Julija Vrabec was born in Ljubljana in 1995. Having completed the lower music school and arts gymnasium programmes under Borut Vatovec at Koper Music School, she is currently a third-year student at the Ljubljana Academy of Music, in the class of Jože Kotar. Ever since her first years at music school she has been scoring impressive results at international competitions such as Euritmia, Carlino, Krško, Emona, Svirél and TEMSIG. At the last of these she has won, as well as a first place, a special prize for the most promising young competitor. Since she began studying at the Ljubljana Academy of Music she has achieved two first places at the national TEMSIG competition (in 2015 with the “A vista” clarinet quartet and in 2016 as a soloist), first place in her category at the Svirél International Music Competition and first place at the Carlino International Clarinet Competition, and reached the semi-final at the 1st Béla Kovács International Clarinet Competition in Hungary. She has attended seminars with renowned clarinettists such as Sabine Meyer, François Benda, Charles Neidich, Milan Rericha, Paolo Beltramini, Stefan Harg, Robert Spring, Bertram Egger and Lars Wouters, among others. She has performed in concert cycles including “Listen in Križanke”, “Youth to Youth”, “Meet me at the Magistrat” and “Jeunesses Musicales Stage” and at festivals such as the Ljubljana Festival, Imago, Lent, the Biennial of Contemporary Music in Koper, World Music Days in Ljubljana and Slowind Spring. She is a member of the clarinet quartet “A vista” and also plays with the Ljubljana Academy of Music’s wind orchestra and symphony orchestra. She is involved in the Academy of Music’s mini opera project and contemporary music studio and is a member of contemporary music ensemble Microsonus and various chamber music and orchestral projects at the Ljubljana Academy of Music. She has worked with the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra on the “We stand behind them” project and is a member of the international Mediterranean Youth Orchestra (MYO).

Mihael Mitev was born in Ljubljana in 1995. After completing his elementary education in Logatec he enrolled at the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet to study bassoon with Zoran Mitev. He is currently studying bassoon at the Ljubljana Academy of Music and has also studied with Richard Galler at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna on an Eramus+ student exchange.  Since primary school he has been taking part in national and international competitions and achieving impressive results: a first prize and the title of laureate at Požarevac in Serbia (2006, 2015), a gold diploma and first prize at TEMSIG 2007, first prizes in Belgrade (2007, 2009, 2013 and 2014), semi-finalist at the Emona competition in Ljubljana (2012), a silver plaque in the chamber ensembles category at TEMSIG 2012, a silver plaque and second prize at TEMSIG 2013, a gold plaque, third prize and special prize for the best performance of a work by a Slovene composer in the wind ensembles category at TEMSIG 2015, and a gold plaque, first prize and special prize for the best performance of a work by Slovene composer at TEMSIG 2016. In February 2015 he performed with his brother Luka Mitev as a bassoon duo in the cycle “Sounds of Youth at the Grand Hotel Union”, organised by Glasbena Mladina Ljubljanska (GML). He is a member of the quintet Opus5, with whom he performed in January 2015 as part of the “Jeunesses Musicales Stage” cycle organised by Jeunesses Musicales Slovenia in Celje, Kranj and Ljubljana, and in May as part of GML’s “Youth to Youth” cycle. Mihael works regularly with orchestras such as: the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, SNG Opera & Ballet Ljubljana, etc. In the summer of 2015, following a successful international audition, he took part in the tour of one of the finest youth orchestras in the world, the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO), subsequently becoming a full member of the orchestra. The orchestra performed at high-profile festivals in Vienna, Berlin, Amsterdam, Bolzano, Edinburgh, and so on. In 2016 he passed the entrance tests to enter the Züricher Höchschule der Künste, to study with Giorgio Mandolesi. He has attended seminars with numerous renowned teachers at summer schools and festivals (including Andrea Zucco, Bence Boganyi, Robert Gillinger, Gustavo Núñez, Stefano Canuti), while training regularly with Giorgio Mandolesi.

Pianist Nika Tkalec completed the lower music school programme with Branimir Biliško in Krško and continued her training at the Secondary School of Music and Ballet in Ljubljana, where she graduated with distinction in the class of Janez Lovše. In 2011 she graduated summa cum laude in the class of Tomaž Petrač. She has also trained with Pilar Bilbao at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid. As a soloist she has performed with the symphony orchestra of Krško Music School, the Videm Krško Wind Orchestra, the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Ljubljana Opera. She is a winner of the Student Prešeren Prize of the Academy of Music. She is currently employed as a teacher at Vrhnika Music School and as an associate at the Ljubljana Academy of Music.

Primož Urbanč began his musical career at Krško Music School, where he studied piano with Branimir Biliško. He then enrolled at the Secondary School of Music and Ballet in Ljubljana and continued his studies with Janez Lovše and, later, with Vladimir Mlinarić, with whom he went on to complete his studies at the Ljubljana Academy of Music. He has won numerous national and international prizes, including a fourth place at the Études & Scales competition in Zagreb and a fourth place in Bologna, several gold and silver plaques at Slovenia’s national young musicians’ competition TEMSIG, a second prize at the Ithaka International Competition in Ljubljana, a first prize at the Ars Nova International Music Competition in Trieste in a piano trio with Tanja Sonc and Bernardo Brizani, and, in 2013, a first prize at the International Clara Schumann Competition in Baden-Baden. At the age of 18 he wrote a paper on architecture and visual art in music under the guidance of Dr Beatriz Tomšič Čerkez. This was accepted for publication in a book on visual literacy published by Mansfield College, Oxford (UK). He has performed frequently at concerts of the European Piano Teachers Association, the Ljubljana Academy of Music and musical youth organisation Glasbena Mladina Ljubljanska. He has also trained with Vladimir Krpan, László Baranyay, Zoltan Peter and Konstantin Bogino, as well as with George McDonald and Veda Kaplinsky of the Juilliard School. In 2010 he won the Student Prešeren Prize. He graduated with distinction in 2014 and began teaching piano at the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet. He is currently a student of the master’s programme at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Zürich in the class of Karl-Andreas Kolly.

Programme

J. Brahms: Sonata in E flat major No. 2, op. 120

L. Bernstein: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano

A. Čopi: Humoresque

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R. Schumann: Fantasiesütcke, Op. 73

A. Tansman: Sonatine for Bassoon and Piano

I. Yun: Monologue for Bassoon