ConneXions Singing Cardinals Win Youth Choirs Category in Spain

Members of the ConneXions choir gather in a classroom.

Baltimore’s ConneXions Singing Cardinals have an international category title to bring home. The choir won the Youth Choirs category at Sing for Gold in Calella, Spain, according to competition organizer INTERKULTUR’s October 25th results. Baltimore City Public Schools highlighted the achievement in an October 26th report.

The organizer credits conductor Brandon Booth and lists the Singing Cardinals among eight ensembles that advanced to the World Choral Cup final. Their category victory is distinct from the overall cup: Collegium Musicum Kammerchor, from Germany, won the competition’s top award. Baltimore’s recognition should be celebrated with that distinction intact.

Classroom work reaches an international stage

The district says Booth founded the choir 12 years ago at ConneXions: A Community Based Arts School. Its current group includes 20 students and recent graduates. That connection between current and former students makes the ensemble more than a single graduating class and gives younger singers an example of continued participation.

According to the district’s account, preparation includes vocal technique, reading music, music theory and history, along with work in multiple languages. Those are classroom skills with a public result. The competition offers a visible milestone, while the teaching behind it helps explain what students practice before reaching a stage.

INTERKULTUR’s final-round report describes a broad international field and names the other category winners. The eight finalists represented several countries, with three ensembles proceeding to the last round. The Singing Cardinals’ placement among the eight should not be described as a top-three finish or an overall world championship.

For Baltimore families, the story offers a concrete example of arts education reaching beyond the city while remaining rooted in a local school community. A category win does not measure every benefit of music instruction, but it gives the singers, their director and their supporters a specific accomplishment to recognize.

Read the district’s choir profile for the students’ preparation and the organizer’s results for the competition record. Follow PowerPage’s Baltimore coverage for more local education and culture stories, including the people whose sustained work makes these moments possible.