MEGARON CHAMBER CHOIR was founded in October 2003 on the initiative of Damijan Močnik, composer and conductor, and united former students of the Diocesan Classical Gymnasium at St. Stanislav’s Institution in Ljubljana, who had before been active in various choral ensembles and received music education in one or more of the five choirs at the Diocesan Classical Gymnasium. As such, Megaron Chamber Choir represents the peak of the choir pyramid of St. Stanislav’s Institution. In the twenty years since its founding, Megaron Chamber Choir has evolved into a high-quality choir performing regularly in Slovenia as well as in Austria, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Poland, Sweden, USA, and Canada, and thus earning a reputation at home as well as abroad. The choir is noted for its rich sound and exciting interpretations of music from different stylistic periods. Megaron Chamber Choir regularly works with renowned orchestras (the Munich Symphony Orchestra, the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra), and conductors (David de Villiers, Jacek M. Blasczyk, Martina Batič, En Shao, Valery Gergiev, Uroš Lajovic, Jonathan Nott, Ari Rasilainen) on large-scale vocal-instrumental projects.
In the fall of 2019, the choir toured along the east coast of the U.S. from Chicago to New York. In February 2020, under the direction of the excellent conductor Gary Graden, the choir performed a resounding project with the music of J. S. Bach with the newly formed Megaron Baroque Ensemble. In July 2021, ther performed resoundingly at the Europa Cantat Festival in Ljubljana and presented Slovenian sacred and romantic music to the international public. At the invitation of the Consulate General in Cleveland, the choir visited the USA again in the fall of 2022. where they performed at eight concerts from Cleveland to Milwaukee. Recently, under the baton of Gary Graden, they became the first in Slovenia to perform the oratorio Messiah by the composer G. F. Händel with a baroque orchestra. The choir recorded two CDs: There was a light with Christmas music by Slovenian composers and Ptičice pojo, which features arrangements of Slovenian folk songs.
The choir prides itself on numerous awards received at various national as well as international choral competitions. Among the most recent achievements are the golden plaque and the award for the best performance of a composition from the 20th century at the national competition Naša pesem in Maribor in 2022. In the same year, the choir ranked the highest amond mixed choirs at the prestigious international competition in Marktoberdorf and won two competition awards, a special prize for the best performance of the compulsory compositions from the Renaissance period and a prize for the best program of the competition. The latest resounding success of the choir was achieved in April of 2023 at the Gallus international choral competition, where they entered the Grand Prix of the competition and ranked third, the highest ranking among mixed choirs and Slovenian choirs.
DAMIJAN MOČNIK graduated from Ljubljana’s the Academy of Music in composition and furthered his skills abroad, particularly in choral conducting (including with Eric Ericson). Since 1993, he has been working as music teacher, conductor and artistic leader of musical activities at the Diocesan Classical Gymnasium of St. Stanislav’s Institution in Ljubljana, Slovenia. He designed and established with his colleagues a choral pyramid, which has become an important aspect of Slovene choral life. He began conducting in 1986 and has received numerous awards with his choirs. He is also the founder and artistic leader of the Slovene Children’s Choir. Since 2021 he has been a professor of analysis and compositional techniques at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana.He participates in professional and artistic committees for choral events, regularly lectures for music courses and symposiums and is a juror at choral competitions at home and abroad.
For his artistic accomplishments and work as a music educator, he was awarded the Prešeren student prize by the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, the Gallus plaque by the Public Fund for Cultural Activities of the Republic of Slovenia (the highest honour in the area of amateur culture), and the Republic of Slovenia’s prize for extraordinary achievements in the field of education. Močnik’s compositional work is devoted to choral music, both a cappella and vocal-instrumental. He is the winner of numerous Slovene and international composition competitions. In 2006, he was composer in residence at the Bavarian Music Academy in Marktoberdorf, Germany, and has frequently Ied acclaimed workshops such as at the Europa Cantat 2006 festival in Mainz, Germany and the international choral festival Choralies, France in 2016. As composer and conductor, he has toured Taiwan as well as made several visits to the USA, where he has performed his compositions with university choruses and lectured on his compositional opus.
Močnik is currently among the most performed contemporary Slovene composers. His pieces are regularly performed by the finest professional and amateur choirs worldwide, among them the World Youth Choir, RIAS Kammerchor Berlin, Slovenian Philharmonic Choir, St. Jacobs Kammarkör Stockholm, Taipei Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Singer Pur, the choir Cantus and the Washington Bach Consort. His compositions are published by Astrum Publishers in Slovenia, and the German publishers Ferrimontana, Frankfurt and Carus Verlag, Stuttgart. Močnik’s music has been recorded on numerous CDs, including four exclusively featuring his works: Verbum supernum prodiens (Carus, 2003), Adventus Domini nostri Jesu Christi (Astrum Music. 2009), Oratorium nativitatis (Slovenian Philharmonic. 2016) and … et LUX perpetua (Carus 2017).
Contact us
Kulturno društvo Megaron
Štula 23
1210 Ljubljana–Šentvid
Slovenia (EU)
E-mail: kdmegaron@gmail.com
IBAN: SI56 0700 0000 1185 430 (Gorenjska banka, d.d.)
ID for VAT: 58176365
Komorni zbor Megaron 