The Maribor Academic Choir

Soon after the foundation of the first colleges of the University of Maribor a choir was born. The year was 1964. For the first ten years of its life it was a male voice ensemble under the direction of the conductor Stane Jurgec who rose from Maribor's ranks of successful musicians and is presently the Director of Maribor Opera. In 1975 the boys invited girls to join them and The Academic Choir "Boris Kraigher" evolved. Having established a choir of international repute, and after 27 years service, Stane Jurgec handed the demanding position of chor-master to the youthful Alenka Korpar. During her three-year term the choir simplified its name to its present form. In 1994 the conductor, Simon Robinson, an Englishman with close musical ties to Slovenia and growing international reputation, accepted the post of conductor of the choir.

The success of the choir speak for themselves. Five gold, five silver and one bronze medal in national and international competitions between 1976 and 1997 in the former Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, Hungary, Italy, Germany, Wales, Ireland, Spain, France and Canada. In 1995 the Choir won ovations at the International Choir Festival in Arnhem (the Netherlands) and in 1996 at the International Musical Eisteddfod in Llangollen as well as in other important European cities (Ulm, London, Oxford, Cambridge, Liverpool).

Recently, the artistic position of the choir has changed in order to promote a newer and more demanding style of repertoire and interpretation but without loosing sight of its aims to preserve the rich and varied wealth of Slovenian folk song and to bring alive a lost tradition of Slovene choral music. Robinson has already forged links with various prestigious instrumental ensembles of the region with this aim in mind which has resulted in the recording of two compact discs in 1995 alone.

The choir has 55 members, mostly students, at any one time. Membership is not restricted to the outstandingly gifted but to be a member is demanding and enriches days of study - a most special experience.

As you have seen from our short introduction, we are students wishing to preserve, through song, Slovene and thus a part of European cultural heritage. Since we live in the recently emerged state which is now opening to the world and facing many problems of transition, we do not obtain the needed financial support from our state. Therefore we endeavour to provide the necessary financial fund for the existence of the choir on our own. Dear friends of the choral music, we would kindly ask you to donate us a small financial help. Thank you very much in advance for your help and understanding.

At the end, let's hear our interpretation of the beautiful song Slovenska dezela (The Slovene Country), written by the Slovene composer Benjamin Ipavec. The song express the warmth of the ground, that gives us bread and people whom this ground gives bred and home. It describes a Slovene man on his land, his life, his soul and especially his love for his homeland. It last approximately 2:30; the sound quality is inadequate for the moment (due to the lack of the better equippment) but we hope we will be able to put on a better sound.

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