Open choir rehearsals

Urwaldschrei gets these men and women going

With their choir "Viva la musica Salzburg", the approximately 30 men and women have already performed in Italy, Germany and Great Britain.(Bild: Markus Tschepp)

Around 10,000 Salzburgers sing in choirs. These days, many groups are inviting visitors to try them out. The "Krone" met a singing community in Salzburg-Gnigl.

Nothing works here without loosening up. Even the "Krone" is not allowed to remain seated during the open choir rehearsal in the wake of the "Long Night of Choirs". "Everyone joins in," shouts Manfred Wallner in the sun-drenched Gnigl parish hall in Salzburg. When the chairman of the "Viva la musica Salzburg" choir takes his place among his almost 30 members, everyone rises from their seats.

"Uuuhh!" echoes through the parish hall
"We stretch upwards, even higher. There's more!", the man from Berndorf encourages the ladies and gentlemen. From the top, the hands go down to the floor to shake their backs and become "long". When the arms are also tapped and the fingers are "dribbled" over the head, everyone starts the jungle cry. "Uuuhh!" echoes through the parish hall, everyone beats their chests with their fists.

Choirmaster wants to polish the "rough diamond"
As the retired bank director Wallner looks into smiling faces, army officer Gernot Terharen takes over. The choirmaster sits at the keyboard, sings a "Mmmh" and everyone joins in. During "A I AI AI", Terharen looks critically around for a moment. "Let's turn this rough diamond into a polished one. Just let go of the last note at the end," he instructs the choir.

After a few more warm-up pieces, everyone sings a song for member Doris, whose birthday is on Thursday. She is beaming and when the song is finished, she gets another round of applause. "No matter what mood you're in, after a choir rehearsal you leave feeling different. Singing dispels all anger. You sing for your own joy and for the joy of others. But the most important thing is the community," says Manfred Wallner. The 49-year-old choir goes on choir trips and excursions together and sings for a good cause during Advent. The oldest singer is 80, the youngest 53.

Weeks of open choir rehearsals underway
There were no new members in Gnigl on the day of the choir rehearsal. However, numerous other choirs will be giving them the chance over the next few weeks. The Salzburg Choir Association lists all evenings on its homepage.