The Slovenian Octet performed for the first time in 1951 in the Slovenian Philharmonic and has been considered the most representative Slovenian male vocal chamber ensemble ever since. The basic mission of the octet is to preserve and ennoble Slovenian vocal music. His repertoire is extremely wide and varied, as it is shaped by compositions from folk songs of all nations to the Renaissance, from classicism and romanticism to compositions by contemporaries. Many of them were written or adapted just for him. Of course, the octet pays special attention to Slovenian songs, both folk and artistic, which it presents again and again with special enthusiasm on domestic concert stages, and is happy to take it to compatriots and singing lovers around the world. During seven decades of activity, the octet performed on almost all major domestic and international concert stages. Over forty singers have been replaced during the long and rich period of activity so far. All of them felt an extraordinary devotion and belonging to the nation in whose name they were born. Some of them were the leading Slovenian soloists of their generation and performed on the biggest concert and opera stages at home and around the world, others enriched the sound of the octet with their popularity, immediacy and warmth. In all these years, the excellence of the ensemble was maintained and directed by five artistic directors: Janez Bole, dr. Valens Vodušek, Darijan Božič, Anton Nanut and dr. Mirko Cuderman. Since 2008, its artistic director has been Jože Vidic, champion of the Slovenian National Opera and Ballet Theater Ljubljana.
The Slovenian octet has always been a role model and motivation for many groups, which started working on their own precisely because of his noble singing. Following his example, more than a hundred such vocal ensembles were formed in Slovenia and abroad. On the occasion of its twentieth anniversary (1971), the octet initiated the creation of the Camp of Slovenian Choirs in Šentvid pri Stični. Since then, it has been working continuously and connecting Slovenian singing enthusiasts in their homeland and around the world. The octet has released more than sixty records, cassettes and CDs, on which Slovenian songs have always had an important place. As a tribute to the generations of the Slovenian Octet, in 2007 the ensemble published the book Slovenski Octet by Boris Pangerc, in which a thorough cross-section of the activities and mission of this ensemble is described. For his work, he was twice awarded the Prešeren Prize (1957, 1964), the Society of Slovenian Composers' Prize (1971), the Drebosnjak Prize (1975), the Orlando di Lasso Prize (1984), the large golden symbol of freedom of the Republic of Slovenia (1996) and with an honorable mention from the World Slovenian Congress (2016). The ensemble celebrated the ensemble's last great jubilee, the 70th anniversary of the Slovenian Octet, with the release of a new CD of folk songs by Drumelc and with a jubilee subscription in Ljubljana's Križanke, where it presented pearls of vocal music on seven themed evenings from the archives of the Slovenian Octet.
Entrance fee: 20 EUR, students and pensioners 16 EUR