Concert of slovenian lieder

6.30 pm-Upbeat, discussion with the composers

25th Slovenian Music Days

Concert of Slovenian Lieder
Barbara Kozelj,mezzo-soprano and Phyllis Ferwerda, piano (first part)
Matjaž Robavs,baritone, and Andreja Kosmač, piano (second part) 

Programme: 

Marjan Lipovšek:SONGS FROM THE MILL (1980)
Six lieder for voice and piano on texts by Svetlana Makarovič from the cycle ‘The Heart Potion’
Lullaby
Nymph
The Mill Witch
The Miller’s Wife
The Drowned Woman
In the Silent Mill                 
                       
Tomaž Habe: COLOURS, three lieder on the texts of Neža Maurer *
Yellow
Red
Black

Peter Šavli: Three songs for female voice and piano on texts by Josip Murn Aleksandrov*  
In Springtime
Fin de siècle III.
Stars

***

Igor Štuhec: Two  Songs*
Jaz (text Janez Menart)
Ballad (text Ciril Zlobec)

Ljubo Rančigaj: Two Lieder
Ballad (text Tone Pavček)
Grebe (text Jože Udovič)

Jani Golob: Five lieder on verses by Tone Pavček*
Inscription in Silence
Something in the Air
Poem about the Stars
Change
Simple Words

Marijan Lipovšek: Three songs from the collection »Forgotten songs«
Verses ( text  Branko Kofman )
Landscape  ( text  Kajetan Kovič )
Epigraf (text Cene Vipotnik )

*premiere performance

Mezzo-soprano Barbara Kozelj studied solo singing in Ljubljana and at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, The Netherlands. She collaborates with recognised orchestras such as the Residentie Orchestra, The Schoenberg Ensemble, The Netherlands Bach Society Baroque Orchestra, The Essen Philharmonic Orchestra, The Gabrieli Consort of London, The Academy of Ancient Music and The Orchestra of the Enlightenment, as well as conductors such as Richard Egarr, Paul McCreesh, Neeme Järvi, Stefan Soltezs, Reinbert de Leeuw, Jaap van Zweden and Jos van Veldhoven. Her most resounding concert successes have undoubtedly been concerts with the London ensemble The Gabrieli Consort at the Vienna Konzerthuas, the Wigmore Hall in London and the Concertgebouw Hall in Amsterdam. We have also had the opportunity to hear her perform numerous opera roles. In the current season, she has debuted at the Amsterdam Opera in the role of the Page in Strauss’s Salome. She has collaborated successfully with pianist Pyllis Ferwerda for a number of years. Barbara Kozelj currently lives in Amsterdam.

Pianist Pyllis Ferwerda studied with Gerard van Blerk at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and with Jan Wijn in Amsterdam. She then undertook specialist studies of chamber music performance and lieder accompaniment with renowned pianists such as Rudolf Jansen and Roger Vignoles. She received a prize for the best piano accompaniment of lieder at the state competition Berlage in 1986. She has participated in international singing workshops as a tutor, including those with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Robert Holl, Anthony-Rolf Johnson and Elly Ameling, and has taught at seminars at the Britten-Pears School in Aldenburg, England, as well as being a member of the commission of the Gregynog Festival in Wales. Since 1987, she has been a senior lecturer at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, which is where she met Barbara Kozelj. The present concert will be their third performance together in Slovenia.

Baritone Matjaž Robavs is one of the leading Slovenian singers of the younger generation. He studied with Helena Lazarski and the celebrated Robert Holl in Vienna, drawing attention to himself in 2000 when he won the prestigious international singing competition ‘S-Hertogenbosch’ in The Netherlands. He has appeared at recognised international festivals, such as the Corinthian Summer in Austria, Wratislavia Cantans in Poland, the International Baroque Festival in Varaždin, the Wexford Opera Festival in Ireland, the Summer Opera Festival in Antwerp in Belgium, the Salzburg Festival in Austria and the Baden-Baden Festival in Germany, and has recorded four solo compact discs. He is also known as a member of the trio Eroica. He will be accompanied by pianist Andreja Kosmač, who graduated from the Ljubljana Academy of Music before furthering her studies with renowned masters of the piano, such as Gadžijev, van den Hoek (at the Vienna Conservatory), Lateiner, Brumberg,  Falvai,  Ward and Maisenberg.