Female tenor choir in Dumbravita
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In Dumbravita village, Brasov County, we have discovered a 57 years old choir that has served uninterruptedly up to nowadays. The choir has four voices and, the interesting thing about it is that the tenors are women, not men, as usual. Priest Bogdan Branzea opened the door of the church, blessed us and agreed to us taking pictures inside the church from Dumbravita. Talking about different things, we got to the point when he mentioned the red-letter choir that accompanies the mass in the church.
Choir history
We found out that the choir of the church was founded in 1959, it has four voices and has served uninterruptedly up to nowadays. The person who founded the choir was Father Ioan Turcu and then Ioanid Merisescu, whose brother was a music professor in the Conservatory from Cluj. The choir has had, in time, the following conductors: Ionita Train, Gramada Dumitru, Gramada Ana, Schiopu Gheorghe, me, Branzea Bogdan, and Saniuta Valeria. There are 40 members now, of all ages; two old members among them who have been singing uninterruptedly ever since 1959 ? a man and a woman.
Scores learned by heart
"The choir becomes even more interesting as the 40 members are simple people, with no musical knowledge. They have learned the scores by heart, which is unprecedented in the world. At least I haven?t heard of anything similar. I really appreciate these tenor women who find the time to sing in the choir, seriously prepare for that and sing heavenly. This choir is one of the oldest in the county. It is known as the "Choir of Church St. Hierarch Nicholas" from Dumbravita and accompanies the mass in the church: the High Mass, the High Mass of burial and wedding." declared Zachiu Popa, the Mayor of Dumbravita.
The tower museum
Also inside Church "St. Hierarch Nicholas" from Dumbravita, after climbing the stairs that lead to the tower, I have discovered a highly valuable ethnographic museum. Among all the exhibits, there are traditional costumes specific to this region, old glass icons, interior furniture pieces and paintings of war veterans that are older than 100 years. They were all preserved carefully by the inhabitants, hidden away during the communist era even if owners? lives were endangered and they were brought to light and valorised in this museum from the tower of the church in Dumbravita.
