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The Slovene conductor, Sebastjan Vrhovnik, started in 1986 learning the piano with Marija Holcar at the music school in Kamnik. Under her mentorship he took part in regional and national competitions, winning several prizes and awards. After completing his secondary education at the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet (theoretical course in 1997 and singing in 2003) he enrolled into the Ljubljana Academy of Music in 2004, studying music pedagogy. He graduated with honours under Marko Vatovec, and has recently received his master’s degree, also with honours, at the University of Music and Performing arts in the Austrian city of Graz, studying choral conducting with Johannes Prinz.
Since 2006, Sebastjan Vrhovnik has been a teaching assistant of choral conducting at the Ljubljana Academy of Music, running different choral workshops home and abroad. Currently, he is the choirmaster of the Mixed Choir of the Academy of Music, the Mixed Choir Obala Koper, and since 2009 the Tone Tomšič Academic Choir. As a guest conductor, he has collaborated with the Chamber Choir of RTV Slovenia, the choir of the Maribor Opera House, the female vocal group ČarniCe and Slovenian Chamber Choir.
Until 2006, Sebastjan Vrhovnik conducted the Cantemus Mixed Choir from Kamnik, with which he achieved great success in national and international competitions (Maribor, Slovenia, in 2001, 2003, and 2006; Spittal, Austria, in 2005; Mernes, Germany, in 2006) and released a CD called Most (“Bridge”). From 2003 until 2009, he led the Emil Adamič Teachers’ Choir of Slovenia, with which he again earned several awards in different competitions: the regional competition of Slovenian choirs in 2004, the competitions in Ostrow Wielkopolski (Poland) in 2006, and in Bad Ischl (Austria) in 2007. In the 2007-2008 season, he was the conductor of the Mešani Pevski Zbor Glasbene Matice Ljubljana (Mixed Choir of the Glasbena Matica music society from Ljubljana).
As a singer, assistant conductor and pianist, Sebastjan Vrhovnik worked with several ensembles (the RTV Chamber Choir, the Slovenicum Chamber Choir, the European Youth Choir 1998-2000, the Ecce vocal group, and so on) and he took part in national and international choir seminars. In 2004 he worked at the International Singers’ Week as the assistant of the great conductor Gary Graden. In 2005 he was awarded a bronze plate by the community of Kamnik for his achievements in the field of culture, while in 2006 he won the Prešeren prize of the Academy of Music of Ljubljana.
As a conductor, Sebastjan Vrhovnik achieved remarkable success in the last years. Under his baton, the Mixed Choir Obala Koper won a number of awards at the Primorska region choral competition in November 2009, including the golden prize with honours, the special prize for the best performance of the 19th century composition, the special prize for the choice of program awarded to the conductor, and the prize for the highest number of points. In the international competition in the German city of Miltenberg, he received the first prize in the category of traditional music and that of sacred music, and was awarded the special prize for the best performance of the obligatory piece by the jury. In June 2011, together with the Mixed choir Obala, he won several prizes at the internationally renowned and extremely demanding competition named Seghizzi (in Italy), among which there are the second place in the category of Polyphony, the second place in the category of 20th century music, the third place in the category of traditional folk songs and the second place at the Grand Prix Seghizzi 2011 competition. In 2012, the Mixed Choir Obala and Sebastjan Vrhovnik also won the gold plate at the national competition in Maribor.
Together with the ČarniCe vocal group, Sebastjan Vrhovnik won the golden prize with honours and the special prize for the best choir of the competition in the Central Slovenian regional competition. In 2010, he and ČarniCe won the first prize, the golden prize and numerous special prizes at the Maribor competition, such as the best female choir, the best group that attended the competition for the first time, the best performance of a Renaissance piece, the best performance of a piece written after 1900, and the best choice of programme.
As the conductor of the Tone Tomšič Academic Choir, Sebastjan Vrhovnik won the second prizes in the category of sacred music and in the category of traditional music in the international choral festival in the Catalonian town of Cantonigros. From 7 until 10 October 2010, the choir attended the international choral competition in Rimini (Italy), and won first prizes in two categories, the golden plate and the city of Rimini Grand Prix. In April 2011, the choir attended the international competition in Cork (Ireland) and won the first prize in the category of mixed choirs, as well as the Heinrich Schütz Perpetual Trophy for the song Die Mit Tränen Säen by Heinrich Schütz. In July 2012, he competed with APZ in the International Choral Competition in Spittal, Austria, and won first prize in the mixed choir category, second prize in folk category and special prize for the performance of the contemporary composition Kip by Tadeja Vulc. In August 2012, the choir competed in the International Choral Festival Polifonico in Arezzo and won two first prizes (in categories of contemporary music and the historic section ‒ after 1920) and also won the Grand Prix of Arezzo.
Between 2010 and 2011, three CD's of the RTV Slovenia Chamber Choir conducted by Sebastjan Vrhovnik were released, which received positive responses from the critics.
Sebastjan Vrhovnik's performances with choirs are characterized by his excellent knowledge of the voice and his exceptional musicality; his interpretations show a soft and unified sound; his repertoire choices have brought a wave of fresh air and new professional challenges into the Slovene territory.
One of Sebastjan Vrhovnik's his artistic peaks is marked by the performance of J.S. Bach's Johannes-Passion BWV 245, which he conducted in 2009 in Graz (Austria) as part of his master’s degree. His stage performance, assisted by director Christian Pöppelreiter and included in the Mumut concert season, was greeted with positive reviews and confirmed the conductor’s leading and interpretative abilities. |
