Academic Choir Tone Tomšič, University of Ljubljana
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16 Dec 2016
A New Year concert by the Academic Choir Tone Tomšič, University of Ljubljana and the Ljubljana Academy of Music baroque orchestra and the SNG Opera and Ballet soloists, organised by the Slovenian Cultural Centre in Berlin,
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15 Dec 2016
A New Year concert by the Academic Choir Tone Tomšič, University of Ljubljana and the Ljubljana Academy of Music baroque orchestra and the SNG Opera and Ballet soloists, organised by the Slovenian Cultural Centre in Berlin (Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia Berlin),
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14 Dec 2016
A concert by the Academic Choir Tone Tomšič, University of Ljubljana, organised in cooperation with the Slovenian Cultural Centre in Berlin (Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia Berlin),
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14 Jul 2016
17 Jul 2016
The Academic Choir Tone Tomšič, University of Ljubljana and the Mixed Choir Viva Brežice at the 34th Festival Internacional de Música de Cantonigròs
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11 Jul 2015
A concert by the Academic Choir Tone Tomšič, University of Ljubljana
and Vokalna akademija Ljubljana
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28 Nov 2013
2 Dec 2013
Academic Choir Tone Tomšič, University of Ljubljana tours Croatia and attends the Cro Patria Choral Competition
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28 Aug 2013
31 Aug 2013
The Academic Choir Tone Tomšič competing at the 25th European Grand Prix for Choral Singing and the University of Primorska Academic Choir competing at the 61st Guido d’Arezzo International Polyphonic Competition
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25 Aug 2013
A concert by the Academic Choir Tone Tomšič, University of Ljubljana at the 2013 international youth choir and orchestra festival Musica dal Mondo
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28 Jun 2013
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22 Jun 2013
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28 Apr 2013
A concert by the Academic Choir Tone Tomšič, University of Ljubljana at the Five Lamps Arts Festival
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27 Apr 2013
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26 Apr 2013
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18 Aug 2012
26 Aug 2012
Academic Choir Tone Tomšič, University of Ljubljana at the international choir competition Concorso Polifonico 2012
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27 Apr 2011
1 May 2011
History
In 1926 Slovene ethnomusicologist France Marolt established a male choir that consisted of students from the University of Ljubljana, and was called APZ (Akademski pevski zbor). Between 1938 and 1939 Marolt also led an equivalent female line-up. The male choir was banned in 1941, due to its symbolic resistance during the Italian fascist occupation of the Province of Ljubljana. Despite the cultural black-out, promoted by the Liberation Front, the choir held its last concert during WW2 on Friday, 12 December 1941, in the Union Hall of Ljubljana. The choir's touchy interpretation of Miroslav Vilhar's well-known song Lipa zelenela je was secretly recorded by Rudi Omota and the recording has been kept until nowadays. The microphones were hidden in the venue's huge main light.
The choir resumed its operations in 1946 as a mixed choir under the new name Študentski pevski zbor (Student Choir). In 1953 the choir was named after Tone Tomšič-Gašper, the WW2 Secretary Organiser of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovenia, condemned to death penalty and shot in Ljubljana by the Italian fascists in May 1942, later proclaimed a Yugoslav National Hero. Since 2006 the APZ Tone Tomšič has been a part of the University of Ljubljana.
The list of its conductors consists of many acclaimed names of Slovene music; after Marolt followed Radovan Gobec, Janez Bole, Lojze Lebič, Marko Munih, Igor Lavrič, Jože Fürst, Jernej Habjanič, Stojan Kuret, Urša Lah and Sebastjan Vrhovnik. It is currently led by Jerica Gregorc Bukovec.
Programme
The repertoire of the choir includes compositions of all historical periods, but focuses on contemporary music and adaptations of folk music. Many of the compositions were acquired via either local or international open calls for new choral compositions.
The choir performs all over Slovenia, participates in vocal-instrumental projects (for example, Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem, Johannes Brahms's German Requiem), records pieces for Radio Slovenia, and collaborates with foreign conductors (such as Peter Hanke, Jesper Grove Jørgensen, Ragnar Rasmussen, etc) on seminars, concerts and festivals. The choir frequently commissions new works written by Slovene composers (Nana Forte, Lojze Lebič, Bojana Šaljić Podešva, etc). It has made several recordings and boasts quite a prolific discography of about 25 albums.
Projects
Each year the choir prepares its annual concert in one of the Slovene Philharmonic in Ljubljana. In May 2006 the Academic Choir Tone Tomšič staged a concert in Cankarjev dom to mark its 80th anniversary. An exhibition about the choir's history and nowadays was on display at the National and University Library (NUK) and later at Cankarjev dom.
In 2016, the choir once again celebrated an anniversary at Cankarjev dom, and to mark its 90 years they invited the most prominent Slovene composers to prepare new songs for this occasion. These songs, based on the musical and ambiental qualities of the main Slovenian regions, featured lyrics by prominent writers from these regions.
Awards
In addition to being awarded the Golden Order of Freedom of the Republic of Slovenia as well as important awards on the Naša pesem Choir Competition in Maribor, and the Grand Prix at the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing, the Academic Choir Tone Tomšič has achieved many further successes: a Grand Prix de la Ville de Tours three times; First Prize at the International Choral Festival in Tampere, Finland in 2003; two First Prizes in the category of Mixed and Female Choirs in Cantonigros, Spain in July 2004; First Place in Polifonia/Programma Monografico category at the International Choral Competition C A Seghizzi in Italy in 2005; Grand Prix Varna 2007; two gold medals at the competition in Olomouc in 2009, two silver medals at the choir festival in Cantonigros and the City of Rimini Grand Prix in 2010.
They also won at the Cork International Choral Festival 2011,the Polifonico Guido d'Arezz 2012, the international choir competition Cro Patria in Split in 2013, the International Choir Festival Zlatna Vila in Prijedor 2015. In 2016, the choir competed on Festival Internacional de Música de Cantonigròs (Spain), where it achieved first place in the category of folk song, at the Rimini International Choral Competition in Rimini (Italy) it achieved gold medals in the categories of sacred music, folk music and mixed choirs.
See also
External links
- Academic Choir Tone Tomšič website
- Academic Choir Tone Tomšič blog website
- European Grand Prix for Choral Singing winners
- APZ Tone Tomšič on Wikipedija (in Slovenian)