The Šarišan folklore ensemble from Prešov might be the only one in Europe that won the platinum record. This prize was awarded by the London based International Federation of Phonography Industry (IFPI) for the sales of 20 000 carriers with Christmas carol recordings called Christ is born in Bethlehem.

The International Federation of Phonography Industry associates compact disc producers, monitors their sales and protects the producersi copyrights. In addition to this type of protection against illegal copying it awards international prizes. The specific award proposal is submitted by the national IFPI office.

The award proposal for the Šarišan ensemble was submitted by Mgr. Rastislav Martinický, director of the ALI music publishing house in Bratislava, where the awarded compact disc was released.

"We started to market the Christ is born in Bethlehem CD in 1994. Ten thousand carriers were sold by March 1998, and this earned the Šarišan ensemble a gold record from the Federation. Reaching record sales of another ten thousand sold copies over March through December 1998 meant aiming towards the platinum record. We marketed them not only in Slovakia, but also in the Czech Republic, Japan, Australia, and the United States", says R. Martinický, who launched already the next series of work to release a new Christmas carol selection.

Over sixty young people play music, sing and dance in the Šarišan ensemble. They are mostly secondary and high school students. The programme is inspired by the rich folklore tradition of the East Slovakia regions - Šariš, Zemplín, Spiš, and Gemer. The ensemble makes over seventy performances nationally and abroad.

Šarišan participated in a release of twelve profile music carriers and seventeen folklore music carriers jointly with other interpreters and music ensembles. Ladislav Kišeľák, the ensemble manager, believes that the latest IFPI award will initiate a new momentum for the ensemble.

"It is a capital from which we will benefit in many ways. An excellent sales incentive, it also made us a famous body and opens doors for us to many European and world folklore festivals and competitions. As far as I am informed, no other European folklore ensemble can boast of having been awarded a platinum record", says Ladislav Kišeľák, who already started with preparations for their Australian tour and August international competition festival in Billinghame, Great Britain.

Šarišan was successful also during their sixteen-day tour of Japan, with twelve sold out night shows in theatres seating 1000 to 1500 viewers.

"Our training workshop organised in one of the gym halls of the Tokio Olympic stadium one night in the mid-tour period was attended by 450 people interested in Slovak dancing. We were congratulated even by the Japanese emperoriuncle, a renown folklorist. Also meeting the Krásna Hôrka ensemble, consisting of Japanese members interested in Slovak folklore was a pleasant experience. I must admit that their professionalism is comparable with Slovak ensembles", recalls Ladislav Kišeľák.