Saint Nicholas Choir Litija
Cooperation and international character
The choir has cooperated with many renowned soloists and ensembles, such as: RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and conductor David de Villiers, trumpeter Stanko Arnold, bass-baritone Marcos Fink, pianist Zoran Škrinjar, singer Vlado Kreslin and so on. In July 2011 they performed as a part of a massive choir in Gustav Mahler's 8th Symphony under the famous conductor Valery Gergijev. They have also cooperated with one of the world's greatest experts on gospel and spiritual music Paul A. Smith from the USA. The choir is managed by the Nova Kultura Litija cultural organisation and is a member of the European Choir Union Europa Cantat.
Programme
The repertoire consists of many works from different musical periods. They give special attention on Slovene folk songs (many of them are recorded on their latest album called Eno drevce) and sacred music (compositions of Gallus, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Lajos Bardos etc.). The celebrated Slovene composers - Damijan Močnik, Ambrož Čopi, Nana Forte, Peter Šavli, Ivan Florjanc and Črt Sojar Voglar have written new compositions for this choir.
Prizes and competitions
The choir has received many awards and special awards at the following national and international choir competitions: Naša pesem Choir Competition in 2005 (first place and a golden plaque), 7th International Choral Competition in Maribor 2004 (second place and all of the special awards), 45th International Choral Competition C. A. Seghizzi 2006 in Italy (third place in the monographic programme), International Choir Competition Venezia in Musica in Venice in Italy 2011 (first place).