Important information
Jani Leban, percussion
Programme:
N. Martynciows: Tchik
K. Abe: Variations on Japanese Children’s Songs
M. Glentworth: Blues for Gilbert
N. J. Živković: Ilijaš
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Petar Kšenek, horn
Petar Pleša, piano
Programme:
L. van Beethoven: Horn Sonata in F major, Op. 17
R. Schumann: Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70
R. Strauss: Andante for Horn and Piano in C major
Jani Leban (1987) began his musical career at the band school of the Komen Wind Orchestra and at Sežana Music School with Matija Tavčar. Having graduated from the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet in the class of Jože Bogolin, he is currently studying with Josef Gumpinger at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. He has won a number of gold diplomas and top prizes at national and international competitions. Most recently achieved first prize, a gold plaque, a perfect score of 100 points and a special diploma for the best performance of a compulsory piece at the 2017 TEMSIG (Young Musicians of Slovenia) competition. He has given solo concerts under the auspices of Jeunesses Musicales Ljubljana, Celje House of Culture and the Ljubljana Festival. He has worked with several orchestras and chamber groups both at home and abroad. He is still a member of the Komen Wind Orchestra, with which he has performed and competed in venues including the Berliner Philharmonie and the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna. He regularly attends seminars with renowned teachers such as Nebojša Jovan Živković, Ney Rosauro, Ivani Bilić, Eric Sammut, Benjamin Toth, Rainer Römer and Peter Sadlo, among others. He is a recipient of the Škerjanc Prize for outstanding artistic achievements while at the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet.
Zagreb-born Petar Kšenek (1996) began his musical education with Stjepan Obadić. He is currently a student at the Ljubljana Academy of Music in the class of Boštjan Lipovšek. He has won three first prizes in national competitions, a second prize at the Petar Konjović International Music Competition in Belgrade, a third prize at the 2nd Boris Papandopulo Young Musicians of Croatia Competition, first prize at the Davorin Jenko International Music Competition in Belgrade, first prize at Bistrički Zvukolik in Marija Bistrica, first prize at the Varaždin International Woodwind and Brass Competition and first prize at the 2017 TEMSIG (Young Musicians of Slovenia) competition. He has appeared in numerous solo and chamber concerts organised by the Vatroslav Lisinski Music School in Zagreb and the Zagreb Academy of Music. He has also worked with the Rucner String Quartet and the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra. He has attended seminars with internationally renowned horn players including Radovan Vlatković, Hermann Baumann, Boštjan Lipovšek, Sarah Willis, Saar Berger, David Bereczky, Ozan Çakar, Viktor Kirčenkov and Will Sanders. The Croatian composer Tomislav Uhlik wrote the piece Petar’s Magic Horn for him; as a child, he performed it with a tamburitza orchestra.
Croatian pianist Petar Pleša began studying the piano at the age of 13 with Julijana Akrap and Davorka Rupčić Kuhtić in Sisak and continued in Zagreb with Srebrenka Crnković-Završki. He is currently a student at the Ljubljana Academy of Music in the class of Vladimir Mlinarić. He has won first and second prizes at regional and international competitions in Varaždin, Sisak, Tivat and Sremska Mitrovica. He has performed at concerts of the Croatian Composers’ Society and the Croatian Music Institute. He has attended seminars with teachers including Ida Gamulin, Ruben Dalibaltayan, Simon Trpčeski, Dalibor Cikojević and Đorđe Stanetti. In 2016 he performed as a piano duo with his teacher and recorded Igor Dekleva’s composition Contrasts for RTV Slovenia.
