Mezzo-soprano Nuška Drašček completed her master’s degree in singing with distinction at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana under Professor Matjaž Robavs (2016). In 2017, she was also awarded the Recognition of Artistic Works at the University of Ljubljana. In 2012, she performed the role of “Laura” in the opera Iolanta by P. I. Tchaikovsky during a concert tour with Anna Netrebko, the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Slovenian Chamber Choir. Her repertoire includes concert works and performances: Mahler’s Songs of the Earth, Mahler’s 2nd Symphony, F. Martin’s Golgotha, L. Lebič’s November Songs, L. Lebič’s Burnt Grass, G. B. Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, and G. Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi (role of La Ciesca). In June 2017, she held an open-air solo concert with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra as part of the Ljubljana Festival; the concert titled “From Opera to Musical” was conducted by Simon Dvoršak. She started the 2017/2018 season with the author’s project “Spanish Stories” – together with marimbist Vid Ušeničnik, they prepared a semi-scenic performance or concert in a series of connected Spanish zarzuelas. In the fall of 2019, she performed with pianist Nejc Lavrenčič in the program “Mourning,” which included works by R. Schubert, R. Schumann, and G. Mahler (Kindertotenlieder). She appeared as a soloist with the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra in the performance of Wesendonck Lieder by R. Wagner. With the Slovenian Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, she performed Rückert-Lieder (G. Mahler) in 2022.

Her operatic repertoire includes numerous roles: Eugene Onegin by P. I. Tchaikovsky (“Olga”), Verdi’s Rigoletto (“Magdalena”), Verdi’s Otello (“Emilia”), Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld (“Public Opinion”), Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro (“Cherubino”), Bizet’s Carmen (title role “Carmen”), Glass’s La Belle et la Bête (role “Beauty”), and Rossini’s La Cenerentola (title role “Angelina”, with which she opened the 2018/2019 season at the German Theater Koblenz in addition to the premiere in Ljubljana). In December 2018, she became a soloist of the Ljubljana Opera House; in March 2019, she sang one of the main roles in the new Slovenian opera Koda L (Milko Lazar), and ended the season as “Isabella” in Rossini’s opera L’Italiana in Algeri in a production of Zomeropera Alden Biesen in Belgium. In January 2020, she sang the title role “Ivana” in the opera The Maid of Orleans by P. I. Tchaikovsky and received enthusiastic reviews, and in March, she guest-starred in Prague as “Angelina” in Rossini’s La Cenerentola. She also recreated the roles of “Federica” (G. Verdi, Luisa Miller), “Lola” (P. Mascagni, Cavalleria Rusticana), and “Uršula” (P. Šivic, Samorog), and at the 69th Ljubljana Festival, the role of “Zora” in the newly created chamber opera Zora and Cricket by Pavel Mihelčič. Between 2021 and 2023, on the stage of the Ljubljana Opera House, she recreated the roles: “Iocasta” (I. Stravinsky, Oedipus Rex), “Romeo” (V. Bellini, I Capuleti e i Montecchi), “Sièbel” (Ch. Gounod, Faust), “Ravenna” (R. Golob, The Sound), “Der Komponist” (R. Strauss, Ariadne auf Naxos), and “Isabella” (G. Rossini, L’Italiana in Algeri). As a soloist, she collaborated in the Ljubljana ballet production “Love”, where Das Lied von der Erde (G. Mahler) was performed.

Nuška Drašček also has an active career as a pop singer. Among other things, she has participated in several musical productions, including stage performances of the musicals My Songs, My Dreams (2008), Do Nazga (2010), in two roles in the musical Vesna (2017), and most recently in the role of “Mother Hen” in the musical Kure. At numerous concerts across Slovenia, she performs various programs, recently often “Dedicated to Piaf” (chansons of the famous singer), “A Walk on the West End” (musicals), and “Journey through Slovenia” (Slovenian folk). In 2017, she won the Slovenian Song Festival with the song Tak Dan. In March 2018 (on St. Gregory’s Day), her second studio album dedicated to Edith Piaf, titled “Re-Belle,” was released; the selected songs, brought to life in new arrangements, are connected by the poetry of Jacques Prevert, interpreted by Boris Cavazza. The album was released by ZKP RTV Slovenia.

Harpist Lara Hrastnik (1996) began her musical education at the Celje Music School, where she was taught by Erika Frantar and Dalibor Bernatović, among others. In 2018 she completed her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Ljubljana Academy of Music under the supervision of Professor Mojca Zlobko Vajgl, with whom she also went on to complete her Master’s degree in 2021. The previous year she also completed her master’s studies at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg (Austria) with Professor Stephen Fitzpatrick. In January 2017, Lara performed Händel’s Harp Concerto in B flat major Op.4/6 with the Ljubljana Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra, for which she received the Prešeren Award of the University of Ljubljana Academy of Music. In April 2019, she performed with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra the Harp Concerto in E-flat major by Gliere. In January 2022, she performed the Concerto for Harp and Chamber Orchestra by the Slovenian composer Lucijan Marija Škerjanc with the Symphony Orchestra of the Slovene National Opera and Ballet Maribor. She also regularly performs solo and in chamber ensembles at various festivals, such as Festival Ljubljana and Festival Lent, as well as in other music cycles in Slovenia and abroad. She also regularly collaborates with Slovenian orchestras: the Symphony Orchestra of the Slovene National Opera and Ballet Ljubljana, the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and the Slovenian Army Orchestra. In 2022, she started collaborating with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna (ORF-RSO), with which she has played at the Musikverein and the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Salzburg Festspielhaus and the Royal Albert Hall at the BBC Proms in London. She has also regularly taken part in competitions and achieved excellent success: First Prize at the TEMSIG Competition in 2012; First Prize at the International Salieri Competition in Italy (2013); Gold Plaque at the International Competition of the Slovenian Harpists’ Association (2014), Second Prize at this competition in 2016; Silver Plaque and Best Performance of a Composition by a Slovenian Composer at the TEMSIG Competition in 2015; two Silver Plaques at the International Svirel Competition (2013, 2014) and two gold (2015 – one of them with Trio Coeli) and in 2016 she received the first prize and the title of gold finalist; in 2018 she received the first prize at the national TEMSIG competition, as well as special awards for the 100 points achieved, for the best performance of a compulsory composition and for the best performance of a composition by a Slovene composer; and in 2019, she won 2nd prize with her harp duo at the “4th Harfe-Kammermusik Wettbewerb” (Austria). She has also had additional education with many well-known teachers, such as Irina Zingg, Marie-Pierre Langlamet, Anneleen Lenaerts, Petra van der Heide, Diana Grubišić Čiković, Coline-Marie Orliac, Gwyneth Wentink, etc. At the same time, she is also active as a teacher herself, currently teaching at the Music School Ribnica and the Music School Celje.

Kerlci are a 7-member band that has been working since 2013 and does not want to set boundaries when it comes to music creation. In our repertoire you will find folk music, pop, jazz, classical and rock music. In 2019, we emerged as the winners of the Volkswagen špila festival, and in 2020, we ventured into the Slovenian polka and waltz competition for the first time. Apart from these achievements, we take pride in the fact that our musical journeys allow us to encounter wonderful individuals with whom we can share the most memorable moments of our lives. We are Marko Jenko, David Ravnikar, Lenart Sušnik, Matija Škrlep, Tomaž Škrlep, Manca Kavčič Zupan and Matej Zupan.

Meta Pirc began to play the flute with the age of six in Music school Rakovnik with prof. Neža Prešeren. In the year 2013 she enrolled to the Conservatory of Music and Ballet Ljubljana where she then studied under guidance of prof. Nataša Paklar. She continued her studies in the class of Erwin Klambauer in Kunst Universiät Graz.

During her studies she achieved many first prices in different competitions, among others; International competition Emona, Slovenian National competition Temsig and International Competition Varaždin. For her achievements during her studies she was awarded with Škerjančeva prize. Since the year of 2017 she has held the position of principal flute in Wiener Jeunesse Orchestra. She attended the International Dutch competition 2021 and was awarded first prize in Bachelor category. In December 2022 she performed a solo recital in Wiener Musikverein in the cycle of Jeunesse Start up. She also plays regularly as a chamber musician and substitutes in many orchestras such as Graz Philharmonie, Chamber Orchestra of Mantua, Moritzburg festival Orchestra, The RTV Ljubljana National Radio Orchestra and National Opera Orchestra Slovenia.

Luka Poljanec, born on August 13th, 1999, is a classical percussionist. He learned his first skills at the Franca Šturma Music School under the guidance of Professor Nebojša Dačković, and at the age of fourteen, he enrolled in the Conservatory of Music and Ballet Ljubljana where he was taught by the excellent Simon Klavžar. Under his mentorship, Luka has received numerous gold awards at various competitions (TEMSIG, Svirel, Universal Marimba Competition Belgium) and has performed several solo recitals. In 2018, KGBL awarded him the Škerjančeva nagrada for outstanding achievements and artistic affirmation of the school. That same year, together with Jan Čibej, he won the first prize and audience award at the International Percussion Competition in Luxembourg as part of the famous percussion duo Dendrocopos. This success brought them many concerts around the world, including full-length recitals organized by the Slovenian Music Youth, concerts at the Arsana festival in Ptuj, Virginia (USA), Plovdiv (Bulgaria), and Luxembourg. In 2019, the Academy of Music in Ljubljana awarded them the Prešeren Award. Luka continued his studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München in Germany under the guidance of Alexej Gerassimez, where he graduated with honors in 2022. Now as a skilled performer of contemporary music, he collaborates on various projects (Gymnastics of sense/nonsense – Matej Bonin), performs at renowned festivals (Slowind, Forum of New Music, Clarinetism, Ljubljana Jazz Festival), and is a substitute in the orchestras of RTV Slovenia and the Slovenian Philharmonic. He is a member of some folk and jazz ensembles, and with the band Gugutke, for example, he has performed at many venues, including the Druga godba and MENT festivals.

Dušan Sodja comes from a musical family. He started his first musical steps with his father, the flutist Lovro, where he studied the recorder. He began studying clarinet with Alojz Zupan, with whom he also graduated from the Academy of Music in Ljubljana. He completed his master’s degree at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg with Alois Brandhofer, and his special studies in chamber music at the University of Music in Cologne with Anthony Spiri. He received the Prešeren Student Award in 1995 for his performance of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. As a soloist he has played with many orchestras: the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Slovak Chamber Orchestra of Bohdan Warchal, the Cappella Istropolitano, and the Celje String Orchestra. He has been a passionate chamber musician since his student days – in 1994 he founded the Duo Claripiano together with pianist Tatjana Kaučič. They perform all over Europe and America, from Edinburgh, Stockholm, Berlin, Prague, Leipzig to Madrid, Los Angeles, Florida, Yerevan to China. Many Slovenian composers have written more than 40 new works dedicated to them, which they also recorded for Radio Slovenia. Together they recorded five CDs: Legends of 2000, for which a critic wrote in BBC Music Magazine: “Throughout the recital, both artists are brilliantly natural, which shows their genuine passion for music.” The album Meetings exclusively with compositions by Slovenian composers received excellent reviews in the American magazine The Clarinet. The Romantic Claripiano record with the most beautiful romantic sonatas was praised with the words: “The play of both performers is magical. The great variety of tonal colors from both instruments, together with the subtly nuanced phrasing, are the result of exceptional collaboration. ” Their jubilee album “20 Claripiano” was released in 2014 by ZKP RTV Slovenija. The CD “In the embrace of duality” was released in August 2017 and contains concert compositions by Slovenian composers who wrote on Slovenian folk motifs. In recent years, composers have written new concerts for clarinet, piano and various ensembles: “Claripiano” by Jani Golob, “Ta-Du” by Tomaž Habe, “We are only a shell” by Andrej Makor (with the Slovenian Philharmonic Choir). In 2020, Črt Sojar Voglar wrote “Silver Concert”, which they premiered in June 2021 with the SF Chamber String Orchestra. In March 2022, they performed for the first time the Nenad Firšt Clarinet, Piano and Strings Concerto with the Celje String Orchestra.
In 2001-2005, Dušan Sodja was an assistant professor at the “Junge Kärntner Bläserphilharmonie” in Klagenfurt, and from 2006-2018 he was a clarinet mentor at the Orchestra Camp. He has been mentor at the summer school in Terme Zreče since 2013.

He is employed in the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and teaches clarinet at the Conservatory of Music in Ljubljana. Since 2014, he has been playing clarinets by the German manufacturer Schwenk & Seggelke.

Violinist Mojca Menoni Sikur graduated from the Academy of Music in Ljubljana in the class of Dejan Bravničar. At the same academy in 2003, she successfully completed  postgraduate studies with Vasilij Meljnikov. She perfected with Pavel Vernikov at the Fondazione Musicale Santa Cecilia in Portogruaro (Italy) and at numerous international master classes with renowned professors (V. Snitil, C. Hutcap, I. Ozim, HW Meyer, D. Schwarzberg, L. Honda Rosenberg ). She is the first prize winner of the Competition of Young Musicians of Slovenia and the winner of two Prešeren Student Awards. She performs as a soloist or chamber musician at home and abroad. She plays with pianist Jerneja Grebenšek and cellist Martin Sikur in the piano trio Ars Musica. They studied together  with pianist Chia Chou at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz. She is a member of the M.ARS String Quartet and the Artes Liberales Ensemble. Mojca Menoni Sikur is the Principal of 2nd violins in the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra.

Martin Sikur studied cello with Ciril Škerjanc at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, with Enrico Bronzi and Giovanni Gnocchi at the Fondazione Musicale Santa Cecilia in Portogruaro, and chamber music with Chia Chou at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz. He has received several awards and recognitions for his musical work. He studied cello and chamber music with renowned professors (H. E. Deckert, B. Gmelin, W.-S. Yang, M. Ostertag, E. Schoenfeld, T. Brandis, G. Gnocchi). From 2001 to 2005 he was a member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra. He performs as a soloist or chamber musician at home and abroad. He plays in the piano trio Ars Musica, the M.ARS String Quartet and the Artes Liberales Ensemble. Martin Sikur is a member of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra.

Aljaž Beguš began his musical career at the Ljubljana Moste-Polje Music School with professors Jože Kregar and Franc Tržan. At the age of thirteen, he was admitted to the Secondary School of Music and Ballet, and later to the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, where he graduated in the class of Jože Kotar. In 2008 he continued his studies at the prestigious Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia in Madrid, where, in 2010, he completed his postgraduate studies in the class of Michel Arrignon. He is the recipient of five first prizes from the TEMSIG national competitions in 1995, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2005, and is also the winner of international competitions such as: Citta ’di Carlino and Marco Fiorindo. In 2005 he received the Prešeren Student Award, and two years later he was a semifinalist at the EBU New Talent Eurovision Song Contest in Bratislava. In 2014, with the wind quintet Spirito, he reached the semifinals of the ARD competition. He is very active as a chamber musician, in various ensembles he has played with musicians such as: Mate Bekavac, Dag Jensen, Nicholas Daniel, Enrico Bronzi, Bruno Canino, Dora Schwarzberg, Lorenza Borrani, Alexander Lonquich, Maria Joao Pires, Ensemble MidtVest and others . He collaborates with the orchestras Spira Mirabilis, Orchestra da Camera di Mantova, Orchestra Mozart (Bologna), English National Opera, European Union Youth Orchestra and Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. He has performed as a soloist with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, Jeaner Philharmonie, Orquesta da camara de Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia, Orchestra da Camera di Mantova, Wind Orchestra of the Academy of Music and RTV Big Band. As a member of orchestras or chamber ensembles he has performed at famous festivals: BBC Proms, Lucerne Festival, Young Euro Classics, Bolzano Festival, Mantova Chambermusic Festival, Salzburger Festspiele, Kammermusikfest Lockenhaus…

Currently he is employed as Bass clarinetist at Slovenian Philharmonic.

Jakob Bobek, born in 1982 in Slovenj Gradec, studied clarinet at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana in the class of prof. Slavko Goričar, graduated in 2005 with honors in art and pedagogy. Two years later (2007) he also completed specialist studies with the same professor. During his studies, he always won a gold plaque and three first and two second prizes at competitions for young musicians of the Republic of Slovenia. He is the recipient of the Antonia Tarsie Award, the Prešeren Student Award of the Academy of Music and the first two awards at the International Summer Academy in Raach, Austria. He also studied with Ralph Mann, Alessandro Carbonar, Charles Neidich, Sylvia Hue, Mate Bekavac, Jiři Hlavač and Sharon Kam. In many performances, both at home and elsewhere in Europe, he has performed as a soloist and chamber musician. The most resounding performances include: solo performances with the SNG Maribor Orchestra (Copland) and the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra (Mozart), a performance at the 2003 World Music Days, a series of concerts with the Alamiré String Quartet at the Autumn Serenades and a postgraduate concert at the Slovenian Marjan Kozine Hall. . He has collaborated with the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, the Slovenian Philharmonic, the SNG Opera and Ballet Maribor Orchestra, the Ars Musicae Orchestra, and other occasional orchestras. He is a member of the Orchestra of the Immaginary, which performs original music as an accompaniment to silent films (In the Kingdom of the Golden Horn, Eroticon, Nosferatu).

Since 2001 he has been teaching clarinet and chamber music at the Ljubljana Moste-Polje Music School, and since 2007 he has been regularly employed as the first clarinetist of the SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana.