The Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra (''Simfonični orkester Slovenske filharmonije'') is a

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

based in

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

. Its primary concert venues are Marjan Kozina Hall in Philharmonic Hall, Ljubljana, at

Congress Square Congress Square () is one of the central squares in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. In the late 1930s, the square was renovated by the prominent Slovene architect Jože Plečnik. Since August 2021, it has been inscribed as part of Plečnik ...

() and Gallus Hall in the Cankar Centre at Republic Square () in Ljubljana.

History

The roots of the orchestra go back to 1701, to the founding of the ''Academia Philharmonicorum'', which performed oratorios and other works of the era. This organisation then became the Philharmonic Society (''Filharmonična družba'') in 1794. On 23 October 1908, the ''Filharmonična družba'' officially merged with the ''Glasbena matica'' (The Music Society) to form the first incarnation of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, which lasted from 1908 to 1913. In 1947, the re-establishment of a new incarnation of the orchestra was initiated. The new version of the orchestra gave its first concert on January 13, 1948, conducted by Salvador Bacarisse and attended by composer

Marjan Kozina Marjan Kozina (4 June 1907 – 19 June 1966) was a Slovenes, Slovene composer. He is considered one of the most important Slovene composers of the 20th century. His best known works include a symphony, composed in stages through the late 1940s; t ...

, who became the first administrator of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra. The orchestra employed a number of "permanent conductors" (''stalni dirigenti'') from its 1948 re-inception, including Jakov Cipci (1948–1955), Samo Hubad (1948–1966), Bogo Leskovic (1951–1958), and

Lovro von Matačić Lovro von Matačić (14 February 1899 – 4 January 1985) was a Croatian conductor and composer. Early life Lovro von Matačić was born in Sušak, Rijeka, Sušak to a family that was granted a noble title in the early 17th century. Growing up, ...

(1955–1956). Oskar Danon was the first conductor to have the title of principal conductor of the orchestra, from 1970 to 1974. The first non-Slovenian principal conductor of the orchestra was George Pehlivanian, from 2005 to 2008. From 2013 to 2015, the principal conductor of the orchestra was Canadian-born Keri-Lynn Wilson, the first female principal conductor in the orchestra's history. Uroš Lajovic succeeded Wilson as principal conductor from 2015 to 2017.. With the 2024-2025 season, Kahi Solomnišvili became the orchestra's principal conductor.

Principal conductors

* Oskar Danon (1970–1974) *

Uroš Lajovic Uroš Lajovic is a Slovenian conductor and professor. He has served as guest conductor, permanent conductor, artistic director and artistic advisor at numerous prominent European orchestras. He is professor emeritus at the University of Music a ...

(1974–1975; acting principal conductor) * Marko Letonja (1996–2002) * George Pehlivanian (2005–2008) * Emmanuel Villaume (2008–2013) * Keri-Lynn Wilson (2013–2015) *

(2015–2017) * Kakhi Solomnishvili (2024–present)

References

External links

Official orchestra webpage
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Philharmonic Orchestra, Slovenian Slovenian orchestras Cultural organizations based in Ljubljana 1948 establishments in Slovenia