Following the successful Ljubljana Festival International Piano Competition, which will next take place in 2026, the Ljubljana Festival, under General and Artistic Director Darko Brlek, is holding the Ljubljana Festival International Brass Quartet and Quintet Competition. The competition will take place between 24 February and 1 March 2025 at the Slovenian Philharmonic Hall. The winning ensemble will be awarded a prize of EUR 20,000. The artistic director of the competition and president of the jury is the renowned Slovenian trombonist and respected teacher Branimir Slokar.

An important part of the Ljubljana Festival’s activities, in addition to organising cultural events, is supporting rising musical stars. The Ljubljana Festival has for decades demonstrated this through events aimed at showcasing and supporting the development of young musicians. For more than thirty years, it has organised the international music cycle Young Virtuosi, which introduces the winners of national and international competitions; it gives promising students the opportunity to further their education with the Ljubljana Festival Masterclasses, which take place every year as part of the summer Ljubljana Festival; and it regularly includes various youth orchestras in its programme.

The success of the first piano competition led to the desire to expand and further develop such competitions and to create a new edition dedicated to brass chamber ensembles. The competition, which will take place between 25 February and 1 March 2025, will be open to professional brass quartets and quintets whose members’ average age does not exceed 30 years, in the following ensembles:

• Brass quintet: 2 trumpets, horn, trombone, tuba.
• Brass quartets:
  4 trombones
  4 horns
  4 tubas
  1 euphonium, 3 tubas
  2 euphoniums, 2 tubas

Applications for the competition will open on 15 March 2024 and the deadline for submitting the application form is 15 September 2024. By taking part in the competition, ensembles will have the opportunity to present themselves to an international audience, while achieving greater visibility both in Slovenia and abroad. The Ljubljana Festival is a world-renowned organiser of cultural events at the highest level and is a member of many international organisations such as EFA and ISPA. With its piano competition, it has also become a member of the Alink-Argerich Foundation.

All entries will be evaluated by a preliminary selection jury comprising three renowned musicians – Franc Kosem, Dušan Kranjc and Boštjan Lipovšek. A maximum of 20 ensembles will be selected to enter the competition, which will be divided into two rounds. Both rounds will take place at the Slovenian Philharmonic Hall, with six ensembles qualifying for the second round. The two rounds will be judged by an expert five-member jury comprising Reinhold Friedrich, Radovan Vlatković, Andreas Martin Hofmeir, the composer Nina Šenk, and the artistic director of the competition, Branimir Slokar, who will chair the jury.

The competitors will demonstrate their technical knowledge and interpretive skills by performing a wide repertoire including classical and contemporary works by Slovene and international composers. In the first round, each ensemble will try their hand at performing a composition by Nina Šenk, written especially for the competition.

The winners will be awarded the following prizes:

• 1st prize: 20,000 €
• 2nd prize: 15,000 €
• 3rd prize: 10,000 €
• 4th prize: 2,000 €
• 5th prize: 1,500 €
• 6th prize: 1,000 €

The best performances may also be awarded special prizes:

• Best performance of the obligatory composition by the Slovene composer Nina Šenk: 2,000 €
• Best placed Slovene ensemble (all members of the ensemble must hold Slovene citizenship): 2,000 €

More information about the Brass Quartet and Quintet Competition can be found on the Ljubljana Festival website at https://ljubljanafestival.si/tekmovanje-trobilni-kvarteti-kvinteti/.

Thank you for your interest in the Ljubljana Festival programme.

The Ljubljana Festival reserves the right to modify the programme.

More information at ljubljanafestival.si. 

Information / Public relations

Tina Berk                                                                  Saša Strmšnik
Tel.: +386 (0)1 241 60 20                                      Tel.: +386 (0)1 241 60 08
tina.berk@ljubljanafestival.si                               pr@ljubljanafestival.si

Maruša Šinkovič
Tel.: +386 (0)1 241 60 18
marusa.sinkovic@ljubljanafestival.si

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The founder of the Ljubljana Festival is the City of Ljubljana, which also provides financial support. Member of the European Festivals Association (EFA) since 1977.