New(s)

"From forests and autumn pastures, from glaciers and from yellow wheat, it should flow through all the senses into our life, strength, spirit, meaning, value." (H. Hesse)

Klasje (Wheat) is a (non)classical piano concert where Manca Udovič, Blaž Avsenik and myself have joined together as composers and pianists. Multimedia artist Anja Romih joins the musicians with visualisations.

In the 45-minute performance, the authors perform music characterised by drawing encouragement or ideas for musical improvisation from everyday life, literary and artistic works, nature and the like. In Klasje, artists are inspired by the magnificent nature, its hidden beauty, softness and strength, as well as excerpts from Herman Hesse’s literary work On the Enjoyment of Nature. Motifs of Slovenian mountains and waters, birds, grain fields and reflections on the selected text are captured in the compositions. In addition to the original work, the concert features the performance of one of the most famous compositions of all time, an arrangement of "Vltava" for four-hand piano by the composer Bedřich Smetana. The two pianists (Udovič&Avsenik) performs it in honour of the 200th anniversary of the birth of this great musical genius.

The performance was premiered in Kino Šiška on 28th of March 2024. 

Special thanks to:
- Blažka Jurjavčič who helped us create the visual theme of the project.
- photographers Nika Hölcl (studio photos) and Martin Vogrič Dežman (concert photos).
- Japan Piano Center, they provided Yamaha CFX Grand Piano for us.
- Yamaha Pianos Europe (Slovenia).