
in the history of
the choir. The choir
humbly hopes that the audience also may appreciate its
performance.
