Bratislava Boys Choir

Doctor Artis Magdaléna Rovňáková

Magdaléna Rovňáková (Doctor Artis) is the founder, conductor, and manager of the Bratislava Boys’ Choir, and has led the group ever since its foundation in 1982. After completing studies at the Conservatory in Bratislava, she pursued choir conducting at the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and received a doctorate degree.

 

Magdaléna Rovňáková’s professional activities include cooperation with children choirs and mixed choirs. Her doctorate was conferred upon her successful concert with the Slovak Philharmonic Choir. She has lectured at the Conservatory and the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in Bratislava. She has lectured at the Conservatory and the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in Bratislava, and at international conducting workshops. During her tenure, she has brought the Bratislava Boys’ Choir to many renowned stages at home and abroad: the Concert Hall of the Slovak Philharmony (Bratislava), Konzerthaus (Vienna), Carnegie Hall (New York), the Conservatory’s Grand Hall (Moscow), George Weston Recital Hall (Toronto), and others. She has conducted hundreds of a capella concerts in the cathedrals of Europe’s major cities. She has trained the boys for distinguished productions. The key engagements include Penderecki’s Credo (conducted by K. Penderecki), Mahler’s Symphony #3 and #8 for Konzerthaus Vienna (B. de Billy, F. Luisi, I. Fischer), Honegger’s Joan of Arc and Berlioz’ Te Deum (O. Lenárd), Oratorio Terezín world-premiere in Toronto, Canada and its subsequent performances in Israel and the United States (K. Trevor), and many others. Over a period of nine years, she coached the boys to perform in the Vienna State Opera. She has also worked closely with the Slovak National Theater (SND) for 15 years and has prepared children chorus sections in the operas of G. Puccini, J. Massenet, R. Leoncavallo, G. Bizet, and others. She trained the boys for a major tour in Japan with the SND. In 1995, the Bratislava Boys’ Choir won the first place at the International Choral Festival in the United States (Des Moines, Iowa). It also placed first at an international music competition in Moscow, receiving the Grand Prix in 2008.

 

Under the direction of M. Rovňáková, the choir has recorded for various Slovak as well as international labels, and performed in television and motion pictures.

In 1999, she founded a private school where members of the Bratislava Boys’ Choir take lessons in musical instruments and solo singing. She has served on juries of local and international competitions.