Saxophone & piano
Lovro Merčep
& Krešimir Starčević, piano
Suggested programme
The Art of Transcription
J. S. Bach
Sonata in G minor, BWV 1020 (flute and piano)
Robert Schumann
Fantasiestücke, op. 73 (clarinet and piano)
Claude Debussy
Rhapsody, L. 116 (clarinet and piano)
Francis Poulenc
Sonata, FP 185 (oboe and piano)
Maurice Ravel
Pièce en forme de Habanera (voice and piano)
Béla Bartók
Six Romanian Folk Dances, Sz. 68 (violin and piano)
Lovro Merčep (Zagreb, 1990) took his master's degree in saxophone in 2014 at the Academy of Music in Zagreb in the class of Dragan Sremac, and a second in 2016 at the Amsterdam Conservatory with Arno Bornkamp. Alongside his Zagreb studies he worked with Jean-Denis Michat in Lyon and Vincent David in Versailles.
He is a laureate of competitions including the International Saxophone Competition in Nova Gorica, the Concours Européen de Saxophone in Gap, the Papandopulo Competition in Zagreb and the Josip Nochta Competition. He has appeared as soloist with the Croatian Chamber Orchestra, the Zagreb Philharmonic, the HRT Symphony Orchestra and the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra.
He gives particular attention to Croatian composers: he recorded Bruno Bjelinski's Sinfonietta with the Croatian Radiotelevision Symphony Orchestra, premiered Ivan Končić's Saxophone Concerto at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, and works by Gordan Tudor, Sara Glojnarić and Ana Horvat are dedicated to him. He is a member of the Ardemus saxophone quartet, which has performed across Europe, most recently at the Elbphilharmonie, and teaches at the Elly Bašić School of Music in Zagreb.
