PERNAHTNA NIT: LJOBA JENČE – 30 YEARS

Ljoba Jenče, voice, gong, singing stones
Zoran Škrinjar, piano
Lenart Krečič, saxophone

Ljoba Jenče has been tirelessly devoted to the revitalisation of Slovene intangible heritage for the last three decades; she calls her work “spinning the thread of folk heritage”. Our legendary folk-art mediator is marking her 30th anniversary by performing a recital O lepa moja Vida with her own interpretation of traditional folk songs. Classical pianist Zoran Škrinjar, who is artistically active despite his blindness, and Lenart Krečič, saxophonist, arranger and artistic director of Big Band RTV Slovenia, responded to Ljoba’s creative invitation.

Ljoba Jenče celebrates the thirtieth anniversary of her first solo concert of Slovene folk songs this year. An economist by education, at the age of twenty-eight she devoted herself to collecting and reproducing oral heritage, which she discovered among people (doing fieldwork) and in the archives of the Institute of Ethnomusicology, ZRC SAZU (Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts) and the Radio Slovenia archive. For her many years of creative endeavor, she was awarded the Gold badge of the Municipality of Cerknica, the Medal of Merit of the President of the Republic of Slovenia, and in 2017, a special mention from the expert commission of the European association for cultural heritage Europa Nostra Awards. She has authored several radio shows Slovenska zemlja v pesmi in besedi (»Slovene Land in Song and Word«); she has released records of documentary folk material and her own performances (prepared in collaboration with various musicians) as well as solo albums. One of its special features is her »dialogue« with Tibetan monks on her record Lepote modrosti (»Beauty of Wisdom«), which was released on the first visit of Dalai Lama to Slovenia. She has performed in more than sixty countries. Let us mention her performances for the UN in New York, UNESCO in Paris, at the Royal Academy in London, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, and in Alexandria, Egypt. In the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, she implemented the Most kakor kamen kost project in Serbia, and in Argentina she presented the cultural heritage with the project O lepa moja Vida (»Oh beautiful my Vida«) at the University of UCEMA and in Slovene communities. She lives and works near Lake Cerknica, where she runs an educational center for the preservation of the intangible cultural heritage within the PAJN Institute, Hiša izročila (»House of Heritage«).

Pianist and composer Zoran Škrinjar graduated in piano and chamber music under professors Aci Bertoncelj and Primož Lorenz at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana. He also studied musicology at the Faculty of Arts. He later studied jazz in international courses with world-renowned masters (Reggie Workman, Barry Harris, Benny Golson, Kenny Barron, James Williams), and graduated from the jazz school in Ljubljana. In 2003, he won the Jazzon competition for the best Slovene jazz composition. Towards the end of his studies, he became blind, but nevertheless successfully continued his musical career and performed many solo and chamber evenings and concerts with various orchestras at home and abroad (Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Croatia, etc.). In 2007, under the international subscription of Cankar Jazz at Cankarjev dom, he performed his own project, Zoran Škrinjar International Jazz Connection. He regularly plays with the best Slovenian jazz musicians and has recorded extensively for radio and television. He has recorded several CDs, including two with jazz music and evergreens, as well as compositions by W. A. Mozart with RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and conductor Anton Nanut (all by RTV Slovenia ZKP record label).

Lenart Krečič, a Slovenian saxophonist, arranger, composer and physicist, graduated from The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and received a master’s degree from the New York University (New York) in jazz saxophone. He studied with world-renowned masters (John Purcell, Billy Harper, Reggie Workman, Joe Lovano, Chris Potter, John Scofield, etc.). He has also performed and recorded with famous musicians, such as Kenny Werner, Gerry Hemingway, Don Friedman, Matthew Garrison, Kenny Davis, Jean-Michel Pilc, Junior Mance, Tyshawn Sorey and Marcus Gilmore. In 2010, he released his first record titled Chain of Sounds. In 2016, he released a trio of albums titled Mind Change Live with Boris Kozlov and Gene Lake. He has recorded more than 30 albums with various international musicians and is about to release two more. He is currently employed as saxophonist and artistic coordinator of Big Band RTV Slovenia. As a saxophonist, he has performed in various bands around the world.

Programme:

O lepa moja Vida

San se šetao

Ena ptička

Pa rib’cam

Pa kako bom ljubila

Zrejlo je žito

Če bi jaz bila fčelica

Bod’ moja Meglica

Ti do-o

Sveti Sintilavdić

Mit o stvarjenju sveta (the story)