Choir

Veteli Boys´ Choir started in Veteli, Middle Ostrobothnia, in the spring of 1985. The choir was founded by Simo Kangas, who has been the choir's director since. At first there were about 40 boys in the choir, all of which were sopranos or altos. After few years boys grew up, their voice changed and so the choir got its first tenors and basses. Originally all the boys were from Veteli but in recent years boys from neighboring areas like Evijärvi, Halsua, Kaustinen and Teerijärvi have also joined the choir. Over the years the choir has grown into one of the largest boys´ choirs in Finland with the present amount of 70 singers. A men´s choir that sings either together with the whole choir or separately with a repertoir of its own has also developed among the boys´ choir.

Music

The repertoire of the boys´ choir mainly consists of typical music for boys´ choirs, Piae Cantiones, spiritual or religious tunes, finnish folk songs and larger choir works. The men's choir repertoire includes also some gregorian pieces.

Achievements

The choir has taken part in several national and international choir events. In 1990 it shared the first place in a choir competition in Lahti. The men´s choir of the boys´ choir competed in "Tampereen Sävel" festival in 1997 and was awarded two silver marks as a prize of honour. A year later the men´s choir won its own class in "Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina" competition of sacral music in Rome. In addition to that, the boys´ choir has toured several European countries and has participated in a choir festival for the Baltic countries in Germany in 1997. The choir has also sung the theme song for the worldwide TV programme "Children of the World". In 1995 the choir celebrated its 10-year anniversary by arranging the national boys' choir event in Veteli and touring California, USA. In the year 2000 the choir honored its 15-year history and made one of its greatest tours in Europe. The choir conserted for example in St. Michael's Church in Hamburg and in "Expo 2000 World Exhibition" in Hannover and received plenty of praise for the both performances. The choir's tradional christmas concert can also be considered as an achievement. It has been arranged every year in Veteli's church since 1989.

Functioning

Every few years new boys join the choir after a singing test. At first the new boys don't practice with others but instead they have separate practice sessions where they learn the basics of choral singing and also the repertoire. When they have learned how to use their voice and current repertoire they will join the rest of the choir. Sopranos and altos usually practice once a week together and separately. Tenors and basses practice on weekends because most of these men study or work outside Veteli but every other weekend or so they gather around to practice. When concerts are closer the entire choir practices together. Choir director Simo Kangas is responsible for all the practice sessions and vocal training but every now and then the choir has weekend camps with an outside vocal trainer. Many times the vocal trainer has been Professor Venno Laul from Estonia. He has had quite a big influence in the choir's development over the years. Other visitors have been Mr. Jarmo Kokkonen and Mr. Tapani Tirilä.

For many years now Veteli Boys' Choir has had the honour to receive seamless cooperation from the music group Viskurit directed by Mrs. Raila Järvelä. She has gathered a small violin group from the talented young musicians of Viskurit which enables the choir to perform also larger choir works that require accompaniment. This group of local young musicians has followed the choir to several trips abroad and is probably already more a part of the choir than a separate accompaniment group. Since the founding of the choir until year 1994, the choir was accompanied almost solely by Mr. Arto Leponiemi. After 1994 the responsibility for the organ and piano accompaniment tranferred to Ms. Minna Pakkala.

Veteli Boys´ Choir functions as a registered organization in which the boys´ parents are very active. The activities are mostly based on voluntary work. The journeys are mainly financed by concerting and selling records and calendars as well as different benefits.

The Men's Choir of Veteli Boys' Choir

Some time in 1993-94 a men's choir begun to form inside the boys' choir. There isn't an exact date when the men's choir was founded if it was founded at all. It just simply started practicing its own repertoire. The men's choir performs as a part of the boys' choir as well as a choir of its own. Currently there are over 30 men singing in the men's choir. About a half of them have been choir members since the founding of the boys' choir. Since the men study or work all over Finland the practice sessions have to be during weekends.
The men's choir has participated in a few choir competitions. In 1997 the men's choir competed in "Tampereen sävel" festival for choirs and singing groups. As a result the men's choir was awarded two silver marks as a prize of honour and jury's opinion: "Choir has a very sentimental and beautiful sound. PIANO was very good but FORTE was weak. Choir's UNISONO was beautiful."
The next year the men's choir was to compete in Rome in "Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina" competition of sacral music. Everybody worked hard and the competition was a success. The men's choir won its own class.
In the spring 2000 the men's choir participated in "Leevi Madetoja" competition in Helsinki. This time however the choir was left with no greater success.
The men of Veteli Boys' Choir aspire to be a trendy men's choir without forgetting boyish humor and fun. Stylish tuxedos and good manners are a trademark (which ladies all around Europe have noticed).
The functioning of the men's choir changed remarkably during the year 2002, when many senior singers quitted their boys' choir career. A part of them sings nowadays in the choir named Äänipäät.