Número: 46 - desembre 2017
Número: 46 - desembre 2017
escanejada
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ST. STANISLAV GIRLS’ CHOIR LJUBLJANA
St. Stanislav’s Girls’ Choir is one of five choirs at the Diocesan Classical Gymnasium in Ljubljana (Slovenia). Singers are between the ages of 16 and 19. Since this is the school choir, each year one third of the choir changes. The choir fosters a very versatile repertoire – from classical choral masterpieces of various periods, Slovene contemporary compositions, to vocal pop, Slovene folk songs and dances.
They pride themselves in several premiere performances of choral pieces written especially for them by contemporary Slovene composers such as Damijan Močnik and Ambrož Čopi. They got a number of gold plaques, first place awards and special honors in national and international competitions. The choir’s last successes are the first place at the Summa cum Lauda International Youth Choirs Competition 2013 in Wienna, and the Schumann/Europe Trophy at the Cork International Festival in 2014. The greatest choir’s success was winning the Euro Radio Competition Let the Peoples Sing (Silver rose bowl) in 2009 in Oslo. In the same year they were one of the five study choirs (and the only one from a secondary school) at the European Competition for Young Choral Conductors held in Ljubljana. They also performed in the BBC house in Manchester in 2010 and were invited to held several performances at the European Youth Choirs festival in Basel 2012. In the spring 2015 they toured Germany and Denmark where they performed several concerts, among them with the Hannover Madchenchor and Copenhagen Girls’ Choir/Skt. Annae Pigekor.
Girls have recorded two CDs, they also records pieces for Radio Slovenia. They have appeared on stages all-over Europe as well as in Great Britain.
Helena Fojkar Zupančič, conductor
Helena Fojkar Zupančič has a perfect education for choral conducting – she is both a solo singer and a music teacher. Her knowledge of the human voice and a refined approach to singers are reflected in sophisticated vocal techniques and the extremely cultivated sound of the choirs she conducts: St. Stanislav's Girls' Choir Ljubljana and St. Nicholas Choir Litija. She was the choir master of Slovenian Children’s Choir in 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Furthermore, she collaborates and records with the Slovenian Radio Chamber Choir, last year she appeared with the Slovenian Philharmonic Choir. Helena Fojkar Zupančič has received several awards at different competitions for the best conductor, she has also received various awards for the best performances of Gregorian chants, Renaissance, Romantic and contemporary choral literature, as well as folk songs.
She offers in her interpretations the experience of music’s eloquence – the one that used to exist with fusion of words and music and is often neglected by conductors. Because of her success, knowledge, skills and rich experience, Helena Fojkar Zupančič is very popular amongst singers and a sought-after jury member for choral competitions. She also runs seminars for school choir conductors and courses for church musicians.