Ana Erčulj, artistic director of Vocal group Gallina

Ana Erčulj completed the study of orchestral conducting at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana in 2022 under the mentorship of prof. Marko Letonja and prof. Simon Dvoršak with a performance of the Overture to the Freischütz (C. M. von Weber) and Pulcinella (I. Stravinsky) with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra. For her master concert she received a Prešeren award of the Academy for music in Ljubljana. In the year 2022 she completed her master’s degree in orchestral conducting at the “Giuseppe Tartini” Conservatory in Trieste with prof. Marc Angius with a performance of the opera Socrates by E. Satie and the ballet Apollon Musagète by I. Stravinsky. The concert was played by students from the conservatories in Venice, Trieste and Novi Sad.

Ana Erčulj graduated from Musicology and Sociology of culture at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana (2013) and Choral conducting under the mentorship of prof. Sebastjan Vrhovnik at the Academy of music Ljubljana (2017). She studied at the University of Utrecht and at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz under the mentorship of prof. Johannes Prinz.

Just recently she leaded the concert in Venice with Orchestra Padova and Veneto and in Dubrovnik with Dubrovnik symphony orchestra (2023). In 2022 she conducted the RTV Symphony Orchestra at the opening of the Festival Imago Sloveniae and Summer Festival in Old town of Ljubljana, at the 100th anniversary concert of Vladimir Lovec at the Koper Theater and at the recording session of the Koper Symphony by Vladimir Lovec and the string suite Leuta by the composer Aldo Kumar. As an assistant conductor, she collaborated with SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana in the first performance of Rok Golob’s cosmic opera The Sound, which she also performed with the same orchestra, choir and soloists at the end of May 2022. She was assistant conductor also in the performance of the operas Ksenija and Carmina Burana. She is currently an assistant conductor of Sebastjan Vrhovnik at the Glasbena matica Mixed Choir and guest conductor of the Obala Chamber Orchestra (Koper). She is the founder and artistic director of the vocal group Gallina and the vocal-instrumental ensemble Musica Emonica.
In 2019 and 2022, she was a member of the jury of the International Choral Competition “Cor Amare” in Sestri-Levante, Italy, where she also led a choral improvisation workshop with more than a hundred participants. She also works as a member of the juries.

She has led various choirs and vocal groups (Sekstet Komplet, Solalei, Domžale chamber choir) and worked with the male choir Vocal Academy of Ljubljana, female choir ČarniCe, horn quartet of Slovene Philharmonic orchestra, Slovenian Philharmonic choir, Symphonic orchestra of Academy of music, Ljubljana, Wind orchestra of Academy Ljubljana, Symphonic orchestra of University in Ljubljana Grex Symphoniacorum,… As an assistant conductor, she worked with Academic choir Tone Tomšič of the University in Ljubljana and with SNG Opera in balet of Ljubljana. As a repetieur, she is working with City theatre of Ljubljana and with SNG Drama.

She closely collaborates with Slovenian and foreign composers (Aldo Kumar, Andrea Basevi, Nana Forte, Andrej Makor, Ambrož Čopi, Federica Lo Pinto, Matej Kastelic,…). and she has been the artistic leader of the Gallina vocal group since its beginnings. She participated in masterclasses of conductors such as Martina Batič, Gary Graden, Stojan Kuret, Ragnar Rasmussen and in masterclasses for artistic leaders of vocal groups held by the German group Singer Pur and the Finnish vocal group Rajaton.

In 2019 she founded Choir and orchestra Musica Emonica with which she performs vocal-instrumental works from classicism and newly composed pieces of Slovenian contemporary composers.