is a prominent representative of the Slovak art of professional choir singing. It entered the music scene in 1946 as the Mixed Choir of Czechoslovak Radio. For the first years, it was led by its founder, conductor Ladislav Slovák. In 1957 the choir was incorporated into the group of Slovak Philharmonic ensembles. Several important personalities (J. M. Dobrodinský, Š. Klimo, P. Procházka, M. Vach, J. Rozehnal, B. Juhaňáková, J. Chabroň) took over the post of choirmasters. From the 2023/2024 season, the Slovak Philharmonic Choir will be led by choirmaster Jan Rozehnal.
The sophistication of expression, the sound balance of vocal groups, as well as interpretive readiness, reliability and exemplary artistic discipline are reflected in sovereign performances, which have been appreciated by many renowned conductors as C. Abbado, S. Baudo, S. Byčkov, J. Conlon, Ch. von Dohnányi, V. Fedosejev, J. Ferencsik, D. Gatti, P. Halffter, R. Chailly, D. Kitajenko, L. Maazel, Z. Mehta, F. Welser-Möst, A. Pedrotti, K. Richter, E. Pekka-Salonen, P. Schreier, V. Talich, E. Villaume and R. Weikert, K. Petrenko and others.
The choir has collaborated with prestigious foreign orchestras such as the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, and the Orchestere de Paris. Its rich discography includes recordings for Slovak and foreign television and radio stations, as well as for renowned recording companies, such as Opus, Supraphon, Deutsche Grammophon, Hungaroton, Sony, Marco Polo, Naxos, Nuova Era, Decca, etc.
The Slovak Philharmonic Choir received the international award Oper! Awards 2023 in the Best Choir category for the collaboration in the opera production Queen of Spades with the Berlin Philharmonic and K. Petrenko at the Easter Festival in Baden-Baden, Germany and concerts at the Berlin Philharmonic (2022).
In the season of 2024/2025, the choir collaborated with the Prague Symphony Orchestra (FOK) (T. Brauner) and the Brno Philharmonic (D. R. Davies) in Czechia, the Hamburg Symphoniker (S. Cambreling) and Dresdner Philharmonie (A. Manze) in Germany. In addition, choir has performed with the Wiener Symphoniker (P. Popelka) and the Slovak Philharmonic at a concert in the Austrian capital of Vienna (S. Vladar), as well as in new opera production of Khovanshchina by M. P. Mussorgsky at the Easter Festival in Salzburg (E.-P. Salonen), and at concerts with the Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich in Vienna and St. Pölten (Y. Sado). The Slovak Philharmonic Choir has closed the 76th season by performing at the 53rd edition of the Istanbul Music Festival in Turkey (C. Tenan).
In the concert season of 2025/2026, the Slovak Philharmonic Choir will return as a guest choir to the Brno Philharmonic (R. Kružík) and to the Wiener Staatsoper in a production of Le Grand Macabre by G. Ligeti (P. Heras-Casado). Finally, the choir will perform at events of National Theatre Košice, Slovak Sinfonietta Žilina, and at the Košice Music Spring Festival and Smetana’s Litomyšl Festival.