from The Independent, 6 October 2003:

World Voice, South Bank Centre, London

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Michael Church

"It's wonderful to be reminded, as we breed our young couch-potatoes, just how clever children can be. The latest incarnation of Finland's award-winning Tapiola Choir has come to the South Bank as part of the WorldVoice festival, and their spell is as bright as ever. They have a conductor, but he hardly appears at all: these bright-eyed kids aged from eight to 18 manage the most complex feats of part-singing as though nothing could be more natural.

Their voices in their opening song were fresh and unforced, but their attack was spot-on; then, in a series of songs created for them by contemporary Finnish composers, they showed what they could do. They hardened their tone in the ancient peasant style, till it had the impermeability of pebbles on the beach; they delivered a song that was all groans, cries, and susurrations. They showed how a phrase could seem to pass from one end of the stage to another

Then - and I've never been so charmingly inveigled into audience-participation - they roped in the whole of the Queen Elizabeth Hall for a piece entitled "Eternal Echo". Three simple motifs were first sung from all four corners of the auditorium, then enriched layer upon layer, until the whole hall was awash with cooing sounds. Finally they offered a medley of songs and dances, creating their own instrumental accompaniment with violin, clarinet, and drum. There may be as much talent in our own choirs, but there's nothing like Tapiola's technical adventurousness."

Note. Parts relating to the festival in general and to the second part of the twin concert featuring the Rossica Choir have been omitted.