The Slovenian Media Choral Landscape

By Brigita Rovšek  music and choral music editor for ARS, the  Radio Slovenia Third Program

According to a Slovenian proverb, “Good fame travels far,” and that raises the following question: Just how far-reaching is the image of choral music?

 

Radio and Television

The nationally based Radio Slovenia (www.rtvslo.si), especially with its third program ARS and two regional centers in Koper and Maribor, dedicates an important part of its programming to choral music, which is the third most popular type of music on the radio, thus reflecting the popularity of the ‘choral sport’ in Slovenia. Radio Slovenia offers announcements and reports, as well as reviews on a daily basis, including several hours of specialized choral music broadcasts (mostly from the radio choral archives). Expert discussions, issues, and activities are presented in the weekly ‘Choral Panopticum’ prepared by regional studios to ensure proper geographical coverage. The ARS program also manages live broadcasts of the season of concerts by the professional Slovenian Chamber Choir, as well as other important choral concerts and competitions through its other choral broadcasts. The program also helps listeners find out about choral concert activity through Euroradio/EBU in two ways: by presenting selected concerts from abroad to home audiences and by presenting local ones to audiences abroad.

With its emphasis on church choirs and their recordings, Radio Ognjišče (www.ognjisce.si) is also dedicated to choral events, especially in the weekly broadcast, Sacred Music.

National television pays less attention to choirs and only provides occasional coverage. Many local radio and television stations cover local events. Commercial stations, however, pay almost no attention to the choral music field.

 

Print Media

Intended for church singers and organists, the Cerkveni glasbenik (Church Musician, www.druzina.si) journal comes out every two months, bringing articles, reviews, and presentations of composers and their works, and including musical supplements as well.

Central Slovenian newspapers regularly inform their readers of concert events. Local newspapers are primarily centered around local choral performances, which are sometimes the driving force behind cultural events in a given place.

Glasba v šoli in vrtcu (Music in School and Kindergarten) by The National Education Institute (www.zrss.si) mostly covers musical and choral education at all educational levels. It also contains a musical supplement.

Odzven by The Slovenian Music Information Centre (SIGIC, www.sigic.si) reports on notable Slovenian choral events in its ‘Focus’ rubric and also reviews recordings in its ‘Opinions and Reviews’ section.

The monthly Glasna, Jeunesses musicales international (JMI) Slovenia (www.glasbenamladina.si) features reviews of recordings and sometimes of notable Slovenian and foreign vocal and instrumental performers.

Exclusively reserved for choral matters is Naši zbori (Our Choirs, www.jskd.si) by the Public Fund for Cultural Activities. Its musical supplement may contain previously unpublished Slovenian choral works, new works, or newly discovered scores. The following includes concert reviews, reviews of recordings and other publications, and reports of various choral events.

Online Media

The Naši zbori print edition is complemented by the online Zborovske novice (Choral News).

SIGIC (Slovenian Music Information Centre) also plays an important part. The Slovenian Press Agency, or STA (www.sta.si), covers home and foreign events for the home public, Slovenians abroad, and Slovenian ethnic minorities in neighboring states. One can also find choral news on MMC, the interactive multimedia site of RTV Slovenia.

Most Slovenian choirs and societies advertise themselves via the Internet, their own publications, or yearbooks. Regarding the Internet and numerous online cultural information sources in Slovenia, Slovenian online choral chat rooms are now telling their own story and spreading like wildfire after interesting concerts.

 

 

Edited by Steve Lansford, USA