20 years of Viva (2012)
20 years of Viva (2012) Photo: Matej Kramžer

Who we are

Mixed Choir Viva Brežice is a synonym of creativity, innovation, love of singing, socializing and quality leisure time. For last three decades it has been contributing to the enrichment of cultural life and the promotion of the Municipality of Brežice in the Slovenian and international space.

The choir was founded in autumn of 1992 at the initiative of choir director Simone Rožman Strnad. She invited musical acquaintances from her hometown and the surrounding area to the new choir, and right from the very beginning of her creative journey, they brought freshness to the otherwise rich choral tradition of Posavje region.

The choir constantly improved its work, and continuously demonstrated its quality at various competitions, with innovative concert programs and performances of numerous choral novelties. Since the first appearance at the international competition in 1996 in Italy, competitions in Lithuania (2005), Greece (2007), Italy (2009), Thailand (2013), Spain (2016) and Estonia (2019) have followed. The most prominent successes from the competitions are gold awards and special awards from Lithuania, Greece, Thailand, Spain and Estonia. In addition to foreign competitions, the choir participates in the national competition Naša pesem in Maribor, in 2022 they performed there for the ninth time, and were awarded a gold plaque and a prize for the best performance of a contemporary original piece written for the choir by the local composer Krištof Strnad.

The choir also performed at various festivals and concerts in Slovenia and abroad, between 2002 and 2011 it was invited to participate in prestigious international projects, and the last 10 years have been characterized by original thematic concert programs and original projects with innovative approaches in choral creation.

In the jubilee year 2022, the choir carried out new creative projects: a street exhibition From the Chronicle of Viva's Three Decades, Viva's postcards with which the choir invited the choir to its events, a two-day Viva's "rajža", a bus tour with performances in the places where Viva's singers come from, Viva's gala dance, a festive "Vivat, crescat, floreat" concert with and release of the new audio collection Amidst green and violet.

In three decades, Viva's singers performed as many as 45 choral novelties and released five albums.

In autumn 2022, the choir announced that Simona Rožman Strnad's 30-year leadership of the choir will be succeeded by her son Krištof Strnad, a composition student at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana.

Last modified onMonday, 10 April 2023 12:11