The coirs for 2025

Il Coro La Martinella

The "LA MARTINELLA" Choir, founded in 1970 by Claudio Malcapi who directed it until 1989, is part of the Florentine section of the C.A.I. (Italian Alpine Club), is co-founder of the Association of Tuscan Choirs and promoter, founder and member of the management of the CNC, "National Choral Center" of the national C.A.I. (about 80 choirs and 2700 choristers). From 1989 to 2002, the choir was conducted by Fabio Azzaroli, and finally by the current conductor Ettore Varacalli. It is a male choir of about 45 members who sing a cappella (first tenors, second tenors, baritones, basses).

The repertoire includes both classic mountain songs and popular songs, including authors, Tuscans and others, the result of systematic research. It includes more than 150 pieces, continuously studied and refined in rotation in order to offer programs adapted to the type of event to which the choir is invited.

From 1978, the Choir has made several recordings (2 LPs, 1 cassette and 6 CDs, the last 2 of which were made in 2020 for the 50th anniversary of the Choir's founding: "50 ANS 3 MAÎTRES 1 Chœur" and "ALL'OMBRA DEL TRICOLORE"). He has published the collection of songs "Canzoni Tuscany" (40 popular motifs harmonized and commented by Claudio Malcapi) and, for the 50th anniversary, the book "IL CORO LA MARTINELLA – 50 YEARS OF FLORENTINE HISTORY OF MUSIC AND PASSION", edited by Luca Giannelli, Florentine journalist and historian.

The Choir has participated in a long series of festivals and concerts in Florence, Tuscany and throughout Italy. Among the performance venues, the Salone de' 500 in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, the Goldoni Theatre and the Tepidarium, in Parma the Teatro Regio and the Certosa, in Turin the RAI Auditorium, in Venice the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni, in Rome the Montecitorio Hall for the 2011 Christmas Concert organised by the Group of Friends of the Mountain of the Italian Parliament. Every year in Florence, it organizes the "Choral Review of Traditional and Popular Songs", which is now in its 42nd edition. Abroad, the Choir has been invited, even on several occasions, to Switzerland, France, Belgium, Ireland and Croatia. The Choir has participated in television programmes at the local (RTV38) and national (TV2000) levels. Since 2015, the Choir has been able to boast prestigious theatrical collaborations: with the Opera Fiorentina of the Maggio Musicale, with the Commedia dell'Arte of the Catholic University of Brescia, with the Compagnia delle Seggiole of Florence. In 2022, the Municipality of Florence awarded the choir the "Gentile Citizenship Award  " for the activity carried out, especially with solidarity concerts.

THE CHOIR HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED BY THE MINISTRY OF CULTURAL HERITAGE AS A "CHOIR OF NATIONAL INTEREST"

MoPZ Pobje

As the first stanza of the song Zdravlica says, the Pobje are friends, young (and not so young) boys from the Black Mountain plateau and the surrounding area of Slovenia. Every Thursday evening, they meet at the homes of the people of Črni Vrh nad Idrijo, where they sing many songs together with the choir conductor Veronika and the accompanist Barbara, and with them they forget the daily hustle and bustle. Of course, they sometimes also sing a foreign song and spice up a number of performances, scenes and chance encounters with it.

Last season, Pobje marked the 20th anniversary of the choir's activity, which was also celebrated with a jubilee concert on June 15 this year.  During these twenty years, they toured all over Slovenia, and they also made their voices heard abroad (England, Germany, Spain, Latvia). They have also participated in choral competitions at home and abroad, with two gold and two silver awards. They also regularly try to improve their singing skills through choral singing workshops with renowned Slovenian experts.
After all the rehearsals and performances, Pobje also follows the following instruction from our greatest Slovenian poet:
Finally, my friends, let us raise our glasses to ourselves,
That is why we have gathered, because we think well in our hearts;
Long live each of us, good people!

Iroise

Created in 1977 on the initiative of a few vocal music lovers, the IROISE choir of Plouzané, Brest Métropole, takes its name from the sea that borders the west coast of Finistère.
Every week, about eighty choristers meet for the pleasure of singing with one heart.
Amateur singers but anxious to present quality concerts, the choristers work assiduously under the direction of their two volunteer conductors, Monique Péré and Philippe Soulier, one of the founders of the choir. The choir is accompanied on the piano by Guilaine Boulaire.
Well anchored in the local landscape, the Iroise choir performs regularly in the Brest region: traditional spring concerts in Plouzané, animation of the Christmas market in the city of Brest, concerts for charities, welcoming friendly choirs from Brittany and elsewhere.

It has also set up two musical revues (with the 4 choirs of the Amicale Laïque de Plouzané, theatre actors, photo projections), "Brest Side Story" and "Pagan Story" which have been a great success at each performance.
In June 2009, the first summer concerts in the Pays d'Iroise were initiated. It is an opportunity to meet an audience where the local population mixes with many holidaymakers wishing to discover a new repertoire.
Our repertoire, which is very varied, includes classical songs, contemporary French songs, traditional French songs, songs from the regions and countries visited (Languedoc, Corsica, Wales, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Quebec, Galicia...) and, of course, Breton songs or songs evoking the islands of the Iroise Sea (Armor) as well as the landscapes of the Breton lands (Arvor).