CHOIR PALORA

About us

Choir Palora was established on Jan Opletal Secondary School in Litovel (for students aged 10 to 19 years) in the school year 2000/2001. In the autumn of 2002 the choir was given name Palora. That means the gathering of people in local Haná dialect or the meaning could also come from Latin "palor, arí, atus", which means disappear or disperse. How typical for school choirs, where new students arrive every year, while other students leave the chorus after passing the maturita exam and disperse into life.

Mixed choir PALORA annually organizes two large concerts - the Christmas one in December and the annual at the end of May. In addition, during each school year a number of minor performances take places on the occasion of various celebrations, anniversaries and openings either in the school, in the town of Litovel or around it. Choir members regularly present their work abroad, they also perform in musical projects, collaborate with other instrumental ensembles, participate in a number of projects, organize and participate in rated shows repeatedly reaching a gold zone. In 2009, choir Palora was awarded "Litovel hope" for a successful representation of the town Litovel during the school year 2008/2009.

Choir members prepare for their performances at Friday's regular rehersals and twice a year at the four-day training campn. Choir Palora is a member of the Czech Choirs Association and the Association of Secondary School Clubs in Czech Republic. We appreciate all of our loyal listeners and invite new members. We are pleased to be able to operate for almost 23 years.

History

Choir was founded in 2000 as a school choir of the Litovel secondary school. In the first years of its existence, the choir cooperated with the children's choir Youth. After short time he found space between two other choirs in Litovel, choirs Youth and Kantika. School year 2002/2003 brought within the 100th School Anniversary newly repaired school assembly hall, which has become the venue for most concerts the choir. Also, in 2003, the first Palora's website was launched. The following year Palora gained new costumes thanks to the sponsor. In 2004, Palora went to England to visit singers from Purbrook Park School, who came to Litovel the year before. Palora also became a member of the Czech Choirs Association and it reached its first gold zone in Brno. In 2005, some of its former members joined in and Palora has became something more than just a school choir.

In the years 2006 and 2008, Palora went to Italy to expand its art. For the first time it was near the town of Gallipoli and the second trip was to Calabria. In 2007, the regional round of evaluation show of secondary school choirs Gymnasia Cantant 2008 took place in Litovel for the first time. During the school year 2009/2010, Palora started using a new logo, choir T-shirts and also new website was launched. In 2010, the choir celebrated 10 years of its existence by the birthday concert held on Premysl Otakar Square in Litovel. Next year was marked by cooperation with the choir of Polish Glubczyce, where Palora also travel for a one-day concert in local cathedral. During the school year 2012/2013, Palora along with the other choirs from the Czech Republic took part in a national project Celebration Jazz Mass in the town Vysoké Mýto. At Christmas choirs Palora and Kantika (named as PALOKANTIRAKA for this project) launched the project Rybovka pro Litovel and next year followed this project up.

Members

In 2000, Palora started with 17 members. Over time, the number of singers grew up to 40 in the school year 2008/2009, since when the number of members due to a lot of graduates leaving the school declined back to the current state of around 20 members. However, Palora cooperates closely with the occasional association Jírovci composed of former choir members.

Repertoire

Palora choir has in its repertoire the music of all genres. In 2002, chamber cantata Otvírání studánek (The Opening of the Wells) by Bohuslav Martinů was the program of the annual concert. The next year, Palora presented the premiere of the musical Mauglí (Mowgli) by Otto Orany. In school year 2003/2004 the rock oratorio Eversmiling liberty by Danish authors Jens Johansen and Erling Kullberg became the primary repertoire for next few years. In 2007, the choir returned to the musical for a while. It was the famous czech musical Starci na chmelu (Hop Pickers). After the summer holidays, Mandelbrotovy kostičky (Mandelbrot Cubes) by Ester Kočičková, Petr Wajsar and Lukas Prchal came. At Christmas 2008, the Missa brevis by Jiří Pavlica was in Palora's repertoire.

In 2009, the choir returned to the rock oratorio Eversmiling Liberty and the following year mixed it with its baroque version. End of the school year 2010/2011 was marked by the Beatles thanks to the audience favorite performances Beatlemania. Next years were again mainly about the rock oratorio, for that time in collaboration with several other choirs from Poland and Germany. In 2012, the choir Palora along with the choir Kantika launched a project "Rybovka pro Litovel", christmas concerts of the Czech Christmas Mass "Hey, Master!" by Jakub Jan Ryba, which was also repeated the following year. However, even before that, there were total of 3 popular concerts of the musical Bídníci (Les Miserables).

Sponsors

Choir Palora iscurrently sponsored by the Olomoucký kraj region, the town of Litovel, Jan Opletal Secondary School in Litovel and the Parent's association at Jan Opletal Secondary School in Litovel.