MARKTOBERDORF, Germany — Normally, competitions are pretty nerve-racking experiences with little or no socializing among the participants. They are there to win; they want to stay focused, and they don't want any distractions.
That's not how it works at the International Chamber Choir Competition in Marktoberdorf, Germany. If anything, the atmosphere here is the total opposite of what one might expect to find at international competitions. The mood at Marktoberdorf is relaxed, easygoing, laid-back — and friendly.
And that's exactly what Dolph Rabus wants.
Rabus, the founder and director of the competition, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, wants it to be more than just about competing. "We try to be perfectionists here, but we still have fun," Rabus said. "We use the competition to get the world's best choirs to do things other than just sing. Yes, we want to make music together, but we also strive to make peace. And if we are going to do that, we are going to take it seriously."
Of course, Rabus knows he can't force the choirs to socialize during the competition. So what he's done is to set things up in a way that anyone who wants to can take part in the social life.
"What I have done is to arrange a situation where people can meet and get to know each other and make connections if they want to."
What Rabus does is set up a huge tent next to the hall where the competition rounds and the opening and closing concerts take place. The tent is the social center of the competition. It's where lunch and dinner are served for the participants. And after every concert, it becomes a meeting place for everyone with live music and dancing. One also can enjoy drinks and a late-night bratwurst and roll.
And the tent is always packed at night. "I am very happy to see that this idea has worked out," Rabus said. "Everyone needs a place to come where they can take their mind off the competition."
The townspeople are also welcome to join in. On any given night during the five-day competition, about half the people in the tent are locals.
There are only about 35,000 residents in this southern Bavarian city. There isn't a lot to do, unless one goes to Munich, which is about 90 miles to the northeast. So, the people here look forward to the competition. So much so that it's become a focal point in their cultural life.
Rabus, who hails from a nearby town, chose Marktoberdorf because he wanted the competition to be in a small city. "In that way you really focus your attention on the competition and the concerts. There aren't any distractions here as there would be if the competition were held in Munich."
Besides the University of Utah Singers under Brady Allred (the only choir from the United States), this year's competition featured adult and youth ensembles from eight European countries and Argentina.
There is certainly a lot of music compressed into five days. Besides the two competition rounds for each category (this year the categories were mixed adult choir and youth choir), there were 15 concerts in and around Marktoberdorf. That gave each choir a chance to sing in at least four concerts during the five-day event.
The most unusual and exciting concert was a joint program given by the University of Utah Singers and the Estudio Coral Meridies of Santa Fe, Argentina. It was held in a school gym in Marktoberdorf and presented as a soccer match between the U.S.A. and Argentina. Staff members handed out small American and Argentinian flags to everyone coming into the gym (the majority of the flags at the concert were American).
Rabus came up with the idea for this concert. "We wanted to try something that was fun and different," he said. And Allred agreed. "It was hard to sing in there, but it was fun and I think everyone had a good time."
Rabus is happy how this year's competition turned out. "For the most part, it was a very high-level competition," he said. "We limit the number of German choirs we accept to two or three maximum, because this is an international competition. And I think the competition had good international representation."
An architect by profession, Rabus switched careers and went into music management. And that eventually led to his love of choral music. "I organized the first national German choir competition," he said. "That was in 1982."
After attending a music conference in Strasbourg in 1985, he realized he needed to bring an international choral competition to Germany.
Meanwhile, Rabus moved to Marktoberdorf after accepting a job at the Music Academy here and began planning what would eventually become in 1989 the International Chamber Choir Competition.
Today, the competition is a well-oiled machine run by a large volunteer staff who make certain everything goes smoothly. There are actually two different competitions in Marktoberdorf that alternate. This year it was for chamber choirs, with first prize in the mixed adult choir category and third prize in the youth category going to the University Singers.
This competition returns in 2011. Meanwhile, Rabus and his team are preparing for next year's Musica Sacra competition that will have a much more exotic look, with folk and youth choirs from Israel, Indonesia and a number of other Asian countries participating. "We will have Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim and Jewish groups here next year," Rabus said. "The goal with Musica Sacra is to make peace between religions."
As far as Rabus is concerned, there are no losers at Marktoberdorf. Everyone is a winner.
"The losers really aren't losers," he said, "because of the contacts you can make and the chance to learn from everybody. That is what is the important thing here."
E-mail: ereichel@desnews.com