Free tickets for the Young Virtuosi concert are available at the Križanke Box Office and online at www.ljubljanafestival.si

4^th Concert of the International Music Cycle

LARA HRASTNIK, harp
LEONOR MAIA, harp

FOUR CHARACTERS QUARTET
Laura Felicijan, flute
Peter Lackovič, oboa
Jan Pušnik, piano
Špela Šrgan, clarinet

Programme

P. Hindemith: Harp Sonata
B. Britten: Suite for Harp in C major, Op. 83
P. Patterson: Scorpions (with stings in their tails) for two Harps, op. 124

***

J. V. Hamm: Dreigespräch
Č. Sojar Voglar: Four Characters
C. Saint-Saëns: Caprice on Danish and Russian Airs, Op. 79

J. V. Hamm: Dreigespräch
D. Veber: Composition TBA.
D. Milhaud: Sonata for flute, oboe, clarinet and piano, Op. 47

Lara Hrastnik began playing the harp at the music school in Celje, where she also completed secondary school. She is currently a third-year student at the Ljubljana Academy of Music, where she studies with M. Zlobko Vajgl. She regularly takes part in competitions and has achieved excellent results. In 2018 she won first prize at TEMSIG and special certificates for scoring 100 points, for the best performance of the required piece and for the best performance of a work by a Slovene composer. In April 2017 she gave a recital as part of the Ljubljana Festival’s Young Virtuosi cycle which included a performance of Debussy’s famous work Danse sacrée et danse profane with a string quintet. This year she auditioned for a place on the reserve lists of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and the European Youth Orchestra. She has already trained with renowned teachers. She currently teaches the harp at the Ljubljana Moste-Polje Music School.

The Four Characters Quartet was founded in October 2016. This relatively unusual ensemble consisting of oboe, flute, clarinet and piano formed when four students of the Ljubljana Academy of Music decided to make music together. The quartet’s members – Laura Felicijan (flute), Peter Lackovič (oboe), Jan Pušnik (piano) and Špela Šrgan (clarinet) – are all very active as soloists and regularly participate in competitions and seminars throughout Europe. Oboist M. Šarc has been their mentor since the beginning. In March this year they took part in the national young musicians’ competition (TEMSIG), winning a gold plaque and taking first place. This success has opened many doors to them and festival appearances throughout Slovenia await them in the coming months. At TEMSIG they gave the premiere performance of a piece by Črt Sojar Voglar entitled Four Characters, which was composed specially for them and from which they take their name. This piece gave them the opportunity to participate in the Sploh Institute’s Zvokotok project, which explores new possibilities of classical music making and broadens the possibilities of performance.