Academic choir ''Ivan Goran Kovačić'' was founded in 1948. The choir was directed by highly regarded Croatian musicians Mladen Jagušt, Duško Prašelj, Lovro Županović, Adalbert Marković, Dinko Fio, Vladimir Kranjčević, Saša Britvić and Luka Vukšić. Since 2022. the choir's artistic director is Ivan Šćepanović The director's assistants is Stjepan Vuger.
The choir's performances have been conducted by Croatia's and world's most eminent musicians, such as Lovro von Matačić, Milan Horvat, Zubin Mehta, Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Krzysztof Penderecki, Lorin Maazel, Ennio Morricone, Noam Sheriff, Gerd Albrecht, Kazushi Ono, Alun Francis, Hans Graf, Kurt Masur, Dmitrij Kitajenko, Valerij Gergijev, and Sir Neville Marriner. The members of the choir, also referred to as 'Goranovci', have performed with many opera singers, the most prominent among them being Vladimir Ruždjak, Ruža Pospiš - Baldani, Ruggiero Raimondi, Jose Carreras, Andrea Bocelli, Inva Mula, and many others.
Numerous guest performances of the choir have taken place all over the world: in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Korea, Macedonia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, USA, and Vatican. Also, the choir has taken part in various international festivals – Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Settembre musica in Turin, Flaneries musicales in Reims, Berlin Choralspace winter festival, the Wiener Festwochen (Vienna Festival), 21st music Festival de la Chaise-Dieu, Ljubljana Festival, Varaždin Baroque Evenings, Dubrovnik Summer Festival, and Pula Summer Festival.
The choir has collaborated with some of the finest orchestras including the Vienna Philharmonic, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, the Florence Symphony Orchestra, the Monte Carlo Opera Orchestra, the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Symphony Orchestra, the Bari Symphony Orchestra, the National Youth Orchestra of Germany, the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra.
The choir regularly works with the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, Croatian Radiotelevision Symphony Orchestra, and Croatian Baroque Ensemble.
High musical achievements of Academic choir ˝Ivan Goran Kovačić˝ have been recognised and awarded with numerous prizes and acknowledgements, and a special emphasis should be given to the University of Zagreb Rector's Award, the City of Zagreb Award, and the ¨Vladimir Nazor˝ Award.
