Today's press conference of the Ljubljana Winter Festival, held at Križanke, was attended by conductor Živa Ploj Peršuh, violinist Rok Zaletel Černoš, Klemen Hvala and, of course, festival director Darko Brlek. The discussion focused on the upcoming concert of the Slovenian Youth Orchestra, which will take place on 23 February at 7.30 pm at the Slovenian Philharmonic Hall.
Živa Ploj Peršuh highlighted Rok's successes and influence on young musicians and the importance of the Slovenian Youth Orchestra (SMO) in the Slovenian musical landscape. She stressed that the SMO reaches out to more than 22,000 children and young people who are part of our formal school education and, like other professional orchestras, needs long-term strategic planning for its activities. She expressed the hope that decision-makers would support the musicians' efforts.
The programme of the February concert of the Slovenian Youth Orchestra includes the rarely performed Violin Concerto No.1 by H. Wieniawski, which is extremely demanding for both soloist and orchestra, and the Variations on a Theme of Haydn by J. Brahms, which will especially highlight the wind instruments of the orchestra. The second part of the concert will be dedicated to Beethoven's "Eroica", Symphony No 3, which will be performed at the request of the young artists.
Rok Zaletel expressed his enthusiasm for his first collaboration with our youth orchestra. He mentioned that the chosen programme was the result of a joint decision with the conductor Ziva Ploi Peršuh when she contacted him during the competition in China. Rok believes that the concert will be excellent and a great challenge for both him and the orchestra.
