The Choir Bystričan (bees-tree-chahn) was founded in the village of Záhorská Bystrica in early 1990s under the auspices of the local chapter of Matica Slovenská. Štefan Liďák was the first conductor of the choir, followed by Dr. Jaroslav Kotleba from 1996 to 2004. Since 2004 the choir has been led by Dr. Štefan Martinkovič. Over the years, the choir has become an active and dynamic group with many singers from Záhorská Bystrica and the wider Záhorie Region. The repertoire of Bystričan is based on folksongs from Záhorie collected by the famous opera singer Dr. Janko Blaho.
The Choir Bystričan has been performing at cultural festivals organized by the municipalities of Záhorie Region. These festivals include the Celebration of Maypole Setting on the last day of April, Neighbours to Neighbours, Oldtime Fair in People‘s House,Cabbage Day,Festival of National Songs, Music with Bystričans, and others.Bystričan participated in numerous concerts and liturgical performances at St. Peter and Paul’s Church in Záhorska Bystrica and other churches in Western Slovakia, as well as abroad in Austria, Czech Republic, and Croatia.
Our choir gives special performances at various international scientific symposia and conferences in Bratislava: during the opening ceremonies, participants from all over the world are offered a presentation of Záhorie folksongs, one of the finest examples of the regional cultural heritage. European Symposium on Yeasts in Life and Technology,EU sponsored symposium on Zoonoses, Food Safety and Health Protection, Summer School on Environmental Health are examples of these occasions.
All the singers are non-professionals. They share a great enthusiasm for singing and eagerly promote the cultural heritage of Western Slovakia. The choir consists of 23 members and is based in Záhorská Bystrica, asuburb of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Bystričan enjoys and appreciates the support of the local municipality administration led by the mayor Jozef Krupa.

The members of Choir Bystričan:

BERNÁTOVÁ Alena
BESEDIČ Martin
ČIŽNÁR Ivan
CÁRIKOVÁ Mária
CIBLIKOVÁ Mária
ČIČKOVÁ Emília
ČULEN Vladimír
FRŤALOVÁ Eva
HORÍNEK Miroslav
HORÍNKOVÁ Eva
KAŠA Leopold
KLČOVÁ Viera
KUBIŠ Jozef
MARTINKOVIČ Štefan
MARTINKOVIČOVÁ Anna
PRIEKOPOVÁ Mári
STANEKOVÁ Danica
ŤAPUŠKOVÁ Marika
VALKOVIČ Peter