LUX BEATA TRINITAS
15 July 20.30 St. Martin's Church
Entrance: 15€
UNIVERSITY OF PRIMORSKA ACADEMIC CHOIR performs under the auspices of Student Organization of University of Primorska (ŠOUP) since its establishment in 2004. In the choir, there are about 40 students of University of Primorska with some other choral enthusiasts. A composer and conductor Ambrož Čopi leads the choir. He has been leading it for the first decade of its activity and now again, since October 2016. His assistants, that help him with the leading of the choir, are Andreja Tomažič Hrvatin and Luka Vetrih. In the 11th and 12th season, the conductor was Mirko Ferlan.
The choir embraces a whole range of music genres and styles, from the Renaissance to modern music. Particular attention is dedicated to the compositions authored by the composers of the Primorska Region; moreover, the choir is enriching its repertoire with rarely performed works and novelties composed by the world composers and the younger generation of Slovenian composers. By ordering and preforming new songs, APZ UP is constantly encouraging new achievements in the vocal area of our national music, making the treasury of it become richer. In all the years of its existence, the choir has been an important cultural ambassador of the University of Primorska and of Slovenia, and a promotor for new art works with their concerts and with a significant archive contribution of new works on 7 CDs, all of which underlines the substantive exceptionality of the APZ UP projects. The choir engages with musicians from the Primorska region and cooperates with a variety of other national and foreign choirs, by hosting highly acclaimed concerts of quality vocal and instrumental music in the cycle Symphonic voices for non-profit it shapes an important part of culture landscape of the Slovenian coast in the last ten years.
University of Primorska academic choir regularly performs at all major events organized by the University and arranges concerts in Slovenia and abroad. It is successfully presenting itself at national and international competitions where achieved many first places and golden plaques. APZ UP was also invited to many choral festivals. In 2009, it performed as a finalist at the European Grand Prix in Choral Singing in Tours, France.
In 2010 the Ministry of culture of the Republic of Slovenia awarded the choir a status of an Association of public interest, which is an important award of activity and a success for the choir. In all of the years the choir has collected many awards, prizes and plaques: among others in 2016 Public Fund for Cultural Activities of Republic of Slovenia gave it the Gallus plaque as the highest award for music activity, in May 2015 APZ UP received an award for 10 years of working from Public Fund for Cultural Activities of Republic of Slovenia and Municipality of Koper.
Ambrož Čopi studied composition with Dane Škerl and Uroš Roko at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana. He was awarded The Young Musician Award (1995), and the Prešeren Prize of the University of Ljubljana (1997), for the outstanding achievements during his study. He first gained knowledge of vocal music and conducting as an assistant of the conductor Stojan Kuret. He led several Slovenian choirs: Chamber Choir Nova Gorica, Mixed Choir Obala, Academic Choir of University of Primorska, KGBL Chamber Choir, etc. With them, he achieved fifteen golden plaquettes at various national competitions, and twentysix first places, as well as several golden plaquettes at competitions, held abroad. He performed as a finalist at the European Grand Prix in Choral Singing in Tours (France, 2009) with the University of Primorska Academic Choir.
In 2014 he was awarded the Gallus Medal, the highest award in the field of musical activity at a national level in Slovenia. In 2016 he received Škerjanc recognition given by the Conservatory of Music and Ballet Ljubljana for outstanding artistic achievements and a prestigious national award Preseren Fund Prize.
His compositions are presented in four CDs containing only Čopi's compositions, i.e. Lirični akvareli (Academic choir Tone Tomšič, Stojan Kuret), So ptičice še snivale (ČarniCe, Stojan Kuret), Praeparate corda vestra (Ave Chamber Choir, Ambrož Čopi), Sanjam (Slovenian Chamber Choir, Martina Batič). His compositions are published by Astrum and Sulasol.
Ambrož Čopi is a teacher at the Art High School in Koper, Conservatory of Music and Ballet Ljubljana and, Associate professor at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana. He is regularly invited to act as a member of the jury at various choral events and competitions, and is often involved in choral music seminars at home and abroad as a lecturer.