There might not be many Iowans competing at the Olympics in Greece this month. But a choir of 30 central Iowa teenagers recently brought home two silver medals from the World Choral Olympics in Germany. Susan Wees is director of the Iowa Youth Chorus. Wees calls it a “massive” competition, bringing 20,000 participants and choirs of kids and adults from universities and other institutions from 30 nations. She says for Iowa’s group to do so well was “phenomenal.” She doesn’t think the kids expected to get much out of the trip besides a unique experience. She says they haven’t taken part in this kind of event often, and choral traditions are strong in some of the countries like Germany and China that participated — so winning some awards was a pleasant surprise. Wees says the singers competed in a mixed youth chorus category, and acapella sacred music. They won medals in each category, some gold, some silver and bronze. On Thursday the group performed for the governor at the statehouse in Des Moines.
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