Music importantly and decisively underpins the curriculum of all schools in St. Stanislav’s Institution, but this is especially the case in the Diocesan Classical Gymnasium, where almost half of the students participate in choral singing.
The choirs’ repertoire ranges from Gregorian chants, renaissance, classical and romantic works, to Slovene folk songs and works of various contemporary composers. They perform at concerts and tours in Slovenia and abroad. Every year the DCG choirs participate in the annual concert in Cankarjev Dom and contribute enormously to the solemnity of religious feasts and state holidays. They have toured abroad in many countries: Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, Canada, the USA, Great Britain, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Serbia, Sweden and Croatia. They have recorded various CDs: Aere perennius, Svetovi duha (The World of the Spirit), Igraj kolce (Dance the Round Dance) and Sončnica (Sunflower). Numerous performances are kept in the archives of Radio-Television Slovenia.
The First-Year Girls’ Choir and The First-Year Boys’ Choir of DCG
Conductor: Marjetka Kozmus; [email protected] (Girls’ choir);
Conductor: Tine Bec; [email protected] (Boys’ choir)
Participation in the first-year choirs is essential for further work with choirs at the DCG. For this reason a hundred students are introduced to choral singing every year. Presently 80 first-year girls and 40 first-year boys aged 15-16 sing in these two chiors. Their rehearsal takes 90 minutes once a week. The participating boys and girls display varying levels of prior musical knowledge, singing experience and vocal maturity. For many of them this is their first encounter with choral singing.
Studying an appropriate repertoire encourages singers to enjoy music-making in groups, while at the same time they learn the fundamentals of healthy singing and are introduced to polyphony (part singing). This serves as good preparation for advancing up the choral pyramid.
(Re)Mixed Choir of the Diocesan Classical Gymnasium
Conductor: Helena Fojkar Zupančič, B.A. [email protected]
(Re)Mixed Choir of the DCG with about 110 singers is the largest choir in school, in which 2nd, 3rd and 4th year students sing. The choir tends to sing an appealing programme of gospel, spirituals, pop and musicals. Accompanied by a band, it thrills everybody everywhere.
St. Stanislav Girls’ Choir of the Diocesan Classical Gymnasium
Conductor: Helena Fojkar Zupančič, B.A. [email protected]
Special achievements: St. Stanislav Girls’ Choir, with 40 girls, has gained prestige through numerous victories at competitions in Slovenia and at international choral festivals.
The most prominent triumphs are:
- 2009 Euroradio choral competition Let the Peoples Sing in Oslo, Norway – winner of the youth category and overall winner, recipient of the prestigious award Silver Rose Bowl. This is the only Slovene choir to have received this prize to date.
- 2012 participation at the European Youth Choir Festival in Basel, where the most prominent European youth choirs sing
- 2013 Overall winner of the International Choir Competition »Summa Cum Laude« in Vienna, and a special award of the Music Youth Austria for programme interpretation
- 2014 International Choir Competition »60th Cork International Choral Festival«, 4th place overall and the receiver of the special award »Schumann/Europe Torphey« for the performance of the contemporary Slovene song by A .Čopi, “A Child with a Sunflower”
- 2016 participation in the International Federation for Choral Music world symposium on choral music from 22nd- 29th July, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain
- 2018 participation at the European choral convention Europa Cantat from 31st July-4th August, 2018 in Talin, Estonia
- 2019 participation at the 60th ACDA (American Choral Directors Association) National Convention from 27th February- 2nd March, in Kansas City, USA. The choir perfomed as one of the five non-American invited choirs.
- 2021 participation at the European choral convention Europa Cantat from 16th-25th July , 2021 in Ljubljana, Slovenia
- 2022 53rd International Choral Contest in Tolosa, Spain (28th October-1st November 2022), second place among adult choirs from Europe, USA and Mexico in both categories polyphony and folklore
John Rutter – My true Love
Gyorgy Orban – Lauda Sion
Radovan Gobec – Ne ouri, ne sejaj (Slovene folk song)
St. Stanislav Youth Choir of the Diocesan Classical Gymnasium
Conductor: Damijan Močnik, B.A. [email protected]
St. Stanislav Youth Choir of DCS, with 50 singers, has received many awards and prizes at youth choral reviews in Slovenia and at international choral festivals, including golden plaques and awards for the best choir of the competition. This choir also regularly performs larger vocal-instrumental works and collaborates with professional institutions.
Special achievements:
- 2009 4th place at the esteemed choral competition in Marktoberdorf, Germany
- 2011 participation in the monumental performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, in which over a thousand musicians performed under the baton of Valerij Gergijev
- 2013 winner of the 30th International Youth Choral Festival in Celje, Slovenia
- 2014 International Choral Kathaumixw, won the title “Choir of the World” at Kathaumixw Award (Powell River, Canada) as well as the 1st prize for Folk & Cultural Traditions
- 2016 winner of the gold plaque and three special awards for the best youth mixed choir, the most creative programme and the most convincing performance of a contemporary song Miniwanka by Raymond Murray Schafer at the 25th National Competition on choral singing in Celje, Slovenia