80th Anniversary of the Partisan Choir

In April 1944, Prof. Karol Pahor gathered 17 singers in a partisan hospital above the village of Planina under Mirna gora, where wounded fighters were recovering, and founded a choir named Invalidski pevski zbor (Invalid Singers Choir). During the war, the choir performed on liberated territories more than two hundred times, encouraging fighters and freedom-loving people who supported the struggle for liberation with their songs. After the war, the choir was first renamed to Partizanski invalidski pevski zbor (Partisan Invalid Singers Choir), and in 1972 to Partizanski pevski zbor (Partisan Choir). Many partisan songs have become folk songs, and we still enjoy listening to them today.

So this year, the Partisan Choir celebrates its 80th anniversary. The anniversary will be celebrated, among other things, with a concert in the Gallus Hall of the Cankarjev dom. In the first part of the concert, the Partisan Choir will be on stage with an accordionist and will sing some of the most popular songs from their repertoire. In the first part, they will be joined by the Primorski akademski pevski zbor Vinko Vodopivec as a guest, who will present a few songs from the Slovenian treasury of resistance songs.

In the second part of the concert, both choirs, accompanied by a chamber symphony orchestra, will perform the cantata "Hej, partizan!" written by Radovan Gobec in 1944. The cantata contains 25 of the most popular patriotic and partisan songs. The birth of the cantata thus coincides with the birth of the choir. Both are 80 years old this year. Both choirs will conclude the concert with a few songs accompanied by the orchestra.