The festival section for classical saxophone – SAXGO25, on its 28th anniversary, will bring two evenings of top-notch musical performances that will offer the audience an insight into the diversity and expressive power of the saxophone. The opening concert will feature renowned French saxophonist and pedagogue Claude Delangle and the famous Zagreb Saxophone Quartet, conducted by conductor Steven Loy and accompanied by the Slovenian Philharmonic Chamber String Orchestra.

Delangle will premiere a new piece for soprano saxophone and string orchestra, written by the young but already highly acclaimed Argentine composer Alex Nante. The work will feature contemporary compositional techniques and themes that intertwine the influences of Argentine music with European classical elements. The Zagreb Saxophone Quartet will explore the dramatic and dynamic possibilities of the quartet with the accompaniment of a string orchestra, with the vibrant composition Four Preludes by the famous Turkish composer Fazil Say.

The second concert will feature a saxophone ensemble performance by the Saxophone Ensemble of the Academy of Music of the University of Ljubljana, led by Prof. Miha Rogina, and consisting of talented saxophone students. In its traditional lineup, it includes three sopranos, three altos, three tenors, two baritone and one bass saxophone, which allows for colorful sound variety and the performance of both original compositions and transcriptions.

Jan Gričar belongs to the younger generation of successful Slovenian musicians. He graduated with honors from the Academy of Music in Ljubljana in the classes of Professors Matjaž Drevenšek and Miha Rogina. He continued his musical career in France, where he studied at the Regional Conservatory in Versailles with Professor Vincent David and successfully completed his master’s degree at the prestigious Conservatory of Music in Paris in the class of Professor Claude Delangle. He also completed his undergraduate studies in chamber music with Professor Laszlo Hadady. He regularly performs on numerous music stages in Slovenia, Europe and Japan. As a soloist, he has performed with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra. In his career so far, he has collaborated with the Ensemble Intercontemporain and renowned conductors such as En Shao, Matthias Pintscher, Anton Nanut and Marko Letonja. Gričar is the first prize winner of numerous national and international competitions – TEMSIG, Marco Fiorindo, SVIREL, the International Saxophone Competition in Nova Gorica, etc. For his exceptional achievements in the field of music, he received the Škerjanč Award from the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet, the Prešeren Award and the Ceremonial Certificate for the best academic achievements from the University of Ljubljana. He was a multi-year recipient of the Zois Scholarship and a scholarship holder from the Ministry of Culture. He works as a teacher at the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet, where he teaches saxophone and chamber music.

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