Výšinka
The children’s chorus Výšinka performs at the Základní škole Aloisina výšina (Aloisin Heights Elementary School) in Liberec. Liberec is a picturesque regional city in the north of the Czech Republic. It is surrounded by the Jizerský Mountains and Ještědský Ridge, whose landmark is Ještěd Mountain (1012 m) with its like-named hotel and television tower. At the same time, the Ještěd Area is also a centre for winter sports and the future site of the 2009 Nordic World Ski Championships. Liberec can also boast of a famous botanical garden and the oldest zoo in the Czech Republic, a national history and geography museum, a three-ensemble theatre in a lovely Renaissance building and the famed Naivní divadlo (Naive Theatre). Also located in the vicinity of the city are historical monuments such as the chateaux and castles of Sychrov, Frýdlant, Lemberk or Grabštejn, with the advantage of close proximity to beautiful natural areas with interesting landmarks such as Krkonoš, Český ráj (Czech Paradise), Podještědí, Lužické Mountains and other localities. Among the benefits of Liberec is the easy accessibility to the approx. 100 km distant capital city of Prague.The Výšinka chorus consists of three preparation sections and a concert choir. A total of nearly 150 children, in age from 6 – 18, perform here. In its repertoire are compositions of the ancient masters, religious music, folk songs and last but not least music of the 20th century, spirituals and choral compositions of popular music.
The chorus also performs with the flute group Osminky, also out of our school. Its eight members – excellent performers on all types of recorders – have mastered a repertoire from mediaeval compositions to contemporary music.
In 2001, we established cooperation with German and Polish groups, work which is still on-going. The Česko-německý fond budoucnosti (Czecho-German Futures Fund) also supports a series of projects surrounding this cooperation. Every autumn, we jointly organize an international workshop, the highlight of which is a series of Christmas concerts in the local Trojzemi (Three-Nation) Euroregion – in Bohemia, Poland and also in Germany.
We annually participate in the Vítání jara (Welcoming of Spring) competition of children‘s singing groups. In 2002, 2006 and 2007, we won the regional rounds in this competition.
In 2006, we were awarded a silver medal in the children’s chorus competition at the prestigious international competition Festa Musicale Olomouc.
In 2005 and 2007, together with the group Osminka, we recorded 2 joint CDs. The second – Vive la musique – is commemorative of a concert tour through northern France, on which we were invited by the French journalist, Roger Devaux. Audiences here heard, for example, the cycle of Josef Říha “Když se hory zelenaly”, Czech folk songs adapted by Miroslav Uherek, Zdeněk Lukáš, Jaroslav Krček or Jaroslav Koutský, songs from the Ukraine, Estonia or France or spirituals and African traditional songs.
We are a school chorus, non-selective and our main mission is to train children in music and culture, as well as in friendship and cooperation. Therefore, our criteria do not stop at just at top performance, but primarily in the enthusiasm of our singers. If they can share this enthusiasm with listeners, we will gladly know that our work has meaning and purpose.
