On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the university mixed choir Chorus Universitatis Šafarikianae, several events were prepared.
In May, the choir represented the university at the Cantate Toscana 2024 International Festival of Choirs far from home in Italy. A gala concert to celebrate the choir’s 10th anniversary will take place this fall. Chorus Universitatis Šafarikianae will perform together with guests from Prague, the Piccolo coro choir & Piccola orchestra.
The choir’s weekend in Tuscany, under the auspices of Music & Friends, took place from 9 to 12 May 2024. The program was really varied; in addition to performing in two concerts, the choir members spent one day in Florence and the other in Siena, where they took guided tours of the cities. Chorus Universitatis Šafarikianae, together with three other choirs from Italy and Austria, performed at a concert held on the evening of 10 May 2024 at St Mark’s Anglican Church in Florence, Italy. Under the direction of choirmaster, Jana Havrilová, the choir sang seven songs, with piano accompaniment by Dagmar Duždová:
♫ Zdeněk Lukáš – Pater noster,
♪ Giulio Caccini – Ave Maria (solo: Beáta Bakalárová),
♫ Fryderyk Chopin – May Night (Etude No. 3),
♪ Petr Eben – Make me, Lord, an instrument (Cantico dele creature)
♫ He Who Dwells in the Temple (Psalm 90), arr. Stein,
♪ Tichá voda do Dunajka padaua (folk song), arr. Jana Havrilová,
♫ George David Weis – What a wonderful World.
The beautiful architecture of the church in conjunction with the enchanting music and the great performance of the choir members brought the audience a truly original artistic experience. The program of the Cantate Toscana 2024 International Festival continued with another concert on 11 May 2024. Six choirs from Italy, Austria and Switzerland performed together in Certosa di Pontignano near Siena. The enchanting setting of the imposing monastery in the Chianti region was perfectly complemented by the singing and music that swept through the flourishing Italian-style garden. The Carthusian monastery was built in 1343 and in 1703 the Chapel of St. Agnes was added, which is known worldwide as the little “Sistine Chapel” in Siena.
Our choir members once again gave an impressive performance of six hymns:
♫ Holuběnka (folk song), arr. Jana Havrilová,
♪ Cez zelené žitečko (folk song), arr. Bohumil Čeněk, ♫ Antonín Dvořák – V tak mnohém srdci mrtvo jest (solo by Beáta Bakalárová),
♪ Fryderyk Chopin – May Night (Etude No. 3),
♫ Jean Lenoir – Parlez moi d’amour, arr. Jana Havrilová,
♪ Hubert Giraud – Summer Paris (Sous le ciel de Paris), arr. Jana Havrilová.
Watch the impressive performances of the choristers in the video from the concerts:
Concerto Corale
Cantate Toscana
We warmly congratulate the choir on its anniversary and wish it much inspiration in its future artistic endeavors.
