Castle harmonies – 15th Concert Season/2nd Concert

MATJAŽ BOGATAJ, violin

MARUŠA TURJAK BOGATAJ, cello

Brother-and-sister duo, violinist Matjaž Bogataj and cellist Maruša Turjak Bogataj, have been performing together for many years, both in Slovenia and abroad. They are active collaborators in a wide range of musical projects and chamber ensembles. Violinist Matjaž Bogataj studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, and subsequently spent four years as a member of the Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra. In 2017, he was appointed principal second violin of the Bavarian State Opera Orchestra. Alongside his orchestral work, he is also an avid chamber musician—particularly as a member of the piano trio Munich ARTISTrio, in which he performs with his sister, cellist Maruša Turjak Bogataj. She studied at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana and later at the University of Music and Theatre in Munich. Since 2015, she has held the position of solo cellist with the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra.

During their student years, the siblings founded the Offstring String Sextet, with which they performed widely and recorded Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence for the RTV Slovenia archive. Their passion for performing as a duo has remained a constant throughout their careers. As early as 2002, they played Johann Christian Bach’s Sinfonia Concertante in A major with the Carnium Chamber Orchestra as part of the Carnium concert series for emerging talents. In December 2018, they appeared as soloists at Cankarjev dom, premiering a Double Concerto for Violin and Cello by Nejc Bečan, composed especially for them.

PROGRAMME

W. A. Mozart: Duo No. 1 in G major for Violin and Viola, K. 423

R. Glière: Eight Pieces, Op. 39, for Violin and Cello

M. Krečič: No Walk No Talk

Z. Kodály: Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7

G. F. Händel/J. Halvorsen: Passacaglia