ORGAN CYCLE: Nika Frelih

This year’s organ cycle Obiski kraljice (Visits of the Queen) will conclude in Bled, at the parish church of St. Martin, where young organist Nika Frelih, a local from Bled and the church’s organist, will perform on Sunday, December 15, at 7:00 PM, using the organs of Slovenian organ master Ivan Milavec. Nika is a versatile musician with interests in singing, composition, and improvisation, and she is currently studying organ at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. For this concert, she has chosen a thematically cohesive program, where Advent-themed works by J.S. Bach will alternate with pieces by Camille Saint-Saëns, Max Reger, and Slovenian composer Primož Ramovš. The music will take you from the December darkness to the light of Advent and Christmas, symbolizing new life and bringing hope for a better and more beautiful world each year.

“Playing the organ is an expression of will filled with a vision of eternity,” wrote French composer and organist Charles-Marie Widor. As W. A. Mozart also stated, the organ is the king of instruments. This instrument offers the performer endless interpretive possibilities while requiring a well-rounded and versatile musical personality.

To promote and popularize organ music, Radio Slovenia’s Ars program and Imago Sloveniae are organizing its fourth organ concert cycle, titled Obiski kraljice v živo (Visits of the Queen). Renowned domestic and international organists are featured, performing selected programs on some of the finest Slovenian organs. This year, the cycle invites four organists: two from Slovenia and two from abroad. Each of them is active as both liturgical and concert organists in their respective countries, and some are also composers, singers, improvisers, organ experts, and professors.

All concerts in the cycle:

• Christoph Mauerhofer – October 23, 8:00 PM, Plečnik’s Church of St. Francis in Šiška, Ljubljana
• Barbara and Ulrich Theissen Pibernik – November 15, 7:00 PM, Chapel of St. Stanislaus Institute in Šentvid, Ljubljana
• Nika Frelih – December 15, 7:00 PM, Parish Church of St. Martin in Bled

Free admission.

The concert will also be broadcast live on the Ars Program.
Recordings from the organ cycle will be aired on Sundays, October 30, November 22, and December 22, at 6:30 PM, in the show Obiski kraljice.

In collaboration with: