Slavko Osterc Trio
The Slavko Osterc Ensemble, first established by Ivo Petrić in 1962, was revived in 2003 by saxophone player Dejan Prešiček and his colleagues: flautist Liza Hawlina and pianist Jan Sever. The ensemble initially established itself on the Slovene chamber music scene in the 1960s as the leading chamber orchestra which specialised in contemporary music. The younger generation of musicians that now comprise the ensemble still focus mainly on a contemporary repertoire with performances at home and abroad. Under the Swiss conductor Jürg Wyttenbach, the ensemble has successfully performed the works of the Italian composer G. Scelsi and also participated in the Music Tribune in Belgrade, the Warsaw Autumn Festival and the World Music Days in Ljubljana. }}
History
From 1962 to 1982 the Slavko Osterc Ensemble performed successfully under the artistic leadership of composer Ivo Petrić. The ensemble, which carries the name of one of the leading Slovene composers of the 20th century, established itself as one of the leading contemporary chamber orchestras in Slovenia. During its first decade the ensemble toured Yugoslavia, Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria and presented for the first time more than 100 pieces by composers from the former Yugoslavia. The ensemble performed works dedicated to it by composers such as P. Ramovš and L. Lebič and also recorded for the Radio Free Berlin (Sender Freies Berlin) and the Cologne West German Radio.
In 2003 Dejan Prešiček revived the ensemble, which now consists of a young generation of Slovene instrumental solo performers with a repertoire of contemporary works by Slovene and foreign composers.
Performances
The ensemble has performed at the Festival of Contemporary Music "Warsaw Autumn", World Saxophone Congress in Minneapolis, the 14th and 16h International Composers Tribune in Belgrade and at music festivals in France (Toulouse, Paris) and Italy. The ensemble also toured in Brazil as well as in Slovenia.
Repertoire
For its 10th anniversary the ensemble performed an original repertoire of contemporary Slovene works with soloists: violinist Tomaž Lorenz and cellist Ciril Škerjanec. The repertoire consisted of chamber works by S. Osterc, L. Lebič, I. Štuhec as well as the piece “Oscillations for the Flute, Idiophone and Chordophone” written for the ensemble in the 12-tone method by P. Ramovš.
Founding member of the new ensemble Dejan Prešiček wishes to follow the example of the composer Charles Koechlin and his Epitaphe de Jean Harlow Op. 164, Romance for flute, saxophone and piano, by putting together a suitable repertoire. The trio perform renditions of classical works by composers, such as J. Brahms, C. Debussy, M. Ravel, as well as works by Slovene composers, such as L. Lebič and U. Rojko. The trio also encourages Slovene composers to write for the ensemble. Many Slovene and foreign contemporary composers have written pieces for the ensemble, among them Nenad Firšt, Peter Šavli, Larisa Vrhunc, the Serbian composer Ivan Brkljačić, the Brazilian composer Nikolaj Brucher and the French composer Jean Yves Bosseur. The Slavko Osterc Ensemble recorded two CDs, released in 2005 and 2007 by the Založba kaset in plošč RTV Slovenija.