Night of Slovene Composers

Night of Slovene Composers, held every year without interruption since 1992, is one of the key platforms for the presentation of the very latest Slovene musical creativity. Conceived by Marko Mihevc as a marathon night of music modelled on Vienna’s Lange Nacht der Musik, it has grown over the years into a diverse concert series at which composers can present their new works regardless of style, genre or aesthetic orientation. The event remains a colourful and stylistically diverse overview of current Slovene musical creativity and an important space in which to encounter the different compositional approaches and ensembles that play a part in shaping today’s musical landscape.

The programme brings together twelve composers of different ages and inspirations. Originally a composer in a more traditional vein, Vladimir Batista later incorporated jazz harmony and improvisation into his work. David Beovič is a prolific and remarkably versatile composer who is active across different media. A former student of clarinet and composition, Tomaž Burkat has created an oeuvre largely consisting of orchestral and chamber music. For many years a violinist in the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, multi-instrumentalist Vladimir Hrovat is also a renowned concert harmonica player. Uršula Jasovec is a composer whose primary focus is music for the voice. She is also a teacher, conductor, singer and organist. Iztok Kocen is a conductor and accompanist and a composer of choral, chamber and orchestral works. Igor Majcen is a composer who is also active as a teacher, archivist, music copyist and choirmaster. Gašper Muženič is primarily an orchestral composer but also writes minimalist, rock, electronic and film music. Črt Sojar Voglar is a composer and teacher and the artistic director of Night of Slovene Composers. Tomaž Svete is one of Slovenia’s leading opera composers. Peter Šavli is a composer and theorist with an oeuvre that covers incidental music, orchestral and chamber compositions, piano music and music for voice. Larisa Vrhunc cultivates an expressively colourful and sonically exploratory musical language frequently based on brittle, rhythmically fragmentary structures. Brina Zupančič is a composer, pianist, and longtime educator.

The different sound worlds of these composers will be woven together by a number of strong artistic personalities. Soprano Rebeka Pregelj is a performer of contemporary music and opera and a commanding presence on national and international stages. Mezzo-soprano Inez Osina Rues actively combines opera and concert performances. Matej Zupan is one of Slovenia’s leading flautists. Violinist Uroš Bičanin works as an orchestral and chamber musician both in Slovenia and abroad and is a dedicated teacher. Harpist Lara Hrastnik Samec is active in a wide range of solo, chamber and orchestral contexts. Pianist Luca Ferrini has been a fixture on the European concert scene for nearly four decades and is a dedicated promoter of new music. Percussionist Jan Čibej is a regular collaborator with prominent contemporary music ensembles. Jože Bogolin is an internationally active vibraphonist and teacher who has collaborated on high-profile orchestral, solo and chamber projects. Guitarist Tim Jurkovič maintains an intensive schedule of concert performances and is emerging as one of the most promising representatives of the younger generation of musicians. Reciter Ajda Sokler also works as a radio announcer on the programmes of Radiotelevizija Slovenija: the First Programme, Radio Ars, and Val 202.