Marko Zupan, flute
Tomaž Močilnik, clarinet
Živa Loštrek, oboe
Tonko Huljev, bassoon
Andrej Žust, horn
Matjaž Bogataj, violin
Gea Pantner Volfand, viola
Jaka Stadler, cello
Iztok Hrastnik, double bass
Programme:
S. Osterc: Quintet for wind instruments
N. Šenk: Nonet
T. Bajželj: Nonet
***
N. Bečan: Nonet
S. Osterc: Nonet

Curiosity and openness to the new insights offered by the international context, with its opportunities for advanced musical training, exchanges and the chance to work regularly with world-renowned ensembles, are desirable characteristics in anyone in a musical profession. The closing concert of the 34th Slovenian Music Days puts the spotlight on some of the most successful young Slovene musicians currently engaged in building an international career, and brings them together on the same stage. Flautist Marko Zupan continued his studies in Paris and Salzburg after graduating from the Ljubljana Academy of Music. He is a chamber and orchestral musician with experience as a principal flautist in orchestras in Germany and Austria, an arranger, and a teacher at the Split Academy of Music in Croatia. Tomaž Močilnik is principal clarinet in the Frankfurt Radio Symphony. He studied in Klagenfurt and Graz and trained in the orchestral academy programme of the Berlin State Opera. Oboist Živa Loštrek graduated from the Ljubljana Academy of Music and then pursued postgraduate studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne, where she currently lives and plays in the Cologne Chamber Orchestra. Bassoonist Tonko Huljev is a graduate of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich. He has been principal bassoon of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester (GMJO) and was for two years a member of the orchestral academy of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Since 2011 he has been principal bassoon of the Hof Symphony Orchestra. Horn player Andrej Žust is the first and – to date – the only Slovene to be a member of the famous Berlin Philharmonic. Before that he became principal horn of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra while still a student at the Ljubljana Academy of Music. Violinist Matjaž Bogataj, a former member of the Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra, is currently in his second season as leader of the second violins in the Bavarian State Orchestra. He completed postgraduate studies in Graz. Current RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra member Gea Pantner Volfand has played in the prestigious international youth orchestras Young Euro Classic, EUYO and GMJO. She completed postgraduate studies in viola at the Ljubljana Academy of Music. After graduating from the Ljubljana Academy of Music, Jaka Stadler completed postgraduate studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich. He has played with prestigious orchestras such as the Bavarian State Orchestra, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra – of which he has been a full-time member since 2010. Before that he spent two years as principal cellist of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra. Double bassist Iztok Hrastnik is another graduate of the Ljubljana Academy of Music. On graduating, he took up the position of first double bass of the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra. In 2011 he joined the Vienna State Opera Orchestra and three years later became a member of the famous Vienna Philharmonic. The programme of nonets by Nina Šenk (b. 1982), Tomaž Bajželj (b. 1979) and Nejc Bečan (b. 1984) also features internationally recognised musicians who are former students of the Ljubljana Academy of Music. The programme is bookended by the Quintet and Nonet by the originator of the modernist school of composition in Slovenia, Slavko Osterc (1895–1941), who was himself introduced to contemporary musical currents during his time studying abroad, in Prague.

At 7.00pm, a conversation with the composers, will take place in Marjan Kozina Hall. Conversation will be moderated by dr. Ana Vončina.