Slowind Woodwind Quintet

Slowind is made up of soloists of the Slovene Philharmonic, an orchestra with a rich musical tradition since its beginnings more than 300 years ago in 1701, in Ljubljana, Slovenia. In its long history, the orchestra’s conductors have included Gustav Mahler, Vaclav Talich, Fritz Reiner and Carlos Kleiber.

The quintet’s repertoire includes the (rare) good compositions from the classical and romantic periods, but most of the ensemble’s attention is focused on works of the 20th century and new works, which it presents at important festivals at home and abroad. A number of prominent Slovene composers have dedicated works to Slowind, including Larisa Vrhunc, Urška Pompe and others. New works have recently been created for wind quintet by Slovenian composers: Vinko Globokar, Lojze Lebič, Božidar Kos, Igor Majcen, Bor Turel, Uroš Rojko; and international composers: Volker Staub, Ivo Nilsson, Martin Smolka and others.

The achievements of Slovene composers are given particular attention when Slowind travels abroad. At least one Slovene work was performed at each concert of their two American tours (New York, Swarthmore, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Chicago), in Toronto (New Music Series), at the “Roaring Hoofs” Festival in Mongolia, “Ars Musica” in Brussels, “Biennale” in Bern, “Klangspuren” in Schwaz, as well as at concerts in Berlin, Munich, Rome, Florence, Vienna and elsewhere.

For many years, the quintet has organised its own series of chamber concerts in Ljubljana – Festival Slowind. At these concerts, the musicians present seldom heard works from the chamber literature, in which the wind instruments have a leading role. In various chamber configurations, the quintet is joined by distinguished musical artists and ensembles: Aleksandar Madžar, Andrea Marchiol, Arvid Engegard, James Avery, Bernhard Wulff, Vinko Globokar, Heinz Holliger, Steven Davislim, Christiane Iven, Robert Aitken, Heinz Holliger, Alexander Lonquich, Muriel Cantoreggi, Ensemble SurPlus (Freiburg i. Br.), Accroche Note (Strasbourg), Salvatore Sciarrino, Pascal Dusapin and others.

For their work to date, Slowind have received the Župančič Prize, in 1999, and the Prešeren Prize, in 2003.

Quintet members
Aleš Kacjan, flute
Jurij Jenko, clarinet
Matej Šarc, oboe
Metod Tomac, horn
Paolo Calligaris, bassoon

Concert

The Heavenly Life
9/9/2016