Which choir is the world’s top choir? According to the Interkultur choir rating, here is the world top 100 choir.
The Interkultur World Choir rating, previously known as the Musica Mundi ranking is perhaps the most trusted choral ranking globally.
The INTERKULTUR World Choir Rankings are based on the following principles:
1. Performance, quality and multiple participation are rewarded by two different evaluation systems.
1.1. The performance evaluation reflects the artistic competition results of all INTERKULTUR events and make them comparable.
1.2. An additional bonus is awarded for multiple participation over a maximum period of 5 years.
2. The calculation is based upon the 100-point system of the World Choir Games (Choir Olympics). The points of the MUSICA MUNDI evaluation system of the INTERKULTUR competitions are rounded before the calculation and then converted as follows (excerpt):
2.1. The Grand Prix of Nations and the Champions Competition of the Choir Games and of the Choir Championships will be multiplied with factor 10.2 for the world rankings. The Open Competition of the Choir Games and of the Choir Championships as well as all international choir competitions of INTERKULTUR with factor 10.
2.3. Performance evaluation for Category Winners, Champions, Winners of the Grand Prix of Nations and multiple participations (multiple categories) within one event:
2.4. For the bonus for multiple participation, the following bonus points will be added to the achieved performance result for each participation in a different INTERKULTUR competition:
- 2 points per participation in a regular INTERKULTUR competition and the
Open Competition of the Choir Games - 4 points per participation in a Champions Competition of the European Choir Games or the Asia Pacific Choir Games
- 6 points per participation in a Champions Competition of the World Choir Games and the Grand Prix of Nations
- 2 points per category win within an INTERKULTUR event
3. Further regulations
3.1. If a choir does not participate again in a competition of an INTERKULTUR event 5 years in a row, its number of points will automatically be deleted.
3.2. If a choir takes part in a competition of another INTERKULTUR event within 5 years, the better result will be reflected in the world rankings. The 5 years are recounted from the last participation.
3.3. In the bonus system for multiple participations, the participations in the period of the last 5 years are considered.
All the above are the
As it has been for years now, The Stellenbosch University Choir conducted by Virtuoso Andre van der Merwe is top of the list as the World’s Best Choir.
Let’s cut the chase: Who is the World Top 100 Choir?
Here is a comprehensive list of the World Top 100 Choir.
| POSITION | CHOIR | CONDUCTOR | COUNTRY | POINTS |
| 1. | Stellenbosch University Choir | André van der Merwe | South Africa | 1272 |
| 2. | Kamerniy Devichiy Khor by Lysenko | Julia Puchko-Kolesnik | Ukraine | 1233 |
| 3. | The Aeolians of Oakwood University | Jason Max Ferdinand | USA | 1221 |
| 4. | Tygerberg Children’s Choir | Hendrik D. Loock | South Africa | 1220 |
| 5. | Gnesins’ Ensemble of Contemporary Music “Altro coro” | Aleksandr Ryzhinskiy | Russia | 1207 |
| 6. | Amaranthe | Johannes Dewilde | Belgium | 1198 |
| 7. | Children’s Choir “Alye Parusa” | Elena Volodina | Russia | 1195 |
| 8. | Guangzhou Little Petrel Children’s Choir | Diao Zhijun & Meng Fei Liu | China | 1191 |
| 9. | The Müller Chamber Choir | Meng-Hsien Peng | Chinese Taipei | 1185 |
| 10. | Guangdong Experimental Middle School Choir | Ming Jing Xie | China | 1181 |
| 11. | Children and Youth Studio “Gaismina” | Orba Dzintra | Latvia | 1177 |
| 12. | University of Houston Moores School Concert Chorale | Betsy Cook Weber | USA | 1165 |
| 13. | Vocal Ensemble “Fortissimo” | Milena Dobreva | Bulgaria | 1163 |
| 14. | Emīla Dārziņa Jauktais Koris | Artūrs Ancāns | Latvia | 1157 |
| 15. | Seisen High School Choir | Mikiko Sato | Japan | 1155 |
| 15. | Jeugdkoor Waelrant | Marleen De Boo | Belgium | 1155 |
| 17. | Diocesan Boys’ School Choir | Felix Tsi Shing Shuen | China/Hong Kong SAR | 1151 |
| 17. | Shenzhen Senior High School Lily Girls Choir | Man Xue Hu | China | 1151 |
| 17. | Akustika Chamber Singers | Christo Burger | South Africa | 1151 |
| 21. | Dekoor Close Harmony | Christoph Mac-Carty | Netherlands | 1150 |
| 22. | Kvindelige Studenters Sangforening Oslo | Marit Tøndel Bodsberg Weyde | Norway | 1149 |
| 22. | ONE Chamber Choir | Ai Hooi Lim | Singapore | 1149 |
| 24. | Kearsney College Choir | Bernard Krüger | South Africa | 1148 |
| 25. | Barnsley Youth Choir | Mathew Wright | Great Britain | 1146 |
| 26. | Stellenberg Girls Choir | André van der Merwe | South Africa | 1142 |
| 26. | Riddarholmens Kammarkör | Stefan Boström | Sweden | 1142 |
| 28. | Cantus | Tove Ramlo-Ystad | Norway | 1141 |
| 29. | Novo Concertante Manila | Arwin Tan | Philippines | 1139 |
| 30. | iSing Silicon Valley Girlchoir | Jennah Delp Somers | USA | 1136 |
| 31. | Guangdong Experimental High School Choir | Mingjing Xie | China | 1133 |
| 32. | Cantamus Girls’ Choir | Pamela Cook & Ann Irons | Great Britain | 1132 |
| 33. | The Orthodox Male Choir “Armonia” | Ion Iulian Dumitru | Romania | 1131 |
| 34. | Coro Polifonico di Ruda | Fabiana Noro | Italy | 1130 |
| 35. | Giocoso | Rita Scheffers | Netherlands | 1127 |
| 35. | University of Pretoria Camerata | Michael Barrett | South Africa | 1127 |
| 37. | Choir of the West, Pacific Lutheran University | Richard Nance | USA | 1118 |
| 38. | Student Choir of Nankai University | Chaomei Meng | China | 1117 |
| 38. | Diocesan Schools Choral Society | Ronnie Kay Yen Cheng | China/Hong Kong SAR | 1117 |
| 38. | Akademitchesky Khor Musikalnogo Uchilishcha RAM imeni Gnessin | Elena Kolmakova | Russia | 1117 |
| 41. | Drakensberg Boys Choir | Bernard Krüger | South Africa | 1116 |
| 42. | Gaudeamus Korala | Julia Foruria | Spain | 1115 |
| 43. | Paduan Suara Mahasiswa Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta | Abraham Patrick Badiaraja Simanjuntak | Indonesia | 1114 |
| 44. | Ateneo Chamber Singers | Jonathan Velasco | Philippines | 1113 |
| 44. | Hotumese Choir | Michael Mailuhu | Indonesia | 1113 |
| 46. | Västgöta Nations Manskör Korgossarna | Rebecka Gustafsson | Sweden | 1111 |
| 47. | La Cappella | Tony Margeta | Sweden | 1107 |
| 48. | Academy Singers | Manfred Payrhuber | Austria | 1106 |
| 49. | Victoria Junior College Choir | Nelson Kwei | Singapore | 1104 |
| 49. | VIVA | Ina Cecilie Hjelmervik Olufsen | Norway | 1104 |
| 49. | Aarhus Pigekor | Helle Høyer Vedel | Denmark | 1104 |
| 49. | Academy of Choral Arts Chamber Choir | Aleksei Petrov | Russia | 1104 |
| 53. | Vocalista Angels | Yason Christy Pranowo | Indonesia | 1096 |
| 53. | Mixed Choir “Laiks” | Ilze Balode | Latvia | 1096 |
| 55. | Adolf Fredriks Flickkör | Karin Bäckström | Sweden | 1095 |
| 56. | 4×4 Frauenchor der Pädagogischen Hochschule HD | Heike Kiefner-Jesatko | Germany | 1094 |
| 57. | KYN | Kaija Viitasalo | Finland | 1092 |
| 57. | The Children’s Choir Alie Parusa of the Art School #1 in Vladivostok | Elena Petukhova | Russia | 1092 |
| 59. | Ars Nova Vocal Ensemble | Katalin Kiss | Hungary | 1088 |
| 59. | Riga Orthodox Chamber Choir “Blagovest” | Aleksandrs Brandavs | Latvia | 1088 |
| 61. | Mt. San Antonio College Singcopation | Bruce Rogers | USA | 1087 |
| 62. | Credo | Natalia Koznova | Russia | 1086 |
| 63. | Female Choir Balta | Mara Marnauza | Latvia | 1085 |
| 64. | Diponegoro University Choir | Setyo Watjono & Jefry Franklin Bode | Indonesia | 1080 |
| 65. | Roganova Youth Capella “Harmony” | Eugene Ivanov | Russia | 1079 |
| 66. | Children Choir Consonance | Tatiana Chertishcheva | Russia | 1075 |
| 67. | Diocesan Girls’ School Choir | Dorothy Hui | China/Hong Kong SAR | 1074 |
| 67. | China Welfare Institute Children’s Palace Little Companion Art Troupe Choir | Fang Lin | China | 1074 |
| 69. | South China Normal University Female Choir | YanHui Su | China | 1072 |
| 70. | John P. Stevens High School Chamber Choir | Matthew Lee | USA | 1071 |
| 70. | COTA Youth Choir Namibia | Fanie Dorfling | Namibia | 1071 |
| 70. | University of Johannesburg Choir | Sidumo Nyamezele | South Africa | 1071 |
| 73. | Mt. San Antonio College Chamber Singers | Bruce Rogers | USA | 1070 |
| 74. | Embla | Norunn Illevold Giske | Norway | 1066 |
| 75. | Ondrášek Czech Choir | Josef Zajíček | Czech Republic | 1064 |
| 76. | Choir Detstvo | Tatiana Bederina | Russia | 1062 |
| 77. | Den Norske Studentersangforening | Marit Tøndel Bodsberg | Norway | 1061 |
| 77. | Singakademie Graz | Maria Fürntratt | Austria | 1061 |
| 79. | Wenzhou Female Choir | Yuefei Zou & Xuxiang Zou | China | 1060 |
| 80. | Mt. San Antonio College Madrigals | Bruce Rogers | USA | 1055 |
| 80. | Harmonize | Jangseok Oh | Republic of Korea | 1055 |
| 82. | Estonian National Girls’ Choir LEELO | Külli Kiivet | Estonia | 1053 |
| 82. | Paduan Suara Mahasiswa Universitas Hasanuddin | Anshari Sanusi | Indonesia | 1053 |
| 82. | Norrlands Nations Kammarkör | Francesco Acquista | Sweden | 1053 |
| 85. | Falu Kammarkör | Tony Margeta | Sweden | 1047 |
| 85. | Santos Productions Academy | Christian Santos | Gibraltar | 1047 |
| 87. | Suanplu Chorus | Ramon Lijauco, Jr | Thailand | 1046 |
| 88. | Iuventus, Gaude! | Tomas Pospisil | Czech Republic | 1045 |
| 88. | Abbellimento | Jarmila Novenková | Czech Republic | 1045 |
| 88. | Mercu Buana University Choir | Agus Yuwono | Indonesia | 1045 |
| 91. | Nizhny Novgorod State University Choir (NNSU) | Larisa Erykalova | Russia | 1042 |
| 91. | Maîtrise de Seine-Maritime | Caroline Dercourt, Maria Antiome & Gaël Vincent, Dylan Levesque | France | 1042 |
| 93. | Detski Khor Cantilena | Irena Sarnatskaya & Helena Salyuk | Russia | 1040 |
| 93. | Guangzhou Tianhe Mostshining Boy’s Choir | Xujun Zhang | China | 1040 |
| 95. | Zhensky Kameren Khor “Sv. Zlata Meglenska” | Letka Dimovska Polizova | Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) | 1039 |
| 96. | Choir of Gangzhou Liwan Children’s Palace | Huikun Li | China | 1038 |
| 96. | Vokalensemble incantanti | Christian Klucker | Switzerland | 1038 |
| 96. | Academic Choir of the Ural Federal University | Svetlana Dolnikovskaya | Russia | 1038 |
| 99. | Gitabumi Voices | Tedy Eka Supriyandi | Indonesia | 1037 |
| 100. | Sibelius High School Chamber Choir | Reijo Aittakumpu | Finland | 1035 |
Let’s hear your take on the list. Drop your comments in the comment box below.
Source: INTERKULTUR
Image Credit: Stellenbosch University Choir
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