A statue dedicated to the composer was unveiled in 2016 on the initiative of the Cultural Society Kanal and in cooperation with the Municipality of Kanal. The event took place under the auspices of the Kogoj Days Festival, which commissioned many of the composer’s works. Currently stored in a repository, the statue will be erected in the renovated Kontrada Square. The bust was made by sculptor Mirsad Begić.
Štefan Mauri
Composer and choral director Štefan Mauri (1931–2014) applied himself to religious and secular music. He scored numerous choral compositions, lieder and cantatas set to poems by Slovenian authors Srečko Kosovel, Ciril Zlobec, etc., and also dedicated some of his creative energies to chamber music.
Štefan Mauri was born in Avče near Kanal. After graduating from secondary technical school in Ljubljana, Mauri completed the junior college course at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Rijeka in 1955. In 1967, he graduated in composition in the class of Professor Lucijan Marija Škerjanc. He then focused his endeavours mainly on teaching specialist technical subjects at the Centre of Vocational Schools in Ljubljana and Nova Gorica. He was also director of the centres for vocational education in Ljubljana and Anhovo.
He formed and conducted several choirs, including the Nova Gorica Chamber Choir, which greatly enriched the musical life of Goriška. In programming works by Palestrina, Lasso and Gallus for his concerts, he took the lead in variegating the current choral repertoire in Goriška.
He composed mainly vocal music. His output contains around 50 choral works, 4 collections of lieder, and religious works that include masses, requiems and cantatas.
He took an active part in the Kogoj Days international festival of contemporary music. Mauri received several awards and distinctions, and in 2010 he was made an honorary citizen of the Municipality of Kanal ob Soči in recognition of his artistic achievements.