Crescendo Mixed Choir

The Crescendo Mixed Choir

The Crescendo Mixed Choir, a part of the Crescendo Musical Society, was founded in the beginning of 2015. Its conductor Žiga Kert was the one to give the initiative to establish the choir, which is today comprised of over 40 young singers with the shared desire to perform quality choral music. Their repertoire consists of choral music by both Slovene and foreign composers, as well as popular music arranged for choirs. They mostly gravitate towards an advanced choral programme, which they perform at choral competitions and festivals in Slovenia and abroad. One of their most important early projects is the performance at their conductor’s (Žiga Kert) Master’s concert in May 2016.

They presented a very challenging repertoire, consisting of Slovenian and foreign choral music, ranging from Slovenian folk songs and African-American spiritual music to contemporary choral music by various American and European composers.

Seeing the singers work well together, the choir set their eyes on performing difficult choral repertoires and attending various choral events both at home and abroad. The Crescendo Musical Society’s first big independent musical project was the concert at the Škofja Loka Castle grounds in June 2017.

The Crescendo Mixed Choir and Symphony Orchestra joined forces and performed scores from Hollywood’s most famous musicals at a sold-out concert, taking place in the castle’s atrium. The concert started a tradition of the Society’s summer concerts at the Škofja Loka Castle: in June 2018, the Society performed a concert of Irish and Celtic music, while in June 2019, the atrium resounded with choral and orchestral adaptations of famous Slovenian Eurovision hits. The Choir first ventured abroad in August 2016, when they attended the Choralies festival in Vaison- la-Romaine, Provence, performing a demanding choral programme. They performed two successful solo concerts there. In September 2017, the Crescendo Mixed Choir performed their first major concert abroad – in Warsaw, Poland. The Crescendo Mixed Choir first stepped on the competitive stage in September 2017 by attending
the International Baltic Sea Choir Grand Prix Competition in Jurmala, Latvia, and achieving the excellent score of 87.08 points. In Spring 2018, the Choir attended Naša pesem, a Slovenian national choral competition, in Maribor. In July 2019, the Choir attended the 37 th International Choral Festival of Preveza, Greece, and were awarded two gold medals: in Category A (Mixed choirs) and Category G (Free programme of original choral music). In the latter category, they were also the category
winners (first prize). In November 2019, they were awarded a gold diploma at the regional competition of adult choral ensembles (for the Upper Carniola region). In 2019, the Choir recorded and released their first album.

Due to the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the choir mostly operated remotely. In July 2021 it took part in the Europa Cantat international festival, taking place in Ljubljana. In July 2022 the choir performed at the international choir competition InCanto Mediteraneo, where it won several awards: the best performance of a composition by an Italian composer, as well as the overall winners of the competition.

Žiga Kert received the award for the best conductor.

Žiga Kert, conductor

Žiga Kert studied musical pedagogy at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, where he concluded his studies under the mentorship of prof. Marko Vatovec. He studied orchestral conducting at the Carinthian State Conservatory in Klagenfurt, Austria under the mentorship of prof. Aleksej Kornienko, and later under the mentorship of prof. Martin A. Fuchsberger. He was educated in classical singing, mentored by mag. prof. Francka Šenk. Žiga began playing the piano at the age of six at the Piano Forte Music School. Growing up, he sang in countless children’s and youth choirs. Soon after he enrolled into the Academy in 2011, Žiga founded the Crescendo Symphony Orchestra, whichperforms two thematic concerts annually.

In 2015, he then founded the Crescendo Mixed Choir, choosing it to perform at his MA concert at the academy in 2016; the choir focuses mostly on performing challenging choral compositions. Žiga regularly attends conducting seminars (Georg Grün, Tomaž Faganel, Gary Graden, Stojan Kuret etc.), choral competitions (Slovakia – Bratislava, Czechia – Prague, Latvia – Grand Prix competition, Greece – Preveza, Slovenia), and festivals/symposiums (France – Choralies, Spain – Word Symposium on Choral Music 2017, USA – ACDA). He is also a two-time participant in a conducting workshop with the world-renowned composer Brady Allred, PhD, in Salt Lake City, UT, USA. Žiga currently teaches music at the Predoslje Primary School in Kranj, where he also conducts two children's and one youth choir. Additionally, he conducts the mixed youth choir at Škofja Loka Grammar School (Gimnazija Škofja Loka), the Crescendo Mixed Choir, the Crescendo Symphony Orchestra, the Upanje church choir in Stražišče, Kranj, and the Rož Women’s Choir in St. Jakob in Rosental, Austria.

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