AMADEO ORCHESTRA AND KAROLINA ŠANTL ZUPAN

Conductor: Tilen Draksler 

Soloist:
Karolina Šantl Zupan, flute

Programme:

Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky (1840–1893), Serenade for String Orchestra, Op. 48

Intermission

Aleksandra Naumovski Potisk, Concertino for flute and orchestra, Op. 39 (premiere)

Aldo Kumar (1956), Istrian Suite

AMADEO Orchestra was founded in 2013 and performs under the artistic direction of pianist and conductor Tilen Draksler. The orchestra is dedicated to the performance of major works of the classical repertoire in dialogue with other artistic disciplines, fostering projects that seek both artistic excellence and meaningful interdisciplinary expression. At the same time, the ensemble provides an important creative platform for emerging professional musicians, encouraging artistic collaboration within Slovenia and across the wider European cultural space. Its members include students and graduates of leading European music institutions, among them the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, the Carinthian State Conservatory in Klagenfurt, the Hochschule für Musik Detmold and the Academy of Music in Zagreb, alongside musicians from the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and other professional ensembles.

Tilen Draksler is a conductor, pianist and artistic director active in the fields of symphonic, operatic and contemporary music. He completed his Master’s degree in conducting at the Katarina Gurska Academy in Madrid under the guidance of George Pehlivanian, having previously studied piano at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana and earned a postgraduate degree at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. In recent years, he has established himself as one of the leading Slovenian conductors of the younger generation, distinguished by a strong international artistic profile. In 2023, he served as assistant conductor of the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra. As a conductor, he has collaborated with numerous Slovenian and international orchestras, including the Russian National Orchestra, the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Maribor National Theatre Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Sinfonietto, the Szeged Symphony Orchestra and Filarmonia dei Navigli, among many other ensembles across Europe. Opera occupies a particularly significant place in his artistic activity. He has conducted numerous productions from the standard operatic repertoire, including La traviata, Carmen, The Barber of Seville, Le nozze di Figaro, La Bohème, Don Giovanni and L’elisir d’amore. In recent seasons, he has led dozens of opera performances with festival and project orchestras, while also collaborating on contemporary opera productions. In 2024, he was awarded First Prize at the International Johann Sebastian Bach Conducting Competition in Gdańsk, Poland. For the past five seasons, he has served as resident conductor of the .abeceda Institute, where he regularly leads world premieres of contemporary works for larger ensembles. He is also founder, producer and artistic director of the Amadeo Festival and the Amadeo Orchestra, through which he develops concert and music-theatre projects in Slovenia and abroad. His artistic work is characterised by the integration of symphonic, operatic and contemporary repertoire, combining interpretative artistry with the active creation of innovative concert and music-theatre formats within an international context.

Karolina Šantl Zupan is a flautist, chamber musician and pedagogue whose career encompasses performance, music education and artistic research. She began her professional career as a member of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and later served as principal flautist of the orchestra of the SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana. Internationally, she is particularly recognised as a member of the flute quartet 4Syrinx, with which she has performed extensively throughout Europe since 2001 and co-curated a long-running concert series at the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall in Zagreb. In 2014, the ensemble received the Croatian Porin Award. She completed her flute studies and postgraduate specialist training at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana under Fedja Rupel and pursued further artistic development with Wolfgang Schulz at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. As a chamber musician, she collaborates regularly with distinguished Slovenian and international artists. Her discography comprises nine recordings, including two concerto albums with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra. She has also appeared as a soloist with the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and the Freiburg Symphony Orchestra. She has recorded for Slovenian radio and television and for RAI in Italy. Since 1992, she has been a member of the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, where she served as Head of the Department of Woodwinds, Brass and Percussion from 2009 to 2021 and took the role of the dean in 2025. She holds the position of Full Professor also at the Academy of Music in Zagreb. Her pedagogical work is reflected in the many national and international awards received by her students, as well as in her extensive collaboration with international educational institutions, including the University of Melbourne. She regularly gives masterclasses, serves on professional committees and international competition juries, and is a member of the Yamaha Flute Artists programme. In 2019, she completed her doctoral studies with a dissertation examining the interaction between artistic and pedagogical training in the education of future wind instrument teachers.

Admission free. Complimentary tickets are courtesy of Press Clipping, GenLan, iHELP, and many other sponsors, partners, and supporters of the Imago Sloveniae Festival.
Tickets are available at the venue an hour before the event. Reservations are not possible.
Voluntary contributions to support the program are appreciated.