CHOIR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MEDICINE AND PHARMACY OF CRAIOVA
ORGANIZER AND CONDUCTOR
PROF. PHD VALENTIN CÎRLIG
At the initiative of Dr. Valentin Cîrlig, an assistant professor at the time, two years after the establishment of the Faculty of Medicine in Craiova - in the autumn of 1972, the choir of this faculty was born.
Since then, the choir has been constantly active, taking part in various national festivals and competitions with remarkable results every time:
- laureate at various editions of the National Student Art Festival,
- the trophy of the competitions "D.G. Kiriak", " I. Vidu", "C. Porumbescu" or "I. Velceanu".
The choir has given concerts in all the university centres of the country, as well as on central radio and television stations.
The choir has also had the opportunity to sing abroad: Yugoslavia (1975, 1981), Czechoslovakia (1976), Germany (1985, 1989, 1994, 1997), Greece (1999) and Hungary (2004).
In 1985, at the initiative of the University of Leipzig, the Choir of the Faculty of Medicine had the honour of participating in a concert at the Neues Gewandhaus, celebrating the tricentenary of J.S. Bach's birth.
In 1982, after ten years of activity, the choir received the high patronage of the Romanian Composers and Musicologists Union. With this support, the choir has been accepted to perform six concerts at the Romanian Athenaeum so far.
The repertoire includes works by Romanian composers, classical and contemporary, as well as university choral literature from various periods.
Even during the years of communist rule, the choir performed numerous concerts of carols and religious music, being practically the only student group, and perhaps not only, that had in its repertoire mainly music of this genre.
In 1998, the University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova was founded and Corala has represented this institution ever since.
It is worth noting that the members of the group were selected, with perseverance, from among students with good professional results. This explains why more than 80 of the University's teaching staff, from assistant professors to university professors, have sung in the choir.
It is also important that all current members of the Discipline of Pharmacology have been active in the Choir of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova.
Finally, it should be mentioned that this group is the only non-professional choir in the country (student or not) that has continued to be active, consistently, despite all the events that have taken place since its foundation until today. This is due exclusively to the hard work and talent of its leader and conductor – Prof. univ. dr. Valentin Cîrlig.
On October 10, 2012, the Craiova Philharmonic Concert Hall, under the auspices of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, hosted the following events, Anniversary Concert - 50 YEARS OF CONDUCTOR ACTIVITY of Prof. univ. dr. Valentin Cîrlig.