Year of Choirs: Happening with Hradišťan to celebrate European Music Day

20 June 2023, 14:00
Year of Choirs: Happening with Hradišťan to celebrate European Music Day

Tomorrow, i.e., Wednesday 21 June on European Music Day, a happening will take place, the biggest event of the year-long project titled Year of Choirs. Zelný Trh will host 33 amateur choirs from Brno and the vicinity, under the direction of choirmaster Petr Kolař. Hradišťan & Jiří Pavlica have also accepted the invitation to join the nearly 600-strong musical ensemble in the grand finale.

The event will begin at 4 p.m. and will feature a program of 8 choirs from Brno - Choichestra, Jumanne, Mladost, Gloria Brunensis, K-major, BAS, the Lumír Choir and the Vácha Choir of Moravian Teachers. The Hradišťan & Jiří Pavlica folklore group will perform at 6 p.m. The event will culminate in a group finale, in which an ensemble of nearly six hundred voices, consisting of 33 amateur choirs from Brno and the vicinity, will sing under the direction of choirmaster Petr Kolař. The folk song Ej lásko, lásko will be performed, as well as a song specially composed by Miloš Štědron. The event will be hosted by cellist and pedagogue Pavel Borský.

“Choral singing brings an enriching sense of unity in diversity to the life of every choral singer, of convergence in human and musical harmony, of overcoming goals together. European Music Day is an opportunity for all those who love music to come together. We hope both the individual and collective musical productions will bring inspiration and strength to everyone in life, not only in music,” says Petr Kolař, choirmaster of the Brno Philharmonic Choir Beseda brněnská.

The Year of Choirs event is organized by the Office for Brno - UNESCO City of Music, whose aim this year is to draw attention to the rich and varied choral scene in Brno. In addition to the current list of active choirs, a calendar is being created to which the choirs will add the selected concerts and performances they wish to present this year. Detailed information and news about the Year of Choirs can be found on the Facebook page Brno - City of Music.

Brno has been a member of the prestigious UNESCO Network of Creative Cities, which brings together 301 cities from all over the world that claim a particular cultural field, for seven years. It has been awarded for its activities in the field of music, the extraordinary diversity of its musical repertoire, for the inclusion of music in the city’s development priorities, and also for its unique connection with the surrounding region, which has a rich musical tradition based on folklore.

During the evening finale you can look forward to the following choirs:

Antea, APS Moravan, Ars Brunensis chorus, BAS - Brno Academic Choir, Brno Philharmonic Choir Beseda brněnská, Magnificat Brno Cathedral Choir (St. Peter and Paul), Brno Gospel Choir, Choirchestra Brno, Brno-Královo pole Cathedral Choir, Da Capo Ensemble, Children’s Schola (St. Thomas) PRIMAVERA Children’s Choice, DNA - dej nám akord, Dómský Chamber Choir (St. Peter and Paul), Gloria Brunensis, GYMUM - Choir of the St. Křížkovský High School, Jakubáček (St. James), Jakubák (St. James), Jumane, K dur, Chamber Choir, Láska opravdivá, Lumír, Mátlůs Academic Choir, Mladost Brno, Faculty of Education Choir, Vránky Choir, Mixed Choir of St. Augustine’s Cathedral, St. Jacob’s Cathedral Choir, Vacha’s Choir of Moravian Teachers, Vox gaudens of ZUŠ Varhanická, Vox iuvenalis, Žebětín Choir at St. Bartholomew’s Church

Gloria Brunensis / photo: choir archive

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