Interview vom 15. Juni 2023
Dear Priscilla Battini Prüter - Who are you?
F: In which year are you born?
A: 1983. Yes, 40 this year. My god.
F: Where do you live at the moment, where did you come from?
A: I am living in Hamburg but I come from Brazil! My city is Curitiba, in southern Brazil!
F: You found DeKiela (Thank you for that, we appreciate it very much) How did you find us?
A: I never thought I would be able to be a choir conductor here in Germany. I thought that since Germany is the birth of the occidental music, with this huge tradition, my experience from Brazil would not be valid. Not to mention the language! But one day I decided to check out the Anzeigen on the Chorverband website. I started with Hamburg... then Niedersachen... and then Schleswig-Holstein. When I saw the picture of Dekiela Sunrise, I thought to myself: this choir has everything to do with me! Maybe I should give it a try!
F: You have a widespread musical background: Could you please tell me about it?
A: I started studying piano at 9 years old but I remember my mom taking me with her to sing in a choir when I was 6. When I was only 15 years old, I took over the large choir of the church I attended: around 130 voices! So the choir singing "ist mein Bier" since I was a little girl!
F: You studied opera. Where was that? Did you sing as an opera singer?
A: I did an "Ausbildung" and a bachelor degree in Opera Singing (nope, not singing it anymore, hahaha). But studying Opera Singing for 8 years helped me a lot in my work with the choirs!
A: You started very interesting musical projects with groups. Where was that and what was/were the theme/s?
A: In Brazil I was the conductor and coordinator of choral singing at the Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná. Over the years I have developed work in music education, music performance, training of new conductors, and audience development. I have always loved working scenically with choral groups and in the last few years I have searched for important social themes in the Brazilian social context.
„Herdeiros“ deals with the inheritance that the white Brazilian people have because of their slave past.
„Fronteiras“ (Borders) is about the various types of borders and barriers we create, whether they are geographical, emotional, or cultural.
The choir sang inside a prison, learned to sing in sign language with members of Curitiba's deaf community, among other activities. This project was awarded by the Ministry of Culture, being among the 10 best projects among more than 500 entries in 2018!
F: Do you have any specific plans with DeKiela Sunrise? A sort of musical show, or a show with songs?
A: I am still getting to know the group and trying to understand the choral culture of Kiel, of the group itself, and of Germany in general. I respect a lot the history of choral groups, especially community groups, amateur groups, which carry the choral tradition with them.
I don't think that because I have experience in Brazil I should arrive changing everything, but I also think I can bring interesting news and other points of view. And this is interculturality: we learn together, Brazil and Germany, through choral singing!
However, I see a lot of potential here. The group is very in tune and committed. In addition, they are super caring and sweet people! I have been very positively surprised by the German people! We will have new songs in the second half of the year and we will probably build a concert together for 2024! Can't wait!
F: What is your favorite song, your favorite musical style?
A: I am very eclectic. My Spotify playlist has Mozart, Beatles, Tom Jobim, Helene Fischer, Wise Guys, Bodo Wartke, Brazilian country music, Abba, Bach, Celine Dion, usw... you can tell it's a mix! I don't have a favorite music style, but I find that depending on the feeling I have on the day, my playlist changes. When I am sad or excited, the music plays according to the feeling!
Thank you
