An event that strengthens the city’s branding

“There’s no getting away from it, the event is one of the biggest of the year,” says Jocelyne Guertin, chairperson of the executive committee of Laval city council.

For Paul Lemay, director of the city’s department of Community life, Culture and Communication, Mondial Choral is part of the evolving branding of Ville de Laval, the Mondial Choral and is fast becoming part of the city’s identity. “When a city seeks to create an event that will be identifiable with its character, it can do it from scratch or it can allow it to emerge from what is already there,” he says. In the opinion of Mrs. Guertin and Mr. Lemay, the Mondial Choral is a reflection of the values of family, humanity, and openness that are characteristic of the people of Laval.

The idea of a Choral Singing Contest, the newest feature of the Mondial Choral Festival, was first conceived in China in the summer of 2006 when representatives of Mondial Choral and Ville de Laval attended the Choral Singing Olympics. It was then and there that discussions began toward drawing the event to Laval.

“It was during that trip (in China) that Gregory Charles and Mrs. Guertin asked themselves if it would be better to organize a one-time only event or set up something that would have our own special stamp, an event we could hold every year,” Mr. Lemay notes.

In the end, it was the second option that won out. Mrs. Guertin, the Chairperson of the Cultural Council of Laval believes the international contest will bear major economic benefits for the city.

The city’s financial participation in the organization of the festival will not impact negatively on the other cultural groups of the region. “No one has been penalized,” Mrs. Guertin believes. “In the strategic plans (for cultural groups), we have increased the budgetary allocations. We have kept in mind everyone’s needs. A city’s cultural life is not based on a single event.”

Paul Lemay looks at the Mondial Choral as an engine. “It taps into the city’s cultural life in general,” he says. “We (the municipality) would like to see the organization of the festival integrated into the discussions relating to the city’s cultural life,” says Mr. Lemay, adding that the event needs to open its doors to other organizations in Laval.

Paul Lemay confides that if he were a choir director in Laval, he would devise a strategy that would fit in with this new context of the world choral singing capital and participate in the contest. “I believe that this will improve the quality of existing choral groups in Laval and lead to the creation of new ones,” he speculates.