News

HERE you can find the competition schedule and biographies.

On Thursday, May 25th 2023 at 8 pm in the Church of St Chrysogonus a concert by Vocal ensemble Brevis from Osijek, Croatia, will be held on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the 13th International Choir Competition Zadar.

Entry to the concert as well as the competition is free. Full Schedule.

Vocal ensemble Brevis, Osijek, Croatia
Antoaneta Radočaj-Jerković, conductor
Davor Dedić, piano

Programme:

Vocal Ensemble Brevis is a renowned female choir from Croatia and a long-term artistic project of conductor Antoaneta Radočaj-Jerković and piano accompanist Davor Dedić. From its foundation in 1996 until today, the ensemble has established itself as a leader in the development and enrichment of Croatian choral art. All of the Vocal Ensemble Brevis’ members are singers with many years of soloist and choral experience, and many are professional musicians.

The choir’s artistic identity consists of its singers’ high level of vocal ability, its recognizable choral sound, the originality of its choral repertoire, and the unique stage charm with which the ensemble completes the artistic impression of each performance in a particularly impressive way. Created in this way, its artistic activity intensely and deeply affects the experience of the ensemble and its connection with the audience, so it is no surprise that the choir has won the hearts of a broad base of fans and supporters in person and via social networks numbering in the thousands.

The choir’s repertoire is stylistically diverse, consisting of compositions ranging from the Renaissance to those from contemporary composers, and is characterized by vocal and interpretative authenticity and a programmatic aspiration to integrate its repertoire into a broader artistic conception. The ensemble has achieved a number of successes so far, which include performing at various world festivals and winning top awards at competitions in Croatia, Greece, Italy, Bulgaria (1st prize Varna Choral Competition prof. Georgi Dimitrov), Germany, Hungary, Great Britain (1st prize Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod), Austria, France (3rd prize Florilege Vocal de Tours), Sweden (1st prize Helsingborg Choral Competition), Russia (1st prize Youth Choral World Championship), Canada, China (gold medal World Choir Games), the United States, Australia (1st prize Australian International Music Festival) and elsewhere. 

Brevis considers its greatest successes to be its two published albums and unforgettable concert performances in the world’s most prestigious concert halls: Carnegie Hall in New York, the Grand Philharmonic Hall, State Academic Capella in St. Petersburg, and the Sydney Opera House.

Dear lovers of music and choral singing, we are pleased to announce that 14 choirs in three categories will perform at the 13th Zadar International Choir Competition from May 25 to 28, 2023. The following choirs passed the selection of the program committee:

Category A: mixed choirs

• Choeur la Gloire, Kinshasa, DR Kongo
• Coro a Graça, Luanda, Angola
• Croatian Music Choral  Society “Zoranić”, Zadar, Croatia
• Chamber mixed choir "Lola", Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Mixed choir “Pomlad”, Novo Mesto, Slovenia
• Mixed choir of Blagoje Bersa Music school in Zadar, Zadar, Croatia
• Moraviachor (mixed choir), Czech Republic
• National Student Chapel Choir of the Belarusian State University, Minsk, Belarus
• Youth choir "Josip Kaplan", Rijeka, Croatia
• Vocal studio Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
• Haxhi Zeka University Choir, Peć, Kosovo

Category B: men's of women's choirs

• Moraviachor (women’s choir), Czech Republic
• Vocal ensemble “Samoborke”, Samobor, Croatia

Category C: vocal ensembles

• Girls’ choir of Music school "Dr. fra Ivan Glibotić", Imotski, Croatia

We are looking forward the competition for the Gold, Silver and Bronze Cross of Abbess Čika as well as for the Grand Prize of the City of Zadar in front of the expert judging committee and the Zadar audience in the Church of St. Chrysogonus.

13th International Choir Competition will be held in the Romanesque Church of St Chrysogonus.

The Church of St Chrysogonus got its name after one of the patron saints of Zadar, and it was consecrated by Zadar bishop Lampridius in 1175.

It was built on the site of the Roman emporium and the Church of St Anthony the Hermit from the 6th century.

The Church of St Chrysogonus was built in the 10th century, with later adaptations, enlargement and consecration. Today the Church is the only part remaining of the former great Medieval male Benedictine Monastery. In 1387 the late Croatian-Hungarian Queen Elizabeth Kotromanić was buried in the Church of St Chrysogonus, and was later transferred to the Cathedral Basilica of Székesfehérvár. Together with the Cathedral of St Anastasia, this Church represents the most significant monument of Romanesque art in Dalmatia.

The church is characterized by excellent acoustics, which are especially suitable for choral performances. We are sure that all choirs participating in the Competition will present their best performances in this exceptional space.

We hereby present to you An Anthology of Croatian Choral Music, a selection of the most important Croatian choral compositions by editor Jasenka Ostojić. At this year's choir competition, we are giving away one copy to each choir.

Conceiving the Anthology as a source for domestic and international choirs and wishing to make Croatian choral music more frequent, not just in the International Choir Competition in Zadar, but also on a broader international scene, only a cappella compositions for mixed, men’s and women’s choirs were selected. In the process of selection the main criteria were the distribution of works among various technical requirements and levels of complexity, as well as the diversity of textual bases between works of spiritual and worldly content, folklore and poetry, which provides a broad overview of Croatian culture and heritage. We have sought to give this edition a uniform appearance and to adjust the notation with it. All notation markings are universally Italian and the translation is provided in order to make the Anthology more accessible and comprehensible to a wider audience.

The selection includes the works of prominent Croatian composers whose creativity has remained permanently recorded in the history of Croatian music. Following the chronological order, the collection begins with the composition Ego sum qui sum by Julio Skjavetić, one of our most valuable Renaissance composers from the sixteenth century. Then, there are the unmissable choir To Battle! Ivan pl. Zajca, Moonlight, from Blagoj Bersa's Three Landscapes, Josip Hatze's Evening Bell, Ivan Matetić Ronjgov's poignant My Father, I confess to Almighty God op. 25 Krste Odak, Barcarolle, from The Littoral Suite by Jakov Gotovac, From Stone the Water Springs by Josip Štolcer Slavenski, Evensong, from Around the Harvest Wreath by Zlatko Grgošević, Traditional mourning Song by Josip Vrhovski, A Circle Dance, from the cycle Traditional Nupital Songs by Boris Papandopulo, A Fruit Tree After Rain from Two Lyric Pictures by Adalbert Marković, Baptismal Font od Duke Višeslav by Antun Dolički and finally, White-Red by Igor Kuljerić, a composer whose work extends into the 21st century.

All the compositions of the Anthology are valuable works in the oeuvre of their creators, confirmed by concert practice over decades, and sometimes even centuries, communicating as vividly with their ancient contemporaries as with today's audience. Constant recognition by generations of listeners and resistance to the grind of time are the ultimate tests for any value, including musical value, which is why the compositions in the Anthology deserve their place.

Reviews

Undoubtedly, this collection will be an incentive to numerous conductors, singers and choirs; furthermore, I think it will also be an encouragement to young composers, who will be inspired to create new compositions in the field of choral music.

Ivan Repušić

This collection is greatly useful and needed – it communicates to a wide circle from amateurs to professionals, with the edited text and a good choice of compositions, reaching in the historical context in order to show the way the vocal music has been treading through until the present day.

Tomislav Fačini

The Zadar International Choir Competition is announcing 13th edition of the choir competition, which will be held from May 25 to 28, 2023. Amateur mixed, women's or men's choirs and vocal ensembles can apply by filling out the online application form and fulfilling the competition rules.

The choirs will perform in front of an international expert committee, and the three choirs with the highest number of points will be awarded the Grand Prix of the City of Zadar in the amount of 3,000 euros.

Choirs can also enter the competition via video recordings.

More details on the website: Zadar Choirs

The deadline for sending applications is January 31, 2023 (until 11:59 p.m.).

It is our pleasure to invite you to the 13th Zadar International Choir Competition which will be held from May 25 to 28, 2023.

The competition is open to amateur choirs who can compete in three categories:

• - A Category: mixed choirs (at least 16 singers)
• - B category: male or female choirs (at least 16 singers).
• - C category: vocal ensembles (maximum 12 singers)

The competition program must contain:

• - one composition by a composer born in the 16th century or earlier
• - one piece of contemporary choral music
• - one composition from the national musical literature of the competing choir
• - one or more songs of your choice.

It is recommended to perform one piece by a Croatian composer.

More information coming soon.

We look forward to meeting you in Zadar!

Administrative Council of the Zadar International Choir Competition