The Mariański Choir is a choir based at the Lazarite

Lazarists

Congregation of the Mission is a vowed order of priests and brothers associated with the Vincentian Family, a loose federation of organizations who claim St. Vincent de Paul as their founder or Patron...

 Church of the Holy Virgin Mary of Lourdes

Church of the Holy Virgin Mary of Lourdes

Church of the Holy Virgin Mary of Lourdes in Kraków, Poland, dates to 1892-1894. It was founded by the Lazarists and dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes. It's a center of a parish since 1913. In 1931 a choir was established in the church, the Mariański Choir....

 in Kraków

Kraków

Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

. Founded in 1932, the group has been led by conductor Jan Rybarski since 1968.

Awards

The choir has won many awards. Grand Prix and first place awards include a gold medal at the Polish Festival of choral song in Katowice

Katowice

Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...

, a Grand Prix at a competition dedicated to Pope John Paul II in Krakow, and festivals of Christmas carols at Myślenice

Myslenice

Myślenice is a town in southern Poland, situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship , previously in Kraków Voivodeship . Population: 20,261.-Twin towns — Sister cities:Myślenice is twinned with: Bełchatów, Poland- Sports :...

 and in Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

. Prizes were won at festivals in Międzyzdroje

Miedzyzdroje

Międzyzdroje is a town and a seaside resort in northwestern Poland on the island of Wolin on the Baltic coast. Previously in the Szczecin Voivodeship , Międzyzdroje has been in Kamień Pomorski County in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999. Międzyzdroje has a population of 6000 .It is...

, Caecilianum (2000) and in Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

 (2004), Loretto and Gorizia

Gorizia

Gorizia is a town and comune in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and it is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin...

 in Italy, Košice

Košice

Košice is a city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary...

, Ihlava, Mogilev

Mogilev

Mogilev is a city in eastern Belarus, about 76 km from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and 105 km from the border with Russia's Bryansk Oblast. It has more than 367,788 inhabitants...

, and in Frankfurt am Main and Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

.

Music

The choir's repertoire includes works of great masters, religious compositions of Polish and foreign composers, international songs and folk songs, and fragments of operas and musicals. Members of the choir have levels of experience ranging from several months to over 40 years.

Recently the choir toured in Lyon

Lyon

Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....

, Nice

Nice

Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...

, Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, and Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

.

Jan Rybarski

Jan Rybarski, conductor and organist, graduated from the Secondary School of Organists in Przemyśl

Przemysl

Przemyśl is a city in south-eastern Poland with 66,756 inhabitants, as of June 2009. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship; it was previously the capital of Przemyśl Voivodeship....

and the High School of Music in Krakow. His tutors were Idzi Ogierman-Mański, Józef Radwan and Jerzy Kurcz.

Jan Rybarski has been a lecturer of conducting at the Papal Theological Academy in Krakow. He is Artistic Director of the Polish Federation of Choirs and Orchestras in Krakow and teaches organ and choral music.

In acknowledgement of his contributions in culture and art, he received the Krakow Voivode Prize in 1995 and the Medal of the National Education Committee in 2003.