About Slovenian Baroque Orchestra and Consort

The Slovenian Baroque Orchestra and Consort was founded in 2018 and represents the first institution in the Republic of Slovenia which nurtures and actively works towards the awareness and promotion of Slovenian and European musical heritage from the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

Although recently unknown in the Slovenian musical sphere, the Slovenian Baroque Orchestra and Consort collaborates with professional musicians as well as with the most successful members of the Baroque Orchestra and Choir of the Early Music Department of the Academy of Music, University of Ljubljana. The Slovenian Baroque Orchestra and Consort’s mission is not only in the execution of various works but it also strives to connect young Slovenian interpreters and give them invaluable opportunities on historical instruments, which are the result of a collaboration with internationally renowned artists and interpreters of Early Music. Its’ predecessors were the Baroque Orchestra and Choir of the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, which were created in 2010 and which for the first time gave the opportunity to study Early Music in Slovenia. From this point onward, studies in cembalo, recorder, historical interpretative practive and chamber music with the use of basso continuo were offered, as well as the interpretation of historical repertoire on historical instruments. From its’ beginning and specifically as of 2015, the department of Early Music has been successfully and enthusiastically led by associate professor Egon Mihajlović, cembalist and conductor.

 

Under his direction, the Baroque Orchestra and Choir of the Academy of Music in Ljubljana have produced numerous premieres of key musical Renaissance and Baroque heritage works. In 2010 Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespers of the Blessed Virgin filled the Uršulin Monastery, the Holy Trinity Church and the Monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul in Ptuj. In 2012 and 2013 they saw the Slovenian premiere of Monteverdi’s Orfeo, which was the result of the collaboration of three Academies: the Academy of Music, the Academy of Performing Arts and the Academy of Graphic Arts and Design. Not only did this production sell-out 13 performances in Ptuj and the Opera in Ljubljana but it also successfully made a guest appearance at the Venetian Basilica Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. The Baroque Orchestra and Choir of the Academy of Music presented itself in 2014 with productions such as Music for the Sun King Ludwig XIV, Symphonies pour les Soupers du Roi Michel Richard Delaland and Charpentier’s Te Deum in Ljubljana and Maribor. They were furthermore invited to collaborate in two prominent productions with the Opera Maribor: the ballet production of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with choreography by Edward Clug in 2014, and Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea directed by Krešimir Dolenčić in 2015.

 

The Slovenian Baroque Orchestra and Consort together with the Baroque Orchestra of the Academy of Music are also the founding members of the International Festival and Summer School for Early Music of the Accademia Musicae Antiquae Labacensis, which is organized by the Academy of Music in Ljubljana and which will this year, in 2019, run for the fifth year in succession.

 

The Slovenian Baroque Orchestra and Consort’s goal is to enrich and fulfill the artistic musical scene in Slovenia and as well as internationally with rich Renaissance –Baroque interpretations. This music, which, regardless of the place of origin, offers an unprecedented dimension of space, which each person conceives and nurtures in his own mind.

And last but not least, as a reminder. The Slovenian Orchestra and Consort fills a gap within the area of interpretation of Early Music with historical instruments. The luxurious Renaissance- Baroque repertoire received a new place within the long musical tradition in Slovenia. Its’ involvement within humanity’s cultural habitat is in fact constant, all from the beginning of the creation of this musical artistry. An artistry which demands so much: erosion, knowledge of historical practice, interpretation, even the reading of myths. This communicative art creates the basis for the complex relations between the musical-aesthetic worlds, which are constantly being reinvented and which represent a large part of mankind’s creativity.