Jani Leban began his musical career at the age of eight at the band school of the Komen Wind Orchestra and at Sežana Music School with Matija Tavčar. He continued to study percussion at the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet in the class of Jože Bogolin and is currently a full-time student at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. In 2008 he won a gold diploma at the regional TEMSIG competition and a silver plaque at the national competition. In 2009 he was awarded a gold diploma at the Svirél International Music Competition. A year later, at the same competition, he won a gold plaque, first prize and the opportunity to record for Radio Koper. In 2011 he won a gold diploma at the regional TEMSIG competition and a special prize for the best performance of a compulsory piece in his category. At that year’s national competition he received a gold plaque, first prize and a special prize for the best performance of a compulsory piece in his discipline. At the 2012 Svirél International Music Competition he won a first prize as a soloist and the opportunity to record for Radio Koper. In 2013 he achieved a first place at the same competition and received a silver plaque. In 2014 he took part in the 43rd edition of the national TEMSIG competition, receiving a gold plaque, a first prize and two special prizes. In the same year he gave a recital at Križanke in Ljubljana organised by musical youth organisation Glasbena Mladina Ljubljanska and attended an international orchestra camp in Neumarkt. In February 2015 he performed at the House of Culture in Celje and in June 2015 won a first prize at the International Competition for Young Instrumentalists in Povoletto (Italy). In 2016 he won a gold diploma and two special prizes at the Svirél International Music Competition, gave a recital at the Russian Centre (under the auspices of Glasbena Mladina Ljubljanska) and was awarded the Škerjanc Prize for outstanding musical achievement. He is a member of percussion group The Groover, the Komen Wind Orchestra and the NOVA Youth Philharmonia.  His concerts and competitions with the Komen Wind Orchestra have included performances in prestigious concert halls such as the Berliner Philharmonie and the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna. He regularly attends seminars by renowned teachers such as: Nebojša Jovan Živković, Ney Rosauro, Ivana Bilić, Eric Sammut, Benjamin Toth, Rainer Romer, Peter Sadlo and others.

Dorotea Senica (1997) began playing the flute at the age of eight. To begin with she was taught at the Maribor Conservatory by Valerija Kamplet. At the age of 15 she passed the entrance examination for the full-time flute programme at the Mozarteum University Salzburg, where she is currently in her seventh semester in the class of Michael Martin Kofler. In 2015 she also passed the matura examination in flute, sitting the exam early, while this year she passed the matura in general subjects from the arts gymnasium programme at the Maribor Conservatory. She has been taking part in competitions since the age of 10. At regional, national and international competitions she has frequently achieved the maximum score of 100 points. At the last national TEMSIG competition (2016), her score of 100 points saw her beat competitors six years older than her in the highest category (3B). She won the gold plaque and first prize – and every other prize available: the special prize for the best performance of a compulsory piece, the special prize for the best performance of a work by Slovene composer, a special prize for achieving a score of 100 points, a concert with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra in the 2016/17 season, a 30-minute recording for RTV Slovenia’s arts radio channel ARS (Radio 3), and a performance at the Ljubljana Festival as part of the Young Virtuosi cycle in the 2017/18 season. She performs regularly at students’ evenings in Salzburg and has also performed in Liebenberg. As a pupil of the Maribor Conservatory, she was solo flute of the Conservatory’s symphony and wind orchestras every year from 2013 to 2015. She has attended numerous summer schools with teachers of the calibre of Matej Zupan, Milena Lipovšek, Liza Hawlina Prešiček, Michael Martin Kofler, Martin Belič and Erwin Klambauer, and seminars with James Galway, Karl-Heinz Schütz, Julien Beaudiment, Juliette Hurel, Bülent Evcil, János Bálint, Andrea Lieberknecht, Aleš Kacjan and Mateja Bajt.

Ivan Ferčič (1984) began his musical education at Maribor Music School (piano and accordion) and continued it at the Arts Gymnasium with Narcis Grabar and Siavush Gadjiev (piano, currently at the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet) and Slavko Magdić (accordion). On graduating from the Arts Gymnasium in 2003 he received the Dr Roman Klasinc Diploma for outstanding artistic achievements. He graduated summa cum laude in the class of Tatjana Ognjanovič at the Ljubljana Music Academy in 2008 and in the 2009/10 academic year he completed a postgraduate specialisation. He received the Student Prešeren Prize of the Ljubljana Academy of Music. Ferčič has attended international piano schools with Arbo Valdma, Siavush Gadjiev, Noel Flores, Martin Hughes, Jenö Jandó, Jan Jiracek von Arnim and Gottlieb Wallisch. He has performed as a soloist and as a member of chamber ensembles in Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, Italy, Macedonia, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. He has recorded for Radio Slovenia. He has appeared as a soloist with the Maribor Youth Chamber Orchestra (harpsichord) and played with the Maribor Philharmonic Orchestra, the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, the Marburg Festival Orchestra and the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, including later as an occasional member. He performed Chopin’s Piano Sonata No 2 at the international conference of the European Piano Teachers Association in Ljubljana. This was followed by an invitation to Cardiff, Wales, where he gave a recital during the EPTA (UK) annual conference, and to Salzburg. While still a student he took part in a number of international competitions and the majority of national competitions, winning several gold plaques and achieving one first place and four second places. In March 2007 he won a gold plaque and first prize for piano in the highest category (3B) at the national TEMSIG competition. He also represented Slovenia at the first European Union Piano Competition, organised by EPTA, which took place in June 2009 in Prague. He received a diploma of honour for his outstanding interpretation of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. He is currently employed at the Maribor Conservatory of Music and Ballet. As an accompanist he has received special commendations at competitions for the exemplary support he provides to soloists.

Programme

A. Gerassimez: Asventuras

T. Ichiyanagi: The Source

M. Kitazume: Side by Side

N. J. Živkovič: Ilijaš

***

J. S. Bach: Allemande and Courante from Partita in A minor for solo flute, BWV 1013,

N. Paganini: 24 Caprices for solo flute, Op. 1

P. Taffanel: Fantaisie on themes from “Der Freischütz”

L. Berio: Sequenza (I) for solo flute

A. Jolivet: Chant de Linos