PHOTOS:
SHORT CV:
The graduates of the University of Zagreb Academy of Music (Croatia) in the class of Prof. Josip Nochta founded the Zagreb Saxophone Quartet, which has been performing with the present members since 1989. The Zagreb Saxophone Quartet are: Dragan Sremec, saxophone professor and vice dean at University of Zagreb Academy of Music - soprano saxophone, Goran Merčep, chamber music professor at University of Zagreb Academy of Music - alto saxophone, Saša Nestorović, chamber music professor at University of Zagreb Academy of Music and director of HRT Big Band - tenor saxophone, and Matjaž Drevenšek, saxophone professor and vice dean at University of Ljubljana Academy of Music (Slovenia) - baritone saxophone.
ZSQ has performed in Europe (Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Macedonia, Monaco, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, UK), Asia (Hong Kong), South America (Argentina, Chile), Canada, and the USA (Arizona, California - Los Angeles, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois - Chicago, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota - Minneapolis, Nebraska, New York, New York City, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Washington DC., Wisconsin, Wyoming).
They have been soloists with orchestras in Croatia, Slovenia, France, USA, and Hong Kong, and performed at festivals in Berlin, Dubrovnik, Ljubljana, Munich, Novi Sad, Ohrid, Orsay, Paris, Podgorica, Riga, Split, Zagreb; also at the World Saxophone Congresses in Pesaro, Valencia, Montreal, Minneapolis, Ljubljana, and St. Andrews.
Numerous Croatian as well as foreign composers dedicated more than 50 pieces to them. Quartet has recorded for the HRT, ÖRF, RTL, RTV Slovenia, Radio France, Radio Spain, WDR, and released 15 CDs (in Croatia, Slovenia, and USA), which have won seven Croatian discography awards "Porin".
COMPLETE CV:
The graduates of the University of Zagreb Music Academy (Croatia) in the class of Prof. Josip Nochta founded the Zagreb Saxophone Quartet, which has been performing with the present members since 1989.
The Zagreb Saxophone Quartet are: DRAGAN SREMEC, saxophone professor and vice dean at University of Zagreb Academy of Music - soprano saxophone, GORAN MERČEP, chamber music professor at University of Zagreb Academy of Music - alto saxophone, SAŠA NESTOROVIĆ, chamber music professor at University of Zagreb Academy of Music and director of HRT Big Band - tenor saxophone, and MATJAŽ DREVENŠEK, saxophone professor and vice dean at University of Ljubljana Academy of Music (Slovenia) - baritone saxophone.
ZSQ has performed in Europe (Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Macedonia, Monaco, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, UK), Asia (Hong Kong), South America (Argentina, Chile), Canada, and the USA (Arizona, California - Los Angeles, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois - Chicago, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota - Minneapolis, Nebraska, New York, New York City, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Washington DC., Wisconsin, Wyoming), in concert halls such as: Emerson Concert Hall in Atlanta, Hodgson Concert Hall in Athens, Hôtel de Ville in Brussels, Ny Carlsberg Glyptothek in Copenhagen, Rector's Palace in Dubrovnik, Palais des Nations in Geneva, Cankarjev dom and Slovene Philharmonic Hall in Ljubljana, Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, Ted Mann Hall in Minneapolis, Cathedral in Monte Carlo, Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, Franz-Joseph Hall in Munich, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York, Theatre at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa/Gatineau, Grand Palais in Paris, Richard Wagner Hall in Riga, The Younger Hall in St Andrews, Sala Victor de Sabata in Trieste, Palao de la Musica in Valencia, Porgy & Bess Club in Vienna, Croatian Music Institute and Vatroslav Lisinski Hall in Zagreb, etc. - read more at Current Projects. They have been soloists with the Zagreb Philharmonic, the Croatian Radio Television Symphony Orchestra, the Zagreb Soloists, the Croatian Chamber Orchestra, the Slovenian Philharmonic, the Slovenian Radio Television Symphony Orchestra, the Slovenian Army Orchestra, the Slovenian Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, the Croatian Radio Television Big Band, the Croatian Army Symphony Wind Orchestra, the Croatian Navy Orchestra, the Orchestra of the French Republican Guard, the Hong Kong Festival Wind Orchestra, the Emory Wind Ensemble, the University of Minnesota Wind Ensemble, the Royal Northern College Of Music Wind Orchestra, and playing under the baton of distinguished conductors like François Boulanger, Pavle Dešpalj, Alun Francis, Hans Graf, David Itkin, Marko Letonja, Kazushi Ono, Clark Rundell, Scott Stewart, Vjekoslav Šutej and others. Renowned ensembles and soloists often appear as guests at their concerts, including Tomislav Mužek (voice), Itamar Golan, Lydia Artymiw, David Gazarov and Daniel Detoni (piano), Tomaž Sevšek Šramel and Pavao Mašić (harpsicord), the Slovenian Brass Quintet, the New Sax Quartet, Quartetto Academia, composer Miljenko Prohaska, or the famous saxophonists Vincent David, Claude Delangle, Philippe Geiss, Branford Marsalis, Steven Mauk, Debra Richtmeyer, Eugene Rousseau, Kenneth Tse, and many others.
ZSQ has given performances, highly acclaimed both by critics and audiences, at Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Split Summer Festival, at World Saxophone Congresses in Pesaro, Valencia, Montreal, Minneapolis, Ljubljana, and St Andrews, at Zagreb Music Biennale, Ljubljana Summer Festival, Europhonia in Zagreb, Musicora in Paris, Biennale de la Creation Musicale et Choregraphique de l'Essone in Orsay, Open Europe 2000 in Berlin, Europamusicale 2000 in München, Ohrid Summer Festival, NOMUS 2003 Festival, Nei Suoni Dei Luoghi Festival, ISCM World Music Days - Slovenia 2003 in Postojna and Piran, Saxophonia 2005 in Latvia, ISCM World Music Days - Music Biennale Zagreb 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011, Trieste Prima 2006, 8th Festival of Chamber Music Julian Rachlin & Friends in Dubrovnik, Journees du Saxophone "Le temps du souffle" in Paris 2009, the Hong Kong International Saxophone Symposium, Festival of Contemporary Music Kogoj's Days... - read more at Reviews.
ZSQ has won some important croatian awards for their cultural activity (Milka Trnina, Judita, Vatroslav Lisinski). It has taken part in 15 discographic editions, the most important among them being Croatian Saxophone Music, Z Quartet, Cascades, Tsunagari, Ruben Radica: A Selection of Works, Contemporary Croatian Composers - Srđan Dedić, and sax+ - ZSQ & Itamar Golan - Quintets (which have won seven Croatian discography awards "Porin"). Read more at Discography and listen at Music.
Their repertoire includes pieces originally written for a saxophone quartet, as well as transcriptions and arrangements of pieces by various composers belonging to different periods and styles, ranging from the baroque (J.S. Bach, H. Purcell) to the 21st century. In addition to this, the ensemble's top-notch performances have inspired numerous Croatian composers (B. Bjelinski, D. Detoni, S. Foretić, N. Glassl, S. Glojnarić, S. Horvat, O. Jelaska, A. Klobučar, I. Kuljerić, B. Lazarin, S. Majurec, V. Nježić, N. Njirić, B. Papandopulo, M. Prohaska, R. Radica, M. Ruždjak, T. Simović, B. Šipuš, M. Tarbuk, T. Uhlik), as well as foreign ones (J. Golob, J. Gregorc, M. Lazar, I. Lunder, J. Matičič, P. Merkù, I. Petrić, P. Ramovš, P. Šavli - Slovenia, N. Hall - New Zealand) to dedicate more than 50 compositions to them - read more at Repertoire.
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