INTERNATIONAL YOUTH CHOIR FESTIVAL CELJE .

A new chapter in Celje’s cultural history.

Since 1946, when the Youth Choir Festival (MPF) was first held in the city, Celje has been put on the map of music capitals in Slovenia, Europe and the world. 2024 was certainly a special year for the new edition of the festival, as a new chapter in Celje’s cultural history began to be written when the national competition for youth choirs, which is being organized in cooperation between the Public Fund of the Republic of Slovenia for Cultural Activities, the Celeia Celje Institute and the Municipality of Celje, came under the management of the MPF. This will complement the biennial international edition of the festival, which is scheduled for spring of 2025, when the festival will be conjoined with the nationwide choir event called Zborovski bum (Choir Boom). The organizers are already anticipating the anniversary celebrations, which will take place in April of 2026, when a documentary film will be made in the festival’s honor, a monograph will be published and an anniversary exhibition will be held in the city as well as the Museum of Contemporary History of Celje. A major campaign to collect memories to mark the anniversary will also be launched in March this year, collecting the memories on Kamra.

In its almost 80-year history, our festival has always been able to keep up with contemporary cultural trends, while maintaining the mission which the organizers, led by Jurčet Vrežet, set themselves at its inception just after the end of the Second World War. The coming together of generations through music, freshness of youth, hope, optimism and faith in collaboration, a common interest in harmony and the rich cultural tradition of our homeland.

This year’s edition of the festival will once again, as is tradition after 2017, be international as Celje hosts 229 international guests and 293 competitors from Slovenia between 2nd and 6th of April. The honorary guest of the festival will be the Minister of Culture Dr. Asta Vrečko, whereas the Zborovski bum will host the President Dr. Nataša Pirc Musar.

As is customary, the festival will begin with the Pésemca Choir Festival on April 2nd in Celjski dom. The opening concert of the festival will take place on Thursday, April 3rd at 18.00 in the Celje National Hall, hosting performances of the RTV Slovenia Children’s Choir and last year’s winners of the national competition, the Girls’ Choir of Gimazija Celje Center.

A rich accompanying program with the choral revue Pésemca and a "Minute for a Song."

The festival will also be enriched by A Minute for a Song, which will fill the streets of Celje with choir music during the festival (April 3rd – 6th) and will end on April 6th with the now traditional choir walk through the city, which will start at 11.00 on the Main Square. The competitive concert will begin on April 4th in the National Hall and end in Celjski dom with a classical choir concert. The festival will be complemented by study workshops for students of music pedagogy and choir conducting, brought to you by the Universities of Ljubljana and Maribor, music teachers and choir conductors on April 3rd in Celjski dom. One of the biggest novelties of the Celje Music Festival will certainly be the Zborovski bum, as over 5000 singers from more than 150 primary schools all over the country sing in the Zlatorog Hall on April 5th at 15.00.

The 36th International Youth Choir Competition will take place on Friday, April 4th in the Grand Hall of the Celje National Hall.  The first concert competition will start at 10.00 and the second at 12.00. The competing youth choirs consist of Youth Choir of OŠ narodnega heroja Maksa Pečarja (Ljubljana Črnuče), Youth Choir of OŠ Šempeter v Savinjski dolini, Youth Choir of OŠ Alojzija Šuštarja (Ljubljana Šentvid), Youth Choir Mavrica (OŠ Tišina), Youth Choir OŠ Franceta Bevka (Tolmin), Youth Choir of Glasbena Matica Ljubljana, Hor vokalnog studija Horos (Ćuprija, Serbia), Gruppo Vocale Garda Trentino (Riva del Garda, Trento, Italy), Pražská kantiléna (Prague, the Czech Republic), VVV Vokál (Veszprém, Hungary), Mixed Youth Choir of I. gimnazija v Celju, and Die Primaner (Berlin, Germany).

The announcement of the results will take place on Saturday, April 5th at 15.00, when one of the biggest events of youth choir singing in Slovenia will take place in Zlatorog Hall – the Zborovski bum. 5100 choir singers from 159 primary schools will take part in the event, performing to the accompaniment of the Youth Wind Orchestra of the Celje Music School.

The announcement of the results will take place on Saturday, April 5th at 15.00, when one of the biggest events of youth choir singing in Slovenia will take place in Zlatorog Hall – the Zborovski bum. 5100 choir singers from 159 primary schools will take part in the event, performing to the accompaniment of the Youth Wind Orchestra of the Celje Music School.

All events are open to the public and admission is free of charge.

The MPF will once again provide a varied and lively introduction to the festive month of April in Celje, as we celebrate 574 years since Frederik II of Celje granted the town its town rights. The celebrations will be rounded off with the traditional project Vseslovensko petje s srci (All-Slovenian Singing with Hearts) – on Sunday, April 6th from 11.00 to 12.00 with a walk accompanied with singing through the Old Town, and on Tuesday, April 23rd, with singing in Celje’s kindergartens, schools, public enterprises and public institutions. In April, the traditional spring concerts of the Celje Grammar School Choirs, which are among the best of their kind in Slovenia and Europe, will also take place in Celje in the National Hall.

HONORARY
PATRONS
.

dr. Nataša Pirc Musar, President of the Republic of Slovenija
dr. Asta Vrečko, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia

ORGANIZER of the 36th INTERNATIONAL YOUTH CHOIR FESTIVAL.

ZAVOD CELEIA CELJE
Manager: Maja Voglar
Artistic Director: Nenad Firšt

CO-ORGANIZER of
ZBOROVSKI BUM.

NATIONAL EDUCATION INSTITUTE OF SLOVENIA
Manager: Jasna Rojc
Artistic Director: dr. Inge Breznik

MUSIC
COMMISSION.

Sebastjan Vrhovnik, David Preložnik, Nenad Firšt

MUSIC
JURY.

Chair: Sebastjan Vrhovnik (Slovenia)

Members: Maja Cilenšek (Slovenia), Stefan Kaltenböck (Austria), Christian Klucker (Switzerland), Karmina Šilec (Slovenia)

Secretary: Uroš Mijošek

 

ORGANISATIONAL
COMMITTEE.

Gregor Deleja, Nenad Firšt, Manja Herman, Sara Kos, Urška Košica, Uroš Mijošek, David Preložnik, Laura Šarlah

MLADINSKI PEVSKI FESTIVAL
MLADINSKI PEVSKI FESTIVAL

Program

You can find the detailed schedule of the festival and competitions here.

  • 2.4.2025, 16.30 / 18.00 / 19.30Celjski dom
    PÉSEMCA

    Production of children's and youth choirs from Celje, Dobrna, Štore and Vojnik

  • 3.4.2025, 10.00Glavni trg (na Zvezdi)
    A MINUTE FOR A SONG

    Celje amateur cultural societies

  • 3.4.2025, 10.30-17.15Celjski dom
    WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES

    10.30 do 11.30 - Sebastjan Vrhovnik: SPOKEN MUSIC – WHEN THE VOICE BECOMES AN INSTRUMENT
    11.45 do 12.45 - Karmina Šilec: CHOREGIE
    12.30 do 13.30 - Maja Cilenšek: LESSER-KNOWN COMPOSITIONS OF PAVLE MERKU
    15.00 do 16.00 - Marko Vatovec: A HANDBOOK FOR CHOIR CONDUCTORS
    16.15 do 17.15 - Stefan Kaltenböck: WORKSHOP FOR CREATIVE REHEARSALS AND CONCERT EXPERIENCE
    You can find a detailed description of the workshops here.

  • 3.4.2025, 17.30Glavni trg (na Zvezdi)
    A MINUTE FOR A SONG

    Celje amateur cultural societies

  • 3.4.2025, 18.00Narodni dom
    OPENING CONCERT

    Otroški pevski zbor RTV Slovenija in Dekliški pevski zbor Gimnazije Celje center

  • 4.4.2025, 10.00Narodni dom
    1ST COMPETITION CONCERT

    Mladinski pevski zbor OŠ narodnega heroja Maksa Pečarja, Ljubljana Črnuče, Slovenia
    Mladinski pevski zbor OŠ Šempeter v Savinjski dolini, Slovenia
    Mladinski pevski zbor OŠ Alojzija Šuštarja, Ljubljana Šentvid, Slovenia
    Mladinski pevski zbor Mavrica, OŠ Tišina, Slovenia
    Mladinski pevski zbor OŠ Franceta Bevka Tolmin, Slovenia
    Mladinski pevski zbor Glasbene matice Ljubljana, Slovenia

  • 4.4.2025, 12.00Glavni trg (na Zvezdi)
    A MINUTE FOR A SONG

    Mladinski pevski zbor OŠ narodnega heroja Maksa Pečarja, Ljubljana Črnuče, Slovenia
    Mladinski pevski zbor OŠ Šempeter v Savinjski dolini, Slovenia
    Mladinski pevski zbor OŠ Alojzija Šuštarja, Ljubljana Šentvid, Slovenia
    Mladinski pevski zbor Mavrica, OŠ Tišina, Slovenia
    Mladinski pevski zbor OŠ Franceta Bevka Tolmin, Slovenia
    Mladinski pevski zbor Glasbene matice Ljubljana, Slovenia

  • 4.4.2025, 12.00Narodni dom
    2ND COMPETITION CONCERT

    Hor vokalnog studija Horos, Ćuprija, Serbia
    Gruppo Vocale Garda Trentino, Riva del Garda – Trento, Italy
    Pražská kantiléna, Praga, Czech Republic
    VVV Vokál, Veszprém, Hungary
    Mešani mladinski pevski zbor I. gimnazije v Celju, Slovenia
    Die Primaner, Berlin, Germany

  • 4.4.2025, 15.00Celjski dom
    CHOIRS TO CHOIRS

    Mladinski pevski zbor OŠ narodnega heroja Maksa Pečarja, Ljubljana Črnuče, Slovenia
    Mladinski pevski zbor OŠ Šempeter v Savinjski dolini, Slovenia
    Mladinski pevski zbor OŠ Alojzija Šuštarja, Ljubljana Šentvid, Slovenia
    Mladinski pevski zbor Mavrica, OŠ Tišina, Slovenia
    Mladinski pevski zbor OŠ Franceta Bevka Tolmin, Slovenia
    Mladinski pevski zbor Glasbene matice Ljubljana, Slovenia

  • 4.4.2025, 18.00Celjski dom
    CHOIRS TO CHOIRS

    Hor vokalnog studija Horos, Ćuprija, Serbia
    Gruppo Vocale Garda Trentino, Riva del Garda – Trento, Italy
    Pražská kantiléna, Praga, Czech Republic
    VVV Vokál, Veszprém, Hungary
    Mešani mladinski pevski zbor I. gimnazije v Celju, Slovenia
    Die Primaner, Berlin, Germany

  • 5.4.2025, 11.00Glavni trg (na Zvezdi)
    A MINUTE FOR A SONG

    Hor vokalnog studija Horos, Ćuprija, Serbia
    Gruppo Vocale Garda Trentino, Riva del Garda – Trento, Italy
    Pražská kantiléna, Praga, Czech Republic
    VVV Vokál, Veszprém, Hungary
    Mešani mladinski pevski zbor I. gimnazije v Celju, Slovenia
    Die Primaner, Berlin, Germany

  • 5.4.2025, 15.00Dvorana Zlatorog
    CHOIR BUM AND FESTIVAL AWARDS
  • 6.4.2025, 11.00Glavni trg
    11.00 – Glavni trg: PEVSKI SPREHOD PO CELJU / SINGING WALK THROUGH CELJE

Žirija.

Sebastjan Vrhovnik

Predsednik

Sebastjan Vrhovnik is considered as one of the most recognized choral conductors in Slovenia. He currently leads the Mixed and Chamber Choir of the Music Society of Ljubljana and collaborates on a project basis with the ARTPhonica choir from Austria. In October 2024, he has taken on the role of artistic director of the Slovenian Philharmonic Choir and assistant director of the Slovenian Philharmonic. He is an associate professor of choral conducting at the Academy of Music of the University of Ljubljana, and in addition, he conducts various choir workshops both domestically and abroad and serves as a member of expert juries at Slovenian and international choral festivals and competitions.
He graduated with honors under the mentorship of Marko Vatovec and completed his master’s degree at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz in the class of Johannes Prinz. He was the long-time conductor and artistic director of the Mixed and Chamber Choir of the Academy of Music, the Mixed Choir Obala Koper, the Academic Choir Tone Tomšič of the University of Ljubljana, the Teachers’ Choir of Slovenia Emil Adamič, the Vocal Ensemble Ecce, and the Mixed Choir Cantemus in Kamnik.
With his choirs, he has recorded several CDs and achieved numerous first-place awards and special recognitions at various national and international competitions. His concert performances are characterized by an excellent knowledge of vocal sound and remarkable musicality, with his interpretations marked by a special softness and cohesion in the choral sound.

Maja Cilenšek

Maja Cilenšek graduated from the Department of Music Pedagogy at the Academy of Music of the University of Ljubljana under prof. Marjan Gabrijelčič. She also received additional training at international choir conducting masterclasses and other music seminars. With children’s, youth and adult choirs, she has won numerous first places and special awards at competitions at home and abroad. As a lecturer and an expert evaluator, she is invited to many choir seminars and competitions. At the international choir conductors’ Mariele Ventre competition in Bologna in October 2007, she shared first prize in the youth choir category with Italian conductor Lorenzo Donati. In 2009, she received the ZKD MOK golden plaque for special achievements in the field of music. In November 2011, she conducted the combined choir of the best Slovenian youth choirs at the Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana. At the Rimini competition in October 2012, she was named the best choir conductor of the competition. In 2014, she received the award from the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Slovenia for exceptional achievements in the field of music education, and in April 2019, the Association of Slovenian Music Schools awarded her the Fran Gerbič Award for exceptional achievements in the field of music education and musical production.

Stefan Kaltenböck

Stefan Kaltenböck is choirmaster and music teacher at Musikgymnasium Linz (Austria). He is responsible for all five class choirs and the Mozartchor with 100 young choristers. Besides teaching at High School, he teaches also at the Anton Bruckner University in Linz and holds workshops for teachers, choirs and their leaders.
Stefan studied music education and theology and finished his basic choral conducting studies with Franz M. Herzog in Graz. Seminars, workshops and masterclasses with inspiring conductors like Maris Sirmais (LTV), Robert Sund (SWE), Johannes Prinz (AUT), Zimfira Polosz (CAN) or Brady Allred (USA) followed. He lived in Südtirol (ITA) for seven years, conducted the Vinzentinum Boys’ Choir and founded the Landesjugendchor Südtirol, after that he worked as a Kapellmeister at the Vienna Boys’ Choir Campus.

Christian Klucker

Christian Klucker is deeply committed to choral culture in Switzerland. As a freelance choir conductor, conducting and coaching at home and abroad are his great passions. He likes to call himself a sound freak – expression and charisma are at the forefront of his musical work.
He conducts the internationally award-winning “Vokalensemble incantanti”. In 2019, Klucker was a guest conductor at the Basel Academy of Music and the Swiss Youth Choir. He also conducted the children’s and youth choir “STIMMWERKBANDE” for more than 20 years.
At the International Choral Competition Voices for Peace 2017 and at the International Competition in Kalamata 2024, he was awarded a special prize as Best Conductor.Since 2018 he has been a member of the artistic advisory board of the EJCF in Basel (European Youth Choir Festival Basel).
On behalf of the Swiss Children’s and Youth Choir Festival he is primarily responsible for the training of choir directors as part of the federal “Youth and Music” programme. For the past two years, he has been working on the concept for the promotion of young musical talents for the federal government and Graubünden.

Karmina Šilec

Karmina Šilec is a multidisciplinary artist and artistic director of Carmina Slovenica, the Kebataola ensemble and the Choregie Music Theatre. Her concert and music theatre work has produced an extensive, in-depth and internationally acclaimed creative opus. She has performed at numerous prestigious festivals and venues around the world.
She has received the Prešeren Fund Award, over 20 of the highest international awards at choral competitions, the international Robert Edler Prize for outstanding contribution to the field on a global scale, two international Music Theatre Now awards, the Glazer Award, the Zlata maska Theatre Award, the Sterijino Pozorje Award for theatre music and others.

Festival is made possible by

Honorary patrons of the 36th YCF Celje 2025

dr. Nataša Pirc Musar, President of the Republic of Slovenija

dr. Asta Vrečko, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia

Mladinski pevski festival Celje omogočajo

Častni pokroviteljici 36. MPF Celje 2025

dr. Nataša Pirc Musar, predsednica Republike Slovenije

dr. Asta Vrečko, ministrica za kulturo Republike Slovenije