CONCERT OF THE FINALISTS OF THE SAXGO22 COMPETITION
CONCERT OF THE FINALISTS OF THE SAXGO22 COMPETITION
The final evening of this edition will be dedicated to the International Saxophone Competition finals with the final concert of the SAXGO22 festival featuring four finalists, who will make it through qualifications and semi-finals to the finals.
The contestants come from all over the world, and as is the custom we also expect a colourful crowd this year. The Slovenian Armed Forces Orchestra led by Miha Rogina will accompany the finalists who will perform a compulsory piece by Milko Lazar written especially for the occasion.
Moreover, they will also choose one of the works selected for the finals, written by three composers, namely Paul Creston, Ida Gotkovsky and Ingolf Dahl. The final performances will be concluded with the announcement of award winners.
Free entry
Contact & information
Barbara Poša Belingar
Contact person and coordinator of the programme
T: +386 5 335 40 13
E: pr@kulturnidom-ng.si
Miha Rogina (SI), has been described as ‘The best saxophonist of today’s younger generation’ by The Sax Magazine. He is accredited for his innovative interpretations of musical works. He has won 1st prize at 10 international competitions. He has worked with today’s leading musicians including P. Boulez and F. Luisi and appeared at major international concert stages throughout Europe, Asia, the USA and Africa. He first studied at the Ljubljana Music Academy with M. Drevenšek, and continued his studies in France with Jean-Yves Fourmeau, V. David and at the prestigious CNSM de Paris with C. Delangle, where he graduated with highest honours. He also studied at the renowned Eastman School of Music in the USA. In 2015 he graduated orchestral conducting from the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna. In 2019 he also graduated choral conducting from the same university. As soloist he performed with a number of orchestras, including the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, symphonic orchestras such as Hoffer, Bruges, Saint Maur and Paris Laureates and Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as the RTV Slovenia Symphonic Orchestra. He is an active chamber musician. He works with concert pianist Sae Lee with whom they perform worldwide as the Duo Kalypso. Miha Rogina is professor at the Music Academy of the Ljubljana University and has been a guest lecturer at Senzoku Gakuen University in Tokyo since 2013. As a conductor he has led orchestras in Slovenia, Check Republic and Slovakia.
Milko Lazar (SI) is a composer, pianist, harpsichordist and saxophonist and is currently working freelance in the fields of contemporary classical and jazz music. He studied classical piano, jazz piano and saxophone at the Music Academy in Graz, Austria, harpsichord and baroque music at the Royal Conservatory in Den Haag, Holland. For 15 year he was engaged with Big Band RTV Slovenia and other orchestras abroad as a solo saxophonist and composer- conductor. He is regularly composing for two of the best symphonic orchestras in Slovenia and main theatres in Germany and Switzerland. His opus includes large number of orchestral works, operas, chamber works, vocal and jazz compositions and works for contemporary ballet performances. Most of them have already been performed by his or other international ensembles all over Europe, USA, China, Rusia and South America. Besides orchestral and chamber works he regularly composes for numerous film producers, theatres and dance performers in Slovenia and abroad. From 2008 he is regularly working and performing with world known dancer and choreographer Edward Clug. Together they have made sixteen ballet performances across Europe. His recent projects include orchestral ballet music among others the late full-length ballet Master and Margarita in Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in 2021 in Edward Clug’s choreography. He recorded over 50 LPs and CDs with different ensembles and 30 solo projects.
The Slovenian Armed Forces Orchestra is a musical unit of the Slovenian Armed Forces. It is a brass band which originally worked under the 12th Guard Battalion, and is now a unit of the General Staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces. It meets the needs of the military protocol, and it is an indispensable part of all solemn events of the Slovenian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence, events marking anniversaries of SAF units and solemn swear-in ceremonies, burials with military honours, commemorations, independent performances, humanitarian concerts and other events. Every year, they perform on average at 160 events in different ensembles, may it be the big concert orchestra or a marching band, the Big Band, wind quintet, brass quintet etc. They regularly attend military band festivals in Austria, Italy, Belgium, France, Hungary and Denmark. In 1997, the SAF Orchestra was awarded with the Bronze and in 2008 with the Gold Medal of the Slovenian Armed Forces for its top-level achievements. In 2016, the President of the Republic of Slovenia and the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces Borut Pahor decorated the SAF Orchestra with the Order of Merit for preserving the tradition of military orchestras in Slovenia and for their contribution to the Slovenian musical culture.
Official web page The Slovenian Armed Forces Orchestra