1971 - 2012

The Bratislava City Choir was established in 1971 by the City Cultural Centre in Bratislava under the name Bratislava Chamber Choir. Currently it performs under the patronage of the Bratislava Cultural and Information Centre.     Anton Kállay who was at the birth of the choir was also its first conductor until 1976. For a short time Mr. Kállay was replaced by Valentin Iljin (1976 – 1977). Since 1977 Prof. Mgr. Ladislav Holásek has been the choir’s conductor and art director. Professor Holásek has an extensive experience outside the Bratislava City Choir. He was a choirmaster of the Slovak Philharmonic Choir, he was also the chief choirmaster of the Slovak National Opera for more than twenty years, and for twenty five years he had been an art director of the chamber formation the Slovak Madrigals.   Professor Holásek significantly influenced the artistic profile of the formation a led it to an elite level of vocal interpretation art. In the first years of his activity in SZMB, Professor Holásek gradually changed its image. He was significantly expanding the choir repertoire what naturally led to requests of more demanding vocal-symphony works. In continuation of this trend, the number of choir members increased and the choir lost its chamber character. Therefore, in 1979 the choir was given a new name – The Bratislava City Choir (in Slovak: Spevácky zbor mesta Bratislavy).   The Choir can present itself with fruitful artistic cooperation with prominent foreign orchestras (34) such as the Czech Philharmonic Prague, Bohuslava Martinů Philharmonic Zlín, Haydn Orchester Bolzano, The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Tel Aviv, Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc, Mozartorchester Salzburg, Orquesta Filarmonica de Gran Canaria, RAI Torino, State Philharmonic Brno, St. Petersburg Philharmony, SWF – Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden, Prague Chamber Philharmonic, Solistes Européens Luxemburg, Wiener Szmhoniker, Münchener Symphoniker, Radio Symphonieorchester Wien and domestic orchestras (10) such a s Slovak Philharmonic Bratislava, Cappella Istropolitana and others, with numerous foreign (79) and domestic conductors (20) With few of them, the choir performed on international music festivals and concerts in many European cities. The choir often performed in Assisi, Salzburg, Vienna, Rome, Luxembourg, in summer papal residence Castel Gandolfo, at the Prague Spring Festival, in Opera Festival in Oviedo (Spain), at the music festival Umbria Music Fest (Italy) and other events. At the international choir competitions (Arezzo, Gorizia, Llangolen, Middlesborough, Spittal, Miedzyzdroje, Kardista, Pollheim), was the choir very successful. The choir often performs at the Slovak music festivals such as the Bratislava Music Festival, Bratislava, Žilina, Košice, Banská Bystrica, Zvolen, Nitra, and Spišská Nová Ves.   The repertoire of the Choir is very extensive. The choir performed almost 750 performances. 470 were in Slovakia and 280 were abroad. In its repertoire, there is more than 133 oratorios, masses and cantatas by composers of all styles and periods. The repertoire for á cappella performances includes works of renaissance and baroque periods, choral compositions of classicism and romanticism as well as composers of the 20th century. The choir had an opportunity to introduce many compositions of contemporary Slovak composers and its recording activity is equally impressive. Slovak Radio organised many recordings of the á cappella works, and the Slovak Television also conducted many recordings with the choir. The choir issues several CDs, LPs and SP carriers. Just to mention some of the most memorable would be the G. F. Handel’s Messiah, the Wedding Shirt of A. Dvořák, J. Haydn’s Creation, and G. Verdi’s Requiem.   The Bratislava City Choir has enjoyed the best critics and praises. Thanks to outstanding artistic mastery and success at international competitions, it can proudly affiliate itself the finest representatives of the choir community not only in Slovakia but also on the European scene