Ariart Woodwind Quintet
History
Ariart Woodwind Quintet was established in 1996. The Quintet's members are well-known Slovene musicians: flautist Matej Zupan, oboist Maja Kojc, clarinettist Jože Kotar, hornist Andrej Žust and bassoonist Milan Nikolić. The name Ariart was chosen by the ensemble because it is a composite form of two Italian words aria (air and song), and arte (art, craft).
Repertoire
The ensemble of five young wind instrumentalists has attracted the attention of both classical music lovers as well as contemporary music fans. It also collaborates with Glasbena mladina Slovenije presenting national works to a younger audience. Its repertoire includes works by Slovene composers, some of them contemporary works composed specially for Ariart, as well as arrangements for flute (piccolo), oboe (English horn), clarinet (bass and E-flat), bassoon and French horn.
Recordings
The Quartet's first CD from 1998 features compositions by Paul Hindemith, Carl Nielsen, Jacques Ibert, Malcolm Arnold and Primož Ramovš. In 2004 it recorded selected music by Joseph Haydn, Franz Danzi, Ferenc Farkas, Denes Agay and Astor Piazzolla, and in 2006 the music of S Premrl, A Srebotnjak, S Osterc, L M Škerjanc, U Krek and C Sojar Voglar.