Salvatore Alessandro Miceli (I), saxophone
Vid Verdinek (SI), saxophone
Lian Pucihar (SI), piano

The first concert of the classical part of the SAXGO26 festival this year belongs to two participants of the jubilee 10th edition of the International Saxophone Competition SAXGO25, which took place in our house between 24 and 28 November 2025. The highest-rated Italian competitor Salvatore Micceli and the highest-rated Slovenian competitor Vid Verdinek will present themselves with a solo recital, accompanied by the talented Slovenian pianist Lian Pucihar.

SALVATORE ALESSANDRO MICELI (Italia), saxophone

Salvatore Alessandro Miceli (2000, Palermo) studied saxophone in the class of M. Frederico Alba at the Istituto Superiore di Studi Musicali “V. Bellini” in Caltanissetta, where he obtained the first and second academic degrees with a score of 110 out of 110 with distinction and commendation. He then continued his studies first in France at the PESMD in Bordeaux in the class of M. Marie Bernadette Charrier, where he received the title of “Diplòme National Superiéur Professionnel de Musicien (DNSPM) in classical and contemporary saxophone” with distinction, and then in Belgium at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles in the class of M. Vincent David. He is currently attending the master’s program in classical saxophone at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP) in the class of M. Nicolas Arsenjievič. He has participated in master classes with great names in the world of saxophonism. He is a prizewinner at several international competitions, including: Andorra Sax Fest 2024, Concours International de Meylan 2024, Accordi Musicali Academy Saxophone and Clarinet Competition 2024, AEOLUS Blaserwettbewerb 2022, Concorso Roma Tre Orchestra 2021, International Competition “Adolphe Sax” 2019 and International Competition “Gianluca Campochiaro” 2018 in the chamber music section, among others. He has performed in concerts as a soloist with orchestra, in a duo with piano, in an orchestra and in various chamber groups both in Italy and in many other places in Europe.

VID VERDINEK (Slovenia), saxophone

Vid Verdinek started his musical journey in Melodija Muta music school in the class of Vojko Trnjek. During his schooling he attended two national competitions as well as three international competitions in both, solo and chamber group categories, where he was awarded one 1. Prize, three golden awards and one 3. Prize. 2017—2024, he was an active member of the Slovenian Saxophone Orchestra (SOS), which among other performances, appeared at the World Saxophone Congress in Zagreb, Croatia, as well as at the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Paris to pay hommage to the life work of saxophonist Daniel Deffayet. In 2020, he continued his education at the Ljubljana Music and Ballet Conservatory in the class of prof. Lev Pupis. During his studies at the conservatory, he has participated in two national and four international competitions, where he was awarded six golden awards, one second and one first prize. He was a member of a saxophone quartet »Novus«, which had played various concerts in Slovenia, Italy and Croatia.  Since September 2024, he is continuing his studies at the MUK (Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien) with prof. Michael Krenn. Under his guidance, he won the first prize at the Slovenian national competition for young musicians, TEMSIG 2025. Since 2024, Vid has also been a recipient of a scholarship from the Slovenian Ministry of Culture.

LIAN PUCIHAR (Slovenia), piano

Lian Pucihar (2005) started playing the violin at the age of three, and then at the age of six he began taking piano lessons with Ilonka Pucihar at the Vrhnika Music School. Shortly after, he continued his lessons with Kaja Stražar. In addition to piano, he also took saxophone lessons at Zala Kejžar for several years. After graduating from the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet with Professor Siavush Gadjiev, he continued his studies at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana with Professor Tatjana Ognjanovič. He also studied with other renowned professors, such as Markus Schirmer, Anna Malikova, Alexander Gadjiev, Jasminka Stančul, Simon Trpčeski and Tadej Horvat. In the 2023/2024 season, he performed a recital at the Slovenian Philharmonic as part of the Ljubljana Music Youth. In 2024, he was accepted to the BISMA Academy summer school in Poland, where he received additional training under the mentorship of Dmitry Alexeev, Ilija Maximov and Rafael Lipstein. He has received awards at numerous competitions, including: 1st prize at the Tartini International Competition in Piran 2022, the title of absolute winner at the Malborghetto International Competition 2023, 2nd prize at the Treviso International Competition 2023 with a chamber group, 3rd prize at TEMSIG 2025, at the Bela Bartok Competition in Graz and at the Young Virtuoso Zagreb Competition. In 2026, he won 1st prize at the TEMSIG Competition with a piano duo.