|
 Mixed Youth Choir of the Choral Society of Sombor was founded in 1985 as part of the Choral Society of Sombor (in existence for 125 years) together with "VOJISLAV VOJA ILIC" Children's Choir and the Male Youth Choir.
Under the direction of its founder, artistic director and conductor Silvester Hajnal, the Choir managed to attain great reputation in the country and abroad in a short period of time.
 The Choir's repertoire includes the works of both Yugoslav and foreign composers, from early renanaissance to contemporary authors: Apart from performing "a capella" pieces, the Choir has performed vocal and instrumental works ("Magnificat" and "Gloria" by A.Vivaldi, "Requiem" by Mozart, the "Lobgesang" symphony cantata by Mendelssohn, "Choral Fantasy" by Beethoven, Lutheran Masses in g-major and g-minor and "Magnificat" by J.S. Bach) in collaboration with orchestras such as "St. George", 'Dusan Skovran" and Leicestershire Symphony Orchestra as well as conductors such as Vojislav Ilic, Darinka Matic-Marovic, Fritz ter Wey and Volker Hempfling (Germany), Katalin L. Nagy (Hungary) and others.
 They participated in all major festivals in the country: Zrenjanin, Novi Pazar, Kragujevac, Nis, Novi Sad, Budva, Negotin, Belgrade... They are the winners of numerous first and special prizes, charters and diplomas at domestic and foreign choral festivals and competitions. Their showcase contains numerous official honours and rewards, including three St. Sava Decorations, a Brotherhood and Unity Decoration with Silver Wreath, the Charter of the Cultural and Educational Community of Vojvodina, the Charter of Mokranjac Days, the Golden Medallion of the Cultural and Educational Community of Serbia, the October Award of the Municipality of Sombor...
 In the last few years, the Choir has been highly successful. A Golden Diploma was received at the 6th International Choral Competition in Budapest in March 1997, where Silvester Hajnal was awarded the Best Conductor of the Festival Prize (among c. 70 conductors). He received the same award in Karditza, Greece in September 1997, where Iuventus Cantat won the second prize (first prizes were not awarded in any of the categories).
In November 1998 the Choir won the First Prize and Gold Medal at the 6th Intenational Festival of Scared Music "Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina" held in Rome.
At the First Choral Olympics in Linz in 2000, Iuventus Cantat Mixed Youth Choir won a silver, making history as the best Yugoslav choir.
In April 2001, at the 8th International Choral Festival in Budapest, they won three gold plaques, for the best male, best female and best mixed choir. The male and female choirs were category winners as well.
 In July 2001, at the 55th International Eisteddfod in Llanghollen Iuventus Cantat was awarded the First Prize in the category of mixed choirs.
For the 125 anniversary of the Choral Society of Sombor, the Choir released its first audio cassette and in April 1998 its first CD, recorded at their third tour of Switzerland.
So far, the Choir has given concerts in Spain, Hungary, the former USSR, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, Greece, Italy and Austria.
IUVENTUS CANTAT Mixed Youth Choir is a member of the European Federatio of Youth Choirs (EFYC), based in Germany, being the sole representative of our country. Since July 1998 it is a member of the INTERKULTUR Foundation.
In Memoriam
Silvester Hajnal (August 1956 – April 2002)
Silvester Hajnal (1956-2002), founder and conducter of the Choir, graduated from the Sarajevo Academy of Arts (1978) and attained his M.A. degree in conducting at the Belgrade Faculty of Musical Art, under tutorship of Professor Darinka Matic-Marovic. He was associate professor at the Teacher Training Faculty of Sombor. Among the numerous prizes and awards that he received for his fruithful artistic and pedagogical work the most prominent are: the Golden Badge of the Cultural and Educational Community of Serbia (1992), the Spark of Culture awarded by the Cultural and Educational Community of Vojvodina (1995), the Best Conductor of the Festival Prize, among c. 70 choir conductors, at the 6th International Choral Festival in Budapest (1997), the Special Conductor's Prize for exeptional sound quality of the Children's Choir at the 15th International Choral Festival in Karditza, Greece (1997) The 55th Llanghollen Eisteddfod in 2001. brought him the CONDUCTOR OF THE WORLD Medal. In July 2001, Mr Hajnal received the "Vojislav Ilic" Best Conductor Prize at the Belgrade Festival titled "Choir among Frescoes".
|
