Academic Choir of the Silesian University of Technology at the festival in Slovenia
From the 18th to 20th October 2024, the International Choral Festival “We are Singing Ljubljana” took place in the capital of Slovenia. The event was attended by the Academic Choir of the Silesian University of Technology.
This year’s edition was attended by 11 choirs from ten European countries, providing listeners with a variety of musical cultures. On the first day of the festival, two parallel concerts took place. One of them took place in the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas in Ljubljana. An interesting fact is the Polish accent in the architecture of this church. In memory of the visit of John Paul II in Slovenia in 1996, a bronze door was founded, on which the image of the pope is shown. The second festival concert took place at the Hall of the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet, where choirs from Germany, Denmark, Romania, and Croatia presented their repertoire.
During the concert in the cathedral, the Academic Choir of the Silesian University of Technology sang. The choir, under the direction of conductor Tomasz Giedwiłło, performed five sacred works. Their repertoire included, among others, Józef Świdr’s Prayer to the Mother of God, Rudi Tas’s Domine, Miserere, and the Czech composer Zdenk Lukáš’s Dies Irae.
Concert competitions are not the only attractions provided by the organizers of the festival. The next day, participants started by visiting Postojna Cave, which is one of the most famous karst caves. After a few minutes’ journey by train, the choristers began a journey through the marked paths of the cave, during which it was possible to learn the history of this place and admire the magnificence of the cave formations.
The tour ended in the so-called Great Hall. In this extraordinary place – in the concert hall in the heart of the Cave – a final concert was held with the participation of all choirs taking part in the festival. The repertoire of the Academic Choir of the Silesian University of Technology included three more entertaining pieces: The folk song “Fly voice with the dew” by Marcin Wawruk, the highlander song “Rain is coming” by Tadeusz Mayzner and “the Drunken Sailor” by Robert Sund.
At the end, all the participants formed one choir and, under the direction of the Czech conductor, performed ABBA’s popular “Dancing Queen” song, arranged by Roger Emerson. The performance was accompanied by piano and percussion instruments. After the end of the concert part, the participants were invited to a gala dinner, where commemorative statuettes were presented, thanks and the official end of the festival took place.
For the Academic Choir of the Silesian University of Technology, participation in this festival was another opportunity to present its wide repertoire, to put another country on the choir’s travel map, and to get to know new musical cultures.
All singing enthusiasts (and travel!) are invited to join the ranks of the Academic Choir of the Silesian University of Technology! We invite you to contact us via the FB page: www.facebook.com/AChPolSl/ or by e-mail : poczta@chor.gliwice.pl.
Text: Marta Sanigórska
