Last week, San Francisco Boys Chorus (SFBC) won a quintet of awards at the Leonardo da Vinci Choral Festival, a prestigious international choral competition in Florence, Italy. SFBC was named the Grand Prix winner, took the gold medal for best sacred music, another gold for its Graduate Men’s Chorus, and a silver in the youth groups category. It also won best male soloist thanks to boy soprano Solah Malik.
The chorus had “a singing journey in the heat through Italy, concerts in Padua and Venice in the most beautiful churches,” SFBC’s artistic director, Ian Robertson, told SF Classical Voice. Robertson served as SFBC’s artistic director from 1996-2019, and now is the artistic director once again.
According to Robertson, the chorus sang in five Florentine venues over five days. “These kids did it all and came out on top. Talk about sweat and toil— sun-drenched streets full of markets, food stalls and fancy restaurants, battling the crowds over the Ponte Vecchio to get to the next concert location. [They were] small boys and tall boys on a mission to sing the best music in their best voices.”
Malik enjoyed participating in the competition. “This was my first time in Florence and getting to sing in different unique and historic churches everyday was something special,” Malik said. “Being awarded Best Male Soloist was an honor and took me by surprise. The support and enthusiasm from SFBC, the other choruses, and the audience blew me away. This is an experience I will never forget.”
Also at the festival, Spain’s Coro Joven Voces para la Convivencia took second place and Taiwan’s Tsing Yang Choir took third place. Best Female Soloist was awarded to Taiwan’s Shan-Min Yu, and Best Conductor was awarded to Spain’s Alfonso Elorriaga.
