Participatory concert ‘Coros de Cine / Film Choirs’ in Bilbao [SUMMARY]

Last Thursday, June 26, 2025, the Euskalduna Bilbao venue held the concert ‘Coros de Cine/Film Choirs’, performed by the Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa under the baton of Marc Timon, and with the voice of the soprano Montserrat Sero.

 

The special thing about this participatory film music concert was the almost 400 people who took part in it between orchestra and voices, counting in the choral part with: Sociedad Coral de Bilbao, Agrupación Coral Bleibet, Bermeoko Abesbatza, Coral Santa María de Portugalete, Coro Alegro de la Sociedad Coral de Bilbao, Coro Andrés Isasi-Getxoko Musika, Coro Ars Viva, Coro Club Deportivo Bilbao, Coro Ingenieros Industriales de Bizkaia, Doniene Abesbatza, Inmakuladako Abeslariak, and Jatorki Abesbatza.

 

The concert started at 19:35h with a powerful orchestral version of “Superman March (Superman)” by John Williams, which set the tone very high, offering a splendid interpretation as an appetizer of the concert. This was followed by two pieces by Henry Mancini, the well-known “Moon River (Breakfast at Tiffany’s)” where the choirs made their debut in a soft and sweet way, and the orchestral and dynamic “Peter Gunn” that made more than one person in the hall carry the rhythm with the foot or with the head.

 

Then it was time for Ennio Morricone with the impressive “Gabriel’s Oboe (The Mission)” with a very successful Oboe soloist, and the powerful choral piece “On Earth as it is in Heaven (The Mission)” that filled the hall with a torrent of almost celestial voices, as only 12 simultaneous choral groups can do. The orchestra bid farewell to Morricone with another of his classics, the tender and sweetly melodic “Cinema Paradiso”.

 

Before the intermission, three more works by John Williams, “Suo Gan (Empire of the Sun)” with the female choirs and the soprano endowing the piece with intensity but delicacy, the powerful “Exultate Justi (Empire of the Sun)” splendidly interpreted, and the climax of the first part, the tribal and heartfelt “Dry Your Tears, Afrika (Amistad)” where the choirs reached their full splendor.

 

After the intermission, came the only piece by James Horner in the concert, “My Heart Will Go On (Titanic)” with soprano Montserrat Seró taking the reins of Celine Dion in the original theme, who was fabulously wrapped by the brilliant refrains of the choirs.

 

But the feeling was not going to wane, and the wonderful “Hymn to the Fallen (Saving Private Ryan)” by John Williams gave us goosebumps, while musically reminding us of the harshness, but also the sensitivity and solidarity that accompany wartime.

 

The “official” end of the concert came with one of John Williams’ greatest hits; Star Wars, also known as “La Guerra de las Galaxias” it premiered in Spain in the 70s. The block started with a brilliant and powerful “Main Theme” giving way to the delicate theme of Princess Leia “Leia’s Theme” where the horns had almost all the protagonism, although they did not get to embroider the piece. The theme of the “bad guy” of the original trilogy, “Imperial March – Darth Vader’s Theme”, filled the hall with martial airs having the percussion and brass sections in perfect harmony.

 

So far, the block was completely orchestral, but that was soon to change with “Duel of the Fates” where the musical aggressiveness of the orchestra coupled with the combined power of all the choirs, which stood out with a spectacular display of power and clarity, made us get right into the fateful fight between Darth Maul, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. And to end this cinematic evening, as happens with the end credits of Star Wars, we found ourselves with the piece “Throne Room & Finale”, which led us to the end of the concert past 21:20h.

 

But as expected, the audience was not going to settle without asking for at least one encore, so, by popular clamor, the concert continued and we returned to hear the overwhelming “Exultate Justi (Empire of the Sun)”, with a display of voices that filled every corner of the room. It seemed that the choirs had caught the taste of the evening, had warmed up their engines, and were not willing to close the concert with a performance that was not at least memorable.

 

After the encore, all the choirmasters/choir mistresses of all the participating choirs went on stage to greet the audience, but such was the ovation and the emotion of the moment in the room, that Marc Timón looked at them in an accomplice way, and asked for permission to offer a second encore, which was approved unanimously.

 

The explosive, vindictive and heartfelt “Dry Your Tears, Afrika (Amistad)”, with the choirs completely devoted despite having given everything so far, and in many cases singing from memory and without their music sheets, put a golden finishing touch to a concert that should at least be described as spectacular.

 

And those of us who stayed a little longer in the hall, when the orchestra had already left and while the hall was gradually emptying, saw the improvised tribute that the choirs and the pianist offered to the conductor Marc Timón, for his efforts in the 5 days of uninterrupted rehearsals that they shared together: a ceremonial “Agur Jaunak” (Traditional Basque song), giving him a thank you, which gave us again goosebumps.

 

In short, a spectacular concert, and I would almost dare to say unrepeatable. Although… I would love it if the organizers could prove me wrong, and next year they would program “Coros de Cine 2 / Film Choirs 2”. We would attend again, without hesitating for moment.

 

Article and pictures by Gorka Oteiza