小光葛格

The first concert in the chorus festival this year.

Rajaton, Finland, owns the charming characteristic that is similar to the most famous a cappella group -- the Real Group. Rajaton represents their music with a theme from a singer and with the accompaniment of the others. The singers sing simple harmony or rythm under a bright and sweet theme. Not only that, they are as good as the Real Group to make sound effects by the collocation of they excellent voice skill, microphones and speakers.

Their performance is absolutely worthy all audiences's stand ovation. However, it's not surprising to me, I expect they are such a wonderful group in the beginning. In fact, the most astonishment to me is the performance of the domestic joint group, Xinxiang Bunun Children's Chorus. It's definitely hard to believe, a 20-children chorus gave me a shocking and beautiful harmony to start the concert. Clear and limpid voices seem to resound across the skies. They don't have the general flaw as other children choirs, not effective to control their voices. Even the processing of songs is a little bit monotonous, their impressive performance is no doubt to deserve our 3-minute applause -- it's pitty we cannot do it. Futhermore, don't forget that they come from a faraway mountain side that the supports of education are not enough as that in cities.

The following part is the introduction of Rajaton cited from the website of Taipei Philharmony Foundation:

The voice is boundless

Countless vocal groups around the world sing Christmas songs and evergreens. Some a cappella groups base their approach on jazz, some on classical choral music, while others go for a more straight-forward pop sound. Other groups specialize in spiritual music. A few even sing original material.

And then there is a unique group that does all of the above. It's called Rajaton. The Finnish word Rajaton translates as "boundless" - and that's precisely the right word to describe the way this vocal ensemble approaches music.

The six-piece a cappella group has performed around the world at concert halls, churches, and jazz festivals, singing everything from spiritual music to pop hits. In fact, it's hard to imagine an audience that Rajaton could not reach with its music, or a type of music Rajaton could not make its own.

Founded in Helsinki in 1997, Rajaton consists of Essi Wuorela (soprano), Virpi Moskari (soprano), Soila Sariola (alto), Jussi Chydenius (bass), Hannu Lepola (tenor), and Ahti Paunu (baritone). All members have vastly different musical backgrounds, ranging from classical to folk, pop, and rock.