FESTIVAL
FESTIVAL
About the festival SAXGO24
Nova Gorica has been a gathering place for young saxophonists from Slovenia and abroad for a solid quarter of a century. The SAXGO International Saxophone Meeting is at the same time the festival with the longest tradition in the city, where the sounds of the saxophone are intertwined in various contexts of classical compositions, jazz and a variety of other contemporary styles. The upcoming SAXGO24 festival and the Saxophone Summer School, will take place at various venues in Nova Gorica between 28 June and 5 July 2024. During this period, 7 concerts will take place, at which, jazz and classical music will intertwine.
Boštjan Simon: SAXGO24 JAZZ & IMPROVISATION
Nova Gorica will host three concerts by saxophone giants as a part of the jazz section of the SAXGO24 Festival. These saxophone musicians come from different generations, nationalities and stylistic orientations, but they are united by an unwavering commitment to their own vision of music and a distinctive, unique sound…
Jan Gričar: SAXGO24 CLASSICAL SAXOPHONE
The focus of this year’s festival SAXGO24 classic saxophone programme is on the younger generation of established artists who have made their way to the concert stage with numerous awards at major competitions and performances at renowned festivals around the world…
JAN GRIČAR – CLASSICAL SAXOPHONE
Jan Gričar is a representative of the younger generation of successful Slovenian musicians. He graduated from the Academy of Music of the University of Ljubljana with the highest honours in the classes of Professors Matjaž Drevenšek and Miha Rogina. Jan continued his musical career in France, where he studied at the Regional Conservatory of Versailles under the guidance of Professor Vincent David and successfully completed his master’s studies at the prestigious Paris Conservatory, officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, under the supervision of Professor Claude Delangel. In addition, he obtained a bachelors’ degree in chamber music in the class of Professor Laszlo Hadady. He regularly performs on numerous music stages in Slovenia, Europe and Japan. He has performed as a soloist with the Vienna Symphonic Orchestra, the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, the RTV Slovenia Symphonic Orchestra and the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra. During his career, he has played with the Ensemble Intercontemporain and under renowned conductors such as En Shao, Matthias Pintscher, Anton Nanut and Marko Letonja. Jan Gričar is the first prize winner of numerous national and international competitions, such as TEMSIG – Slovenian Music Competition for Youth, Fiorindo International Music Competition, SVIREL– International Music Competition, the International Saxophone Competition in Nova Gorica, etc. He has been awarded several significant prizes for his outstanding achievements in the field of music: the Škerjanc Award of the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet, as well as the Prešeren Award and the Outstanding Academic Achievement Award of the University of Ljubljana. He repeatedly won the Zois Scholarship and was also a holder of the scholarship awarded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia. He works at the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet, where he teaches saxophone and chamber music. See more: www.jangricar.com
BOŠTJAN SIMON – JAZZ & IMPROVISATION
After graduating from the Amsterdam Conservatory, Boštjan Simon returned to Slovenia where he and other musicians founded several internationally renowned ensembles. He explored various approaches in improvisation with the ensembles Trus!, Velkro and Litošt, and performed on stages were such performances are not usually heard. He currently leads the ensemble There Be Monsters, which performs in Slovenia and in the neighbouring countries. He also occasionally plays in the following ensembles: TEJO – Trieste early jazz orchestra, Big band RTV Slovenija, Milan Stanisavlević Qintet, Robert Jukič quartet, Boštjan Simon Quintet, Quartzite Quartet and Big band Nova. In his artistic work he devotes himself to improvisation on the saxophone and combines it with live electronic music and polyrhythmic approaches to composition, as noted in his latest audiovisual project called Etceteral, performed in association with Marek Fakuč and Lina Rica. He draws inspiration from the exposure to different styles of authentic music. He writes down musical bookmarks and sketches, from which music arrangements for each specific group are born. “Each of these groups is an excursion into a specific sound,” says Boštjan, “but I believe it would be possible to find common characteristics to all these excursions especially in the composed rhythms and the mixture of acoustic and electronic sounds, which evoke my broader musical interest.” As far as improvisation is concerned, Boštjan has certainly been strongly influenced by the internationally renowned percussionist Zlatko Kaučič, with whom he had the honour of playing in a duet at one of the past editions of the SAXGO festival. The SAXGO School, the BCMF festival and his Kombo groups represent an important incubator of improvisation in the wider Goriška region.
Barbara Poša Belingar
Public relations, contact person and program coordinator
T: + 386 5 335 40 13
M: + 386 41 775 089
E: pr@kulturnidom-ng.si
Where are we
Kulturni dom Nova Gorica / Nova Gorica Arts Centre
Bevkov trg 4
SI – 5000 Nova Gorica
