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THE SLOVAK PHILHARMONIC CHOIR

is a prominent representative of the art of Slovak professional choir-singing. It originated in 1946 as the Mixed Choir of the Bratislava Radio and was led in its initial years by its founder, the conductor Ladislav Slovák. In 1955 Jan Maria Dobrodinský took over leadership and in this capacity, which he filled for more than twenty years, was actively involved in the development of the ensemble, incorporated in 1957 (under its present name) into the Slovak Philharmonic body. In 1976 Valentin Iljin accepted the function of Choirmaster and was later succeeded by an expert in choir-singing, Lubomír Mátl, followed by Štefan Klimo, Pavol Baxa, Pavol Procházka and Marián Vach. Blanka Juhaňáková (1991-2001) and Jan Rozehnal (1991-2003) continued in the tradition of growth and development of the choir´s interpretation level. In the 2003/2004 season the post of Artistic Leader and Main Choirmaster of the Slovak Philharmonic Choir was filled by Marián Vach. Since January 2005 the position of Main Choirmaster has been taken up by Blanka Juhaňáková and since April 2006 the function of Assistent to the main Choirmaster by Jozef Chabroň.

During half a century of intense artistic activity, the Slovak Philharmonic Choir has developed into a body exceptional quality and today belongs to one of the foremost European ensembles of its kind. Its unique technical ablities, refined expression, perfectly balanced voices, interpretational skills, reliability and artistic discipline all add up to supreme performances filled with creative energy and strength, whose co-operation has been praised by many renowned conductors like Claudio Abbado, Serge Baudo, Bertrand de Billy, Jean Claude Casadesus, James Conlon, Dean Dixon, Christoph von Dohnányi, Vladimír Fedosejev, János Ferencsik, Daniele Gatti, Riccardo Chailly, Dimitrij Kitajenko, Zdeněk Košler, Ondrej Lenárd, Alain Lombard, Fabio Luisi, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Antonio Pedrotti, Libor Pešek, Ľudovít Rajter, Helmuth Rilling, Karl Richter, Peter Schreier, Pinchas Steinberg, Hans Swarowsky,  Václav Talich and Emmanuel Villaume.

Apart from regular performaces at home, the choir undertakes frequent tours abroad, including most European countries, Morocco, Turkey and Japan. The choir has co-operated with numerous prestigious foreign orchestras e. g. the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic and the Orchestre de Paris.

It has also contributed to the sparkle of prominent international festivals, like Vienna, Salzburg, Prague, Perugia, Edinbourgh, Berlin, Athens, Madrid, Paris, Munich and Strassbourg.

Its rich discography contains recordings for Slovak and foreign television and radio stations and for renowned recording companies like Opus, Supraphon, Deutsche Grammophon, Hungaroton, Sony, Marco Polo, Naxos, Nuova Era, Decca, among others.

In 2006, sixty years have passed since the founding of the Slovak Philharmonic Choir. This anniversary was celebrated on 27 April 2006 with the performance of Gioacchino Rossini´s Petite Messe Solennelle. To he most remarkable projects of the Slovak Philharmonic Choir belongs performing of Mussorgsky´s Boris Godunov in co-operation with the Vienna State Opera a tour with the Slovak Philharmonic orchestra in Switzerland where they performed Carl Orff´s Carmina Burana and B. Martinu´s Field Mass and concerts with the Tonkünstler Orchestra Niederösterreich in Austria of L van Beethoven´s Missa solemnis. 

In 2008, apart from subscription concerts at home, the Slovak Philharmonic Choir took part in significant projects abroad (Wagner: Das Liebesmahl der Apostel with M. Minkowski in Spain,  Beethoven´s 9th Symphony with A. Lombard in Switzerland and concert versions of Verdi´s opera I due Foscari with B. de Billy in Austria). During the July-August 2008 summer season the Slovak Philharmonic Choir participated in a total of 35 open- air performances of the original version of Verdi´s opera La traviata at the Opera Festival in St. Margarethen in Austria.

In 2009, together with regular concert activities, the Slovak Philharmonic Choir also performed in three opera productions – in Mussorgsky´s Boris Godunov in the Vienna State opera and in two new Wagner productions: Lohengrin in Wels, Austria and Tannhäuser, Las Palmas, Canary Islands, with outstanding success.