The Canticum Novum Municipal Youth Choir was founded in October 2012 at the initiative of the Deputy Mayor of Wodzisław Śląski, Mr. Eugeniusz Ogrodnik. Initially, it operated under the Department of Education of the City Office.

The choir brings together young people mainly from primary and secondary schools, aged 8 to 20. It started with 16 members and now has 50 choristers. Its repertoire includes both popular and sacred music. The choir mainly performs at city ceremonies and also represents Wodzisław Śląski at events in Poland and abroad.

The choir has earned numerous awards, including two Laureate Cups at the Wodzisław Christmas Song Meetings in 2014 and 2016, and third place at Adeste Fideles, where it competed with mixed choirs. In June 2015, it won the Village Leader’s Cup of Olza Municipality for Best Choir at the Choir Gathering. In January 2017, it took third place at the International Festival of Carols and Pastorals in Będzin. In 2018, it won second place at the same competition together with the Camerata Nova orchestra. In January 2018, it won the Grand Prix at the District Competition Sing Along, as well as the Grand Prix at both the International Christmas Meetings in Wodzisław Śląski and the Choir in Motion International Festival in Łódź. It also received the Village Leader’s Cup of Olza Municipality for best choir.

In July 2018, the choir took part in the International Pueri Cantores Congress in Barcelona, and again in Rome in 2023. Since 2015, it has participated in all National Pueri Cantores Congresses (Poznań 2015, Rzeszów 2017, Lublin 2019, Kraków 2022).

The choir was founded and is conducted by Dr. Emilia Kopiec. Since September 2016, it has operated under the Youth Community Centre No. 1 in Wodzisław Śląski.

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Emilia Kopiec

A graduate of the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań, majoring in Choral Conducting, Artistic Education, and Church Music under Prof. Stanisław Kulczyński. She developed her passion for choral music earlier in the Early Music Ensemble Schola Cantorum Inowroclaviensis under Danuta Szyma. After graduating, she moved to Wodzisław Śląski, where in 2012 she founded the Canticum Novum Municipal Youth Choir, which she continues to conduct.

In 2016, she was awarded the title of Person of the Year in Culture in Wodzisław Śląski. Since September 2016, she has also served as the director of the Youth Community Centre No. 1 in Wodzisław Śląski. In 2017, she received the Silver Honorary Badge of Merit from the Polish Association of Choirs and Brass Bands. In 2020, she received the Culture Award of Wodzisław Śląski granted by the City Council. In 2022, she was awarded the Gold Honorary Badge of Merit from the Silesian Association of Choirs and Brass Bands, and in 2024, the Medal of the National Education Commission.

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