Musica Viva

The members of the chamber choir Musica Viva (Tolmin) came together for the first time in January 2006, under the direction of their conductor, music teacher Erika Bizjak, with the wish to add, to the best of their ability, their small stone to the mosaic of the rich choral tradition of Primorje, at the far west of Slovenia.

The group unites 30 singers from the wider Tolmin and Kobarid regions. Music is what brought the singers into the choir; some of them had only briefly met each other before, but over time the shared interest grew into something more and outgrew its original purpose.

People from different places and of all kinds of professions have, in a certain sense, become a family – connected not only in music but also in life. They meet once or twice a week for rehearsals, spend a good deal of time on the road for performances, and experience many beautiful moments, some less beautiful, but always unforgettable.

They first performed in February 2006 at the festival Primorska poje, and to this day they have given many solo concerts, among them a concert of sacred music, the themed concert Zgodbe sveta, and a concert from the cycle Sožitje zvokov Soče in Nadiže. Their song has echoed in the depths of Dante's Cave in the Tolmin Gorges and in the large military bunker in the Polog valley, in the heart of Triglav National Park.

They are the initiators and organisers of the annual event "Pesem na vasi" (Song in the Village), with which they wanted to revive the lesser-known corners of beautiful Tolmin and to preserve its rich cultural and choral heritage, while at the same time drawing visitors from near and far to the Soča Valley. Their decade-long musical journey came full circle in September 2019 on the main square of Tolmin.

Since then they have carried on with a new project, "Vse najboljše, Slovenija!" (All the best, Slovenia!), which takes place in June on Tolmin's town square.

In 2007, 2010, 2014 and 2022 they took part in the regional themed concert Sozvočenja.

In 2007, for their thematically arranged programme "Motet nekoč in danes" (Motet – once and now), they received the award for the most promising choir.

In 2014, as the selected choir from the regional Sozvočenja, they represented the colours of Primorje at the closing concert in the Slovenian Philharmonic.

In 2022, at the Sozvočenja, they received the award for the purchase of sheet music. At the festival they presented the cycle of new works Letni časi by the composer Andrej Makor, to texts by Ljubka Šorli.

In 2013 they took part in the Regional Competition of Adult Choral Ensembles in Postojna for the first time and received a silver award, together with the award for the best ensemble performing at a regional competition for the first time.

In 2015 they achieved a gold award at the Regional Competition of Adult Choral Ensembles.

In 2018 they took part in the international competition LEGEARTIS in Tuzla, where they won a gold award and the award for the best performance of a sacred work.

The SLOVAKIA CANTAT competition in Bratislava also brought the singers a gold award in 2019.

They celebrated their 15th anniversary, with a delay, in October 2022 with a gala concert in Tolmin.

In October 2024 the choir took part in the International Choral Competition in Herceg Novi, where it received a gold award and absolute first place, thus becoming a laureate of the competition.

Join us at one of our concerts!