The Choir
Majorstua Kammerkor [Majorstua Chamber Choir] was founded by the members in 1999 to explore classical and modern music for a cappella mixed voices. The choir consists
of 34 experienced amateur singers. Majorstua Kammerkor has achieved its ambition of becoming a high quality choir.
The choir earned praise when winning a first prize in the National Choral Competition 2003, held at the Grieg Concert Hall
in Bergen. The choir performs regularly in Oslo, occasionally in collaboration with renowned Norwegian musicians. The choir's
first audio-CD Pulchra was recorded during spring 2008, and released in October. Later, the choir has released a live version of its performance
of the commissioned work by Ola Gjeilo named “Sunrise – mass for choir and string orchestra” on iTunes and Spotify.
Majorstua Chamber Choir has toured the Nordic countries, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Rome/Italy and Edinburgh/Scotland, with
concerts in Rosslyn Chapel and St. Giles Cathedral. The 2010 tour went to Italy in October, with four performances in central
Rome. The choir visited Köln and Düsseldorf in April/May 2012.
The Conductor
Elitsa Simonska (born 1981 in Bulgaria) possesses a remarkable and extensive experience both as conductor and musician. Her
musical training and education has taken place in Sofia, Düsseldorf, and Oslo. In addition to conducting Majorstua Kammerkor, Elitsa completed her Master's degree in choir conducting at the Norwegian Academy
of Music in the spring of 2012. She also served as assistant conductor for The Norwegian Soloist Choir. Elitsa became our
choir's conductor in August 2011, taking over the role from Tore Erik Mohn who led the choir between 2005 and 2011.
The Repertoire
While retaining a fondness for contemporary a cappella music in particular, the choir has worked extensively with classical
compositions from the sacred tradition, spanning from the Renaissance works of e.g. Lotti and Purcell, to new songs of the
21st Century.
Among our favourite present-day composers are Ola Gjeilo (Norway) and Eric Whitacre (USA), as well as Einojuhani Rautavaara (Finland) and James MacMillan (Scotland). However, there is always room for a little Norwegian folk music, or a piece of jazz on the side.
