Damijan Močnik, Slovene composer, conductor and a long serving music teacher is the deputy chairman of the Europa Cantat Music Commission and the chief music advisor for the music image of the opening ceremony and concerts representing Slovene choral music to international audience. Unfortunately, the intended programme will be materialised only partly due to pandemic restrictions. Damijan Močnik is the conductor of both Megaron Chamber Choir and St. Stanislav Youth Choir of The Diocesan Classical Gymnasium.

Megaron Chamber Choir will perform at the concert on Thursday, 22nd July 2021 at 5 p.m. in Cultural and Congress Centre Cankarjev dom in Gallus Hall. In the section Listen to Slovenia Slovene sacral music by Jacobus Gallus will be presented; the programme will also include pieces from the flourishing period of the 19th century Slovene music to timelessness of choral works by contemporary Slovene composers including Mav, Klemenčič, Ipavec, Dev, Lebič, Vulc, Makor, Mlakar and Sojar Voglar. For more detailed information please follow: https://europacantat.jskd.si/programme/special-projects/sing-to-slovenia/ and https://europacantat.jskd.si/programme/concerts/listen-to-slovenia-concerts/

St. Stanislav Youth Choir is the festival choir of the residence and is to perform in Open Singing section and Discovery Ateliers. Open Singing is a daily open-air event where everybody is welcome to join in for the sake of pure joy of singing. An intensive musical experience is guaranteed. Open Singing is led by Jan Schumacher, German professor of conducting and conductor of award winning ensembles. Discovery Ateliers are designed for those who love diversity in terms of style, singing techniques and genres of choral music. Workshops are to take place from 17th-20^th July, 2021. For more details follow: https://europacantat.jskd.si/programme/workshops/discovery-ateliers/

Both Megaron Chamber Choir and St. Stanislav Youth Choir will perform at the concert Sing to Slovenia in Slovenian Philharmonic on Sunday, 18^th July, 2021 in the morning (9.30-12.00 a.m.) and evening session (6.p.m-8.30 p.m.). This event celebrates the 30th anniversary of Slovenia’s independence.

At St. Stanislav’s Institution we strongly believe singing is an important part of education of every young person. Students of The Diocesan Classical Gymnasium and alumni take advantage of probably the best musical education available in Slovenia. Singing brings with it also the benefits of skills that will last a lifetime and singers gain a natural self-confidence, as well as the appreciation of good time-keeping and the rewards that result from hard work. Warmly welcome to any of the above mentioned events. The more, the merrier! /Lily Schweiger Kotar/

 

If you want to listen to one of the greatest choirs in the world, this is your chance! The concert will take place on Wednesday, 21st July 2021 at 9 p.m. in Cultural and Congress Centre Cankarjev dom in Gallus Hall. The first part of the concert will feature the Slovene composers from Gallus to Bec, Čopi, Močnik and Vovk. The second part will offer two world premieres by international composers like Jennefelt, Ešenvalds, Patriquin, Hyokki.

The night will be a perfect realisation of St. Stanislav Girls’ Choir mission statement, which is summarized in the words Sharing My True Self. The girls share discipline, hard work, compliance, focus, trust, vigour and naturally a love for singing. The moment a beautiful sonority is created, it is time to pass it on through concert performance. You do not want to miss this, right? When sharing their true selves in front of the audience, the girls become an inspiration for others and the mission is accomplished. We shall be honoured if you could join us.

Still hesitant? Listen to (and watch) St. Stanislav Girls’ Choir and Butterfly by Mia Makaroff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNfhz1lGU40

/Lily Schweiger Kotar/

The director of St. Stanislav’s Institution, Anton Česen, M.A., addressed the employees at the end of the school year to mark the 30th anniversary of Slovene statehood.

“I wish to extend my sincere thanks to everybody in this institution at the end of this school year on the day, when pupils and students receive the reports and honourable mentions. At the same time I congratulate you all for the 30th birthday of the Slovene state. This school year has been so different from any prior year. Thank you all for your courage, innovativeness, adaptability, patience, responsibility and trust. I am sure that this year everybody has learned something new, so let us keep and cherish this as a token of hope for the future to come.

Throughout this year we have been following in thoughts the persona of Alojzij Šuštar, the Archbishop of Ljubljana at the time of Slovenia’s struggle for independence. Due to his fruitful contacts with people from abroad, he played a decisive role at the crucial moments of the formation of Slovenia’s statehood.  On 26^th July 1991, when the solemn celebration to mark Slovenia’s independence took place, the Archbishop celebrated the mass for the homeland and accentuated in his homily the following: “Let us unite the two aspects of our lives – on one hand we should trust in God, as though everything depended on Him alone, and on the other, we should work honestly, persistently and hard, as though everything depended on man alone. Let us be worthy of historic times as humans, Christians and Slovenes – in openness and benevolence towards every human being.”

Dear colleagues, it is my pleasure to congratulate you on the 30th Anniversary of Slovenia’s Independence. I wish you a joyful celebration and all the blessings in the times to come. “ /Anton Česen, M.A./

These are the meaningful words by Zvezdan Pirtošek, M.D., Ph. D., professor of neurology and cognitive neuroscience, that underpinned the versatile positive aspects of singing at the panel discussion to mark the Europa Cantat festival 2021. It will take place from 16^th-25^th July in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The round table entitled Choral music in psychophysical dimensions gathered experts from all walks of life, all dedicated to choral music and collective singing. They discussed the benefits of musicianship and focused on the challenges the pandemic has brought about in this field.

Benefits of collective singing Undoubtedly singing in Slovenia is a valuable asset. The astonishing numbers support this fact: 10 million hours per year of music-related voluntary work, 80.000 active singers, 2.500 singing ensembles and 1.300 conductors. All in the country with 2 million inhabitants. To start with, Sonja Greiner, Secretary General of the European Choral Association, pointed out at the well-known benefits of collective singing from physical aspects (general wellbeing), psychological features (relaxation and invigoration) to positivity brought about by the sense of community and bonding. Some other speakers at the round table discussed the astonishing fact that singing in fact regulates each singer’s emotion in relation with those of other singers, which leads to each other’s adaptation and ultimately to a more harmonious society as a whole.

What happens in human brain when we sing? Zvezdan Pirtošek was specific about the positive processes related to singing in different stages of human life from children, who respond favourably to harmonious sounds, to people with Dementia, Parkinson’s or mental health issues, who are enlivened by music. While singing, during exhalation, the vagus nerve is activated and this brings about peace of mind, state of relaxation and the sense of belonging and trusting people I feel close to. It is all about raising musical-linguistic awareness. The left hemisphere is open to semantics, analytical thinking and comprehension, the right hemisphere deepens the wonderful feeling that cannot be expressed through words, but it is so strong that as humans we will not be able to survive without songs or music.

Singing online vs. singing in a choir in person It goes without saying that when it comes to music, technology can actually bring people closer together than ever before. The sensation of feelings in the virtual or real world is activated by the same part of brain; however, there is a fundamental difference between the two. The activation of brain is much less intensive and much more limited in scope when singing online. »No digital medium cannot possibly be compared to a real life experience, especially not for children«, accentuated professor Pirtošek.

“So, I say thank you for the music” The experts wrapped up the discussion with the fact that singing boosts joie de vivre, which improves positive self-image, regulates anxieties of all types and encourages singers to overcome the individual, “soloist” needs for the benefit of a harmonious sound of the entire society. What more could we wish?  “So I say thank you for the music, the songs I’m singing, thanks for all the joy they’re bringing.” At St. Stanislav’s we feel immensely proud that singing is such an important part of young people’s education. /Lily Schweiger Kotar/

We are proud to announce  that two choirs from St. Stanislav’s Institution namely St. Stanislav Girls’ Choir and Megaron Chamber Choir, will actively participate in the event. The music festival is to take place in Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia, from 18-25 July 2021 .

The Europa Cantat Festival is one of largest international music festivals worldwide. Singers, composers, conductors, instrumentalists and choral publishers from all over the world  participate at Europa Cantat festivals, but unfortunately this year this is not the case due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The programme will be adapted and only partly realised.

Keep an eye on this webpage for further updates.

American Computer Science League (ACSL) has been organizing computer science and programming international contests for 43 years. On average  about 500 teams in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia participate annually. Students are tested on fundamental concepts in computer science, ranging from Number Systems to Boolean Algebra and Digital Electronics. Each contest also includes a problem to be solved by programming. The top students are invited to compete in an online Finals competition. This year three of the DCG students, namely  Peter Lekše, Rebeka Stres and Angelika Volarič, qualified in the finals, but it was Peter Lekše, who  gained the bronze medal. Helena Starc Grlj, teacher of informatics at the Diocesan Classical Gymnasium, prepared the students for the competition.

This how Peter experienced the event: “Recently I took part in ACSL Finals, which I qualified for by competing in four contests throughout this school year. The contest for top teams was held in the USA, but due to pandemic, the competition was held online, with the same starting times for all the students. I must say I was lucky because for me that was at 4 pm, but it must have been tougher for West Coast and Korean students.

The competition started with ACSL director Marc Brown greeting us on the livestream. Then we had three hours to solve two problems. One was about building sentences with words from a given dictionary and a given sentence structure. For the other one we had to make a program that would determine whether the king is safe, in check, in checkmate, or in stalemate, given the state of the game. I finished a little early and was pleased with my solutions even though they could most likely be further optimized but that would require more time. After a short break we started with short problems and had one hour to solve twenty of them. They were a bit harder since it was a final competition but I was able to handle everything and was pretty confident about my solutions. After about two hours the results were released. Out of 580 students who qualified for the finals I was tied in 44^th place with 37 out of 40 points, winning a bronze medal. I am very happy with my achievement considering I did not practice very much and that I can be quite sloppy at times”. /Lily Schweiger Kotar/

“The right hand of the LORD has struck with power; the right hand of the LORD is exalted. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.” The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. By the LORD has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes. Ps 118:16-17, 22-23

May the celebration of Easter open our eyes to the light of the Risen, so that our lives may reflect the hope that he bestows upon us! Felix Alleluia!

Anton Česen, M. A.

Director

 

The Story Behind: The S6 have decided to do a virtual walking challenge during the month of January to continue our fundraising for the British Heart Foundation! Together, we will complete 3500km by the end of January, which is the distance from Wellington School to our partner schools in France, Slovenia, Germany and Belgium! We will be tracking our steps to calculate the distance we complete and if you would like to support us, donations are greatly appreciated. Although it may be even more difficult now to fundraise during this time, we are determined to do everything we can to make a difference!

Latest Update: The S6 pupils have now completed 2,255km (over 3 million steps) and have just left the second partner school, St. Stanislav’s Institution in Slovenia and are currently walking through the picturesque village of Althofen in the Austrian Alps on their way to Dortmund, Germany! Our friends in Slovenia gave us a lovely warm welcome! /Susan Coontz/

We are happy to announce that a new Erasmus+ project Future€nvironment has been launched with the Mallinckrodt-Gymnasium (Dortmund, Germany) as the coordinator and the following partner instiutions: Sint-Jozefscollege, Torhout, Belgium, Institut Saint Dominique, Mortefontaine, France, SUGS Georgi Dimitrov, Skopje, Northern Macedonia, Wellington School, Ayr, Scotland and St. Stanislav’s Institution. Project coordinator at St. Stanislav’s is Alenka Battelino. The project starts on 15.12. 2020 and ends on 14.12.  2022.

The short description and the aim of the project run as follows:

The environment, sustainability, global warming, biodiversity – these are topics which engage young people across the world; yet while many are ‘talking the talk’, they are not all ‘walking the walk’. This project aims to capture the interest of our students in the natural world and the environment and help them to make changes that will ensure the sustainable future that they are campaigning for. Although young people are worried about the future of our planet, many are not making the small changes in their lives that would help to safeguard the planet. Food waste, conspicuous consumption and reluctant recyclers are present in our schools in Belgium, France, Germany, Northern Macedonia, Slovenia and Scotland (UK). This project will encourage the small steps which can be taken by everyone for the good of all. /Alenka Battelino/

“Christmas involves different aspects and contextual elements of celebrating – humanity, family, peace and friendship, new hope and great expectations to a rich Slovene cultural tradition as well as a general need and desire for a family celebration. /…/ We wish all who strive for peace, justice and freedom, prosperity and mutual aid in society and worldwide an abundance of God’s blessings and success. For everybody, Christmas is a celebration of fresh hope and new strength in friendship and love.”

/The first Christmas greetings in public media in Slovenia on Radio Ljubljana, was given by Alojzij Šuštar, Ph.D. on December 24th 1986./

This year we commemorate the 30th anniversary of independence of the Republic of Slovenia and the 100th anniversary of the birth of Alojzij Šuštar, Ph. D., Archbishop Metropolitan of Ljubljana, who legislatively re-established St. Stanislav’s Institution for education by a decree on November 13th 1992.

In the spirit of both anniversaries, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Prosperous New Year 2021.

Anton Česen, M.A., director of St. Stanislav’s Institution