07:00 pm
Živa Ploj Peršuh Conductor
Lauri Porra Composer and Bass Guitar
Matija Krečič Composer
MATIJA KREČIČ · „Fast Break” (2019, German Premiere)
LAURI PORRA · „Entropia“ Concerto for bass guitar and orchestra (2015, German Premiere)
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN · Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 (1804-1808)
Another debut at Young Euro Classic: the Slovenian Youth Orchestra is one of several making their first appearance at the festival this summer. Founded in 2019 by the Slovenian conductor Živa Ploj Peršuh, it has rapidly made a name for itself – perhaps unsurprisingly, given the musical tradition of its home country, a neighbour to Italy and Austria. An extraordinarily versatile Slovenian composer, Matija Krečič, who is equally at home in film and theatre as in contemporary classical music, opens the evening with his new work Fast Break. An even more versatile artist is the Finnish electric guitarist and composer Lauri Porra, who mixes heavy metal and symphonic music masterfully. He himself plays the solo part in his half-hour Concerto for Electric Bass and Symphony Orchestra – sounds you will not find often at the Konzerthaus Berlin! The Slovenian Youth Orchestra, however, performs more conventionally classical music too: the young musicians will prove this in Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, a work that has so much more to offer than its famous opening motif, brimming with great ideas, lyrical moments and temperamental outbursts.
Introduction and Q&A at 6:00 PM with Frederik Hanssen in the Werner-Otto Hall. Entry with a concert ticket.
Language: German.
The Slovenian Youth Orchestra (SMO) is Slovenia’s national youth symphony orchestra, bringing talented musicians aged 12 to 26 together in projects that combine artistic excellence, professional training and cultural engagement. Since its founding in 2019, the orchestra has built close collaborations and appeared in concert with internationally renowned artists such as Gidon Kremer, Ute Lemper, Lauri Porra and Robert Lakatoš, as well as numerous prominent Slovenian artists. The SMO considers itself a dynamic platform allowing the rising generation of Slovenian professional musicians – whether they study in Slovenia or abroad – to form a network, helping them to achieve the highest artistic standards while also preserving their cultural roots. Each season, the orchestra offers a diverse programme, from traditional symphonic concerts for discerning audiences to special integrative and innovative projects that involve different target groups and are designed to build lasting cultural and social bridges.
The Slovenian conductor Živa Ploj Peršuh studied musicology in Ljubljana before adding degrees in orchestral and choral conducting from the Mannheim Music Academy. After returning to Slovenia, she was a guest conductor at various orchestras and opera houses in her homeland; from 2014 to 2022, she was principal kapellmeister at the Slovenian National Theatre in Ljubljana, where she conducted a broad opera repertoire ranging from Mozart to Philip Glass, as well as classical and contemporary ballets. Apart from her work in her homeland, Živa Ploj Peršuh has also appeared internationally as a guest conductor, leading concerts in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Great Britain and in other countries in Europe and North Africa. Her vision of shaping culture together with others and making it more vibrant and accessible led her to found the Ljubljana International Orchestra. In 2019, Živa Ploj Peršuh became the initiator of the Slovenian Youth Orchestra, which she founded in cooperation with international and local organizations.
Crossing musical lines is a red thread in the career of the Finnish multi-artist Lauri Porra – whether between folk and contemporary music or orchestra and rock band. On the one hand, the 48-year-old, a great-grandson of the composer Jean Sibelius, composes large-scale orchestral works which have been performed by leading orchestras such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Finnish National Opera. His work BASSO, scored for 150 basses, had its premiere on Helsinki’s Senate Square before a crowd of 26,000 in 2024. Porra has also written scores for films, TV series and other audiovisual projects. A multi-disciplinary project saw him collaborate with the astrophysicist Esko Valaoja and the author Stephen Fry. Another spectacular work was Ääniä – Finland’s Official Soundscape, commissioned by the Finnish Foreign Ministry. The bass guitarist is also a member of the power metal band Stratovarius, with which he has recorded numerous albums, and director of several Finnish music festivals.
Matija Krečič is one of the most versatile composers and arrangers in Slovenia. Trained at the State Conservatory in Klagenfurt in Carinthia, Austria, he is at home in very different genres, composing chamber music, orchestral works and choral pieces. Two albums feature his works, Architexture (2014) and Cut/Rez (2020). In 2020, the violinist Daniel Hope also presented Krečič‘s composition In a Melting Pot in his online concert series Europe@Home. Furthermore, Matija Krečič has written scores for short films and plays, for example for the Maribor Puppet Theatre. He enjoys a close collaboration with the Slovenian guitarist and songwriter Magnifico, whose music for the Serbian film Montevideo, vidimo se! he arranged, as well as with the world music groups Terrafolk, Mar Django, Skarabej, Orkestrada and various Slovenian jazz luminaries. For the soundtrack to Darko Sinko’s film Inventory, Krečič won the first prize at the Slovenian Film Festival in 2021.