The Slovak Chamber Orchestra was established in 1960 at the Slovak Philharmonic by the outstanding violinist of Silesian origin, Bohdan Warchal (1930 – 2000). Since the beginning of its existence it has been one of the most popular ensembles of classical music in Slovakia. Under the leadership of maestro Warchal it became one of the most prominent representatives of Slovak performing art abroad. In 2001 Ewald Danel took over leadership of the orchestra.
Apart from regular concerts at the Slovak Philharmonic and participation in festivals and concert tours abroad, the Orchestra presents many exceptional projects. The Orchestra has discovered many works of famous international composers for the Slovak public which have been up-to-now unplayed in Slovakia and has performed the Slovak premiere of the work “Eight seasons” by A. Vivaldi and A. Piazzolla as well as its own arrangements of J. Ježek’s songs. The Orchestra plays a significant role in presenting the works of Slovak composers and has premiered more than seventy works since 2001.
They regularly perform special concerts not only for the anniversaries of important composers and personalities from the music world, but also to commemorate the exceptional contribution made to the Slovak music scene by their founder in a special concert, Hommage à Bohdan Warchal. As part of the Church Music Cycle, the Slovak Chamber Orchestra supports the work of professional and non-professional choirs. It is important to mention that the Orchestra continues to maintain the nearly two-hundred-year-old Bratislava tradition of performing Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ in St. Martin’s Cathedral on Palm Sunday and continues to present “Concerts without barriers” for the disabled.
In the 2022/2023 season, the Orchestra will perform at the Bratislava Music Festival, the Szymanowski / Poland / World Festival in Krakow and the Janáček and Luhačovice Festivals, and will perform concerts in Berlin, Paris and Helsinki. They will also perform at domestic events Music Autumn in Dolný Kubín, Nitra Musical Spring, Banská Bystrica Musical Spring, Trenčianske Teplice Musical Summer, Bojnice Musical Summer. They will also give concerts in the cities of Stupava, Čadca, Terchová, Banská Štiavnica, Ružomberok, Okoličné, Stará Ľubovňa and Stropkov. During the season, soloists such as Shlomo Mintz, Katalin Stefula, Andrej Gál, Peter Zwiebel, Pavel Bogacz and others will perform with the Orchestra.
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