Koper Music School

The earliest trace of the history of the Koper Music School goes back to 1948 in Portorož. In 1951 the school moved to Koper and four years later to its current location in Gravisi – Barbabianca Palace. The school was founded by Srečko Kumar, teacher, conductor and pianist.  In 1952 the Izola Music School was founded in Besenghi Palace as a dislocated unit of Koper Music School and the founding of the Piran Music School followed in school year 1955/56, in Benvenutti Palace. In 1967 the three schools united into the Koper Centre of Musical Education, which was in 2003 transformed to Koper Music School with subsidiary units in Izola and Piran.

While at the end of the first school year there were 74 pupils enrolled in the music school in Portorož with only two teachers on the staff, today there are more than 80 teachers, one third of whom are former pupils, giving lessons to more than 1000 pupils. The headmaster succeeding Srečko Kumar was Vladimir Lovec. Far from numerous are music schools that have the advantage of having a composer, a conductor, a publicist and an excellent teacher as the headmaster. Lovec had a rare sense of understanding and enhancing the dynamics of the musical environment, and was the first to found the school orchestra.

Under Miran Hasl, who was the headmaster in the years 1967 – 92, the number of pupils and teachers has grown by 100%. The number of school concerts and external performances raised by half as well. The founding of the string, wind and brass departments had greatly emphasized the role of the music school in the activities of amateur music formations, wind and brass orchestras and the Coastal Symphony Orchestra. The violinist Borut Logar, who became the headmaster in 1992, said: »We can honestly say that the Koper Music School is the principal institution of musical education in the Primorska region and ranks among the leading schools in Slovenia. The confidence of the staff in based on the numerous national and international competition awards and the active participation in the cultural life of the town, which has been consistently supporting our school. There is hardly a cultural event that has not seen the participation of the Koper Music School pupils, either as soloists or as members of various music formations. «

The musicologist Marija Gombač was appointed headmaster in 1999. Today 16.33% of school-age children are enrolled in the music school. A considerable progress has been made in the recent years towards top quality musical education, both on the primary and secondary levels. More than 300 musical events are organized annually in addition to a great number of prizes awarded to the pupils at national and international competitions. The Koper Music school is rapidly making its name not only in Slovenia, but also abroad, being in contact with numerous music schools and other institutions in The Checz Republic, Italy, France, Germany, Austria and Croatia.

Marija Gombač