Slovene composers on the international stage

The young composer Andrej Makor is the winner of the 2nd prize at the Composers' Competition of the London Ear festival of contemporary music 2018, which took place in March. His composition Silence for viola solo was performed by Japanese viola player Tomoko Akasaka, who has also performed at Ljubljana's Slowind festival in 2017. Another one of Makor's compositions will be performed in London this autumn- O Emmanuel for mixed choir has been included in the compulsory repertoire of the London International Choral Conducting Competition – LICCC. (The newly appointed conductor of the Radio France Choir, Martina Batič, will be among the jury members of the competition.)

Furthermore, Makor's works have been commissioned by the Cardinal Singers from the University of Louisville, Kentucky, the North Salem High School Choir from Oregon, as well as the BBC Singers, who will be performing his Kyrie in the next concert season.

The choral music scene has been marked by composer Nana Forte, whose composition En ego campana for two mixed choirs  was performed in April at Maribor's  30th European Grand Prix for Choral Singing – EGP by The Stockholms Musikgymnasium Chamber Choir. The composition was premiered in 2016 by the Swedish Radio Choir. 

In the coming season, one of the world's most prominent classical music festivals, the BBC Proms, will feature the work of Slovene composer Nina Šenk. Among the works commissioned from eight women composers in celebration of the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote, Šenk's composition Baca was also chosen. It will be performed at Cadogan Hall in London on 3rd September by the soloists of the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra.

In April, three works by Vito Žuraj were performed at the Royal Festival Hall in London. The concert was part of the Music of Today series and provided the first major UK showcase of music by Žuraj, the recent winner of the Claudio Abbado Composition Prize. The evening opened with Aftertouch and closed with a world premiere of the English version of Ubuquity, a semi-theatrical work for soprano and ensemble that takes inspiration from the grotesque character of King Ubu from the modernist play by French author Alfred Jarry. The Philharmonia orchestra and soprano Nika Gorič performed under the direction of Joano Mallwitz. Also in April, Žuraj's composition Tension was part of the Witten Days for New Chamber Music and was performed by the ensemble Klangforum Wien under the direction of Emilio Pomarico.