Ave Orchestra
The Ave Orchestra is a young group of musicians who are filled with energy and a great love of music. They started their journey in 2016 with, at the time, 35 members and their conductor Miro Saje. In July of that year, the orchestra made its first-ever appearance at the WASBE regional conference in Prague and got excellent reviews. In the short time since the Ave Orchestra has already achieved a good amount of accomplishments. In May 2018, they took part in a national competition, where they won in their category and received a golden plaque with a special commendation, while also becoming the overall winner of the competition. The same year they also won the 6th International Wind Orchestra Concert Playing Competition "Slovenia 2018" and received a golden plaque with a commendation. At the end of the same year, they happily accepted the invitation to participate once again in the regional WASBE conference in Mako, Hungary. In September 2019, the orchestra participated at the “Immortal Orchestra” Open International Festival of Wind Music in Kaliningrad, Russia, where they received 100 points, the Grand Prix award and was awarded the title of a Laureate. Today, the orchestra consists of 64 musicians who continue to grow together as a whole on the path they envisioned at the beginning of their journey.
“We take the opportunity for this type of creative work as a privilege and that is why we treat it with an equal amount of respect and enthusiasm. Even though we perhaps lack in a long tradition, we have taken it upon ourselves to build on our youthful energy and to leave an artistic mark on our path.”
Participated:
2022
Country:
SI
Conductor: Miro Saje
Miro Saje started his musical career as a trumpet player, graduating in 1990 at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana under the mentorship of prof. Anton Grčar. As a trumpet player, he played with the RTV Ljubljana Symphony Orchestra and the Ljubljana Opera House Symphony Orchestra. He graduated as a conductor in 1999 at the Brabants Conservatorium in Tilburg, the Netherlands under the tutelage of Prof. Jan Cober.
Between 1990 and 2007 he was the conductor of Krka Wind Orchestra, which under his leadership became an internationally acclaimed and renowned orchestra, winning several Slovenian and international competitions as well as receiving a gold medal with distinction at the 2005 WMC in Kerkrade. In the following years, he has led the Wind Orchestra of Municipality Sentjernej which has won the Slovenian National Competition in 2010 and 2011 and prepared several successful local projects. Acting as a guest conductor of the Jugendblasorchester Steiermark from Austria, he won the international competition in Linz (2015) and Schladming (2016).
As a conductor, he has won the prize of the best conductor three times in a row at the FLICORNO D'ORO in Riva del Garda, Italy and his orchestra was proclaimed the absolute winner of the competition all three times. In 2006 he won the 3rd place at the International Conductor Competition in Vienna.
Currently, he is the Musical Director of the Novo mesto Symphonic Orchestra, City Orchestra of Zaprešič (Croatia) and Ave Orchestra which has won the 2018 Slovenian National Competition, the 6th international Competition »Slovenia 2018.« and Grand Prix Award at the 2019 »Immortal Orchestra« International Competition in Kaliningrad, Russia. With Ave Orchestra he also presented Slovenian Orchestra Music at the WASBE International Regional Conference in Prague (2016) and Mako (2018).
Since 2009 he is educating the next generation of Slovenian conductors as part of the conducting school under the umbrella of the Slovenian Wind Band Association and The Public Fund for Cultural Activities of the Republic of Slovenia. He is also a member of the Executive council of Slovenian Wind Band Association and the president of the Council for Artistic Expertise of Slovenian Wind Band Association.