VIDA VATOVEC, saxophone
SAE LEE, piano

ANNEMARIE GLAVIČ, flute
MATEJA HLADNIK, piano

Programme:

N. Šenk: Impetus
R. Schumann: Adagio and Allegro, op. 70
P. Swerts: Klonos
***
F. Schubert: Variations on “Trockne Blumen” in E minor, Op. Posth. 160, D. 802
R. Dick: Lookout
V. Žuraj: Tango

Vida Vatovec is a young saxophonist who began her musical career with Betka Bizjak Kotnik, under whose supervision she took the matura examination. She is currently a third-year student at the Ljubljana Academy of Music in the class of Matjaž Drevenšek. In the course of her studies she has achieved excellent results at regional, national and international competitions and has worked with a number of different ensembles, including the dance department of the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet, the Ave chamber choir, the Slovenian Armed Forces Band and the Symphony Orchestra of the SNT Opera and Ballet Ljubljana. She is a member of various chamber groups such as the Academy of Music saxophone ensemble, the saxophone ensemble Kug-Sax-Sippia and the (former) saxophone quartet Patetiko. She trains regularly with prestigious teachers and musicians from Slovenia and abroad and works with young Slovene composers such as Tilen Lebar and Gašper Muženič, among others.

Sae Lee is a graduate of the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, where she studied with Kazuhiko Nakajima and Etsuko Tazaki. In 2007 and 2008 she graduated with distinction in piano and chamber music from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. Her teachers there were Michel Beroff, Eric Le Sage and László Hadady. She has won nine first prizes at international competitions, among them a first prize at the Città di Padova International Competition (Padua, Italy) and a first prize at the Albert Roussel International Piano Competition (Sofia, Bulgaria). As an active chamber musician she works with the saxophonist Miha Rogina, with whom she performs around the world as Duo Kalypso. Sae is the piano accompanist of Aurélie Dupont, prima ballerina and director of the Paris Opera Ballet. She has given several television and radio broadcasts in Japan and Europe. She is currently employed at the Ljubljana Academy of Music.

Flautist Annemarie Glavič is currently a third-year undergraduate student at the Ljubljana Academy of Music. She began her musical career at Domžale Music School with Andreja Humar, under whose guidance she entered several competitions. Her early success and her desire to progress led her to enrol at the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet after completing the lower music school programme. During this period she worked with various orchestras, choirs, chamber ensembles and ad hoc groups. She is currently studying with Karolina Šantl Zupan. While a student at the Academy of Music she has taken part in competitions – including the Davorin Jenko International Competition in 2017 (gold plaque) and the TEMSIG (Young Musicians of Slovenia) competition in 2019 (first place and gold plaque) – and worked with the Orchestra of the SNT Opera and Ballet Ljubljana. She is also a member of various chamber ensembles and orchestras.She has further refined her technique by attending the seminars of renowned teachers such as Julien Beaudiment (France), Bülent Evcil (Turkey), Eva-Nina Kozmus (Slovenia), Marko Zupan (Slovenia) and Jan Ostrý (Czech Republic), among others.

Mateja Hladnik completed the secondary music school programme in Celje and in 2003 graduated from the Ljubljana Academy of Music in the class of Janez Lovše. While a student she spent a semester as an Erasmus exchange student at the Music Conservatory of Kristiansand, Norway. Following graduation she took up a position at Celje Music School as a piano teacher and répétiteur at the elementary and secondary levels. She is currently employed as a senior associate and répétiteur at the Ljubljana Academy of Music.