Testimonials
Real voices. Meaningful experiences. Music that leaves a mark.
Choral Fest Costa Rica for Peace is more than an international choral festival. It is an experience where choirs, directors, singers and communities meet through music, culture and a shared message of peace.
The voices on this page help tell that story.
They remind us that a choral festival is not only measured by concerts, schedules or applause. It is also measured by what people feel, what they remember and what they carry home after singing together.
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Why testimonials matter
When a choir director considers an international journey, trust matters.
Directors want to know if the experience is meaningful. They want to know if singers will feel welcomed. They want to know if the journey can strengthen the choir. They want to know if the festival truly lives the values it represents.
These testimonials help answer those questions through the voices of people who have lived the spirit of Choral Fest Costa Rica for Peace.
Voices from the festival
A festival where music becomes encounter
The most powerful moments of Choral Fest Costa Rica for Peace often happen when people from different places realize that music can create connection before words are even needed.
A choir arrives with its own language, culture and story. A community receives them with attention, warmth and openness. Then the music begins.
In that moment, the festival becomes more than an event. It becomes a human encounter.
Testimonial profile
Joy Hirokawa — Choral director / Festival guest director
Highlighted quote
“A choral leader whose artistry, warmth, and vision inspire meaningful musical encounters.”
Details
Country or location: To be confirmed
Choir or institution: To be confirmed
Type of testimony: Director / Guest director
Edited testimonial
Joy Hirokawa brings to Choral Fest Costa Rica a deep sense of artistry, humanity and musical purpose. Her presence reflects the spirit of the festival: creating meaningful encounters through choral music, where voices do more than perform; they connect, inspire and open space for peace.
As a choral leader, her warmth and vision help remind singers and audiences that music is not only an artistic experience. It is also a human meeting point, a place where listening, respect and shared emotion can become part of something larger than ourselves.
Her participation in Choral Fest Costa Rica strengthens the festival’s mission of bringing people together through music, community and peace.
Tim Sharp — Guest Maestro 2019, Director, Composer and Educator
Highlighted quote
“Choral Fest Costa Rica for Peace is an extraordinary festival that combines musical excellence, human warmth and the true spirit of peace.”
Details
Country or location: United States
Choir or institution: Guest Maestro, Choral Fest Costa Rica for Peace 2019
Type of testimony: Director / Guest maestro / Educator
Edited testimonial
Choral Fest Costa Rica for Peace is an extraordinary festival because it brings together musical excellence, sincere human warmth and a true spirit of peace.
The experience reflects what choral music can offer at its best: community, connection and a shared purpose that goes beyond the performance itself. Through music, singers and audiences are invited to experience peace not only as an idea, but as something lived, heard and shared together.
For me, this festival represents the power of choral singing to build bridges between people, cultures and communities.
Voices of Costa Rica: Communities, Directors and Participants
The festival does not happen only on a stage. It also happens in churches, cultural centers, communities, schools, civic spaces and places where people gather to listen.
Each host community becomes part of the experience. When a choir sings for a community, it does not simply offer music. It offers presence, respect and a message that often reaches places where words are not enough.
Sofía Zambrano — Director of Coro Azul de Nicoya
“Language is not a barrier, because music truly unites us.”
Role: Director of Coro Azul de Nicoya
Location: Nicoya, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
I love sharing, and I love that choirs have the opportunity to get to know other sister choirs and to realize that we are one.
When we sing, it does not matter where we come from: language is not a barrier, because music truly unites us.
Music helps us forget so many negative things, so much war and so much division. That is why, when we sing, we can also become instruments of peace and instruments of unity.
The International Choral Festival Costa Rica for Peace brings together choir directors, singers and international ensembles in a non-competitive experience where choral singing becomes a bridge for connection, respect and peaceful coexistence.
Abril Brizuela Espinosa, corista del Coro de Liberia del CTP.
Abril Brizuela Espinosa — Singer, Coro de Liberia del CTP
Abril Brizuela Espinosa, a singer from the Coro de Liberia del CTP, shares with joy and gratitude what it meant to take part in this musical encounter.
For her, singing with a choir from another country was an unforgettable experience. It was not only about performing together, but about discovering that music can bring people closer, even when they come from different places and cultures.
She expresses how special it was to sing for peace and to represent, through her voice, a message of unity, hope and love for Costa Rica.
Her testimony reminds us that young voices also carry the power to build bridges. When students sing with purpose, they do more than participate in a concert. They become part of a living message: peace can be learned, shared and sung.
Meet Our Community
Anayancy Zapata
Santa Cruz, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Participant / Community
“We must strongly promote peace and love one another.”
My Testimony
The activity and the message seemed truly wonderful to me. It is very valuable that different cultures come together, because the message being shared is a message of harmony, love for our neighbor and peace.
Now, seeing how the world is today, we must strongly promote peace and love one another. This is a very beautiful activity because many people can be part of it, share together and grow together.
Thank you very much for welcoming us here in Santa Cruz.
Values
Unity
We bring cultures and communities together through singing.
Love
A message of harmony and love for our neighbor.
Peace
We promote peace and build a better world together.
Choral Fest Costa Rica for Peace
Changing the world, one note at a time.
Singing together for values that matter
“A festival of love and unity awaits.”
Cantar juntos por valores que importan: un festival de amor y unidad nos espera.
The International Choral Festival Costa Rica for Peace invites choirs from around the world to sing for values that matter: love, unity, respect, listening, community, and peace.
This is not only a performance opportunity. It is a cultural and human experience where choirs become part of a movement that believes music can connect people beyond language, nationality, and borders.
Share your testimony
If you have participated in Choral Fest Costa Rica for Peace as a director, singer, collaborator, community member or audience participant, your voice can help inspire other choirs.
Your testimony may encourage a director to take the first step. It may help a singer understand the value of the journey. It may show another community that peace can also be built through music.
Contact the festival team
Share your testimony
If you have participated in Choral Fest Costa Rica for Peace as a director, singer, collaborator, community member or audience participant, your voice can help inspire other choirs.
Your testimony may encourage a director to take the first step. It may help a singer understand the value of the journey. It may show another community that peace can also be built through music.
Would you like your choir to be part of this experience?
Choral Fest Costa Rica for Peace welcomes choirs, directors and communities that believe music can create connection, dialogue and hope.
If your ensemble is interested in participating in the festival or creating a meaningful choral journey in Costa Rica, we would be honored to hear from you.
Contact usYour choir can also become part of this story
If you direct a choir and are looking for an international experience that brings together music, culture, community and purpose, the International Choral Festival Costa Rica for Peace may be the right place for your ensemble.
Your choir can sing for new audiences, share with other groups, discover Costa Rican communities and become part of a movement that believes peace can also be built through the human voice.
Peace can also be sung. And your choir can help that voice reach farther
