The first audition of the Maîtrise de Caen was this Saturday, September 24 at the Notre-Dame-de-la-Gloriette church. For the occasion, about thirty choristers aged 11 to 14 performed two works by Felix Mendelssohn, a 19th century German composer, to a packed church. The master’s degree is directed by Olivier Opdebeeck, its musical director for almost 20 years, and after all these years he remains moved and proud to make his comeback: “We do wonderful things, we have children who want to do well, it’s exciting to work with children, to see their enthusiasm. It’s moving.”
Choristers proud of their performance
The singers were also proud of their first audition, despite the stage fright at the start. Edgar is 12 years old, he has been performing almost every Saturday for several years: “It’s true that the best moment is when we are applauded, because we worked a lot at the conservatory, we go through rehearsals and when we are applauded we feel a form of pride.” Many parents, families are present in the churchand despite the habit, they never tire of hearing the Maîtrise sing, like Marie the mother of a chorister: “I am still surprised by this pleasure, almost every Saturday, it’s never the same songs, it’s nice to see them.” The Maîtrise de Caen takes place every Saturday at noon at the Notre-Dame-de-la-Gloriette church and is open to everyone free of charge. The Maîtrise is the result of a partnership between National Education, the Conservatory and the Théâtre de Caen. It includes a total of a hundred young boys educated in classes with flexible hours from CE1 to the third year.