IMPROMPTU 2025

Concert by students of the Improvisation and Composition Masterclass

Participants of the Improvisation Masterclass:
Yokota Yukichiyo Gwendolyn, Germany
Arroyo Samuel, Spain
Mondaca Danilo, Chile
Paul Julius, Germany
Yagi Daisuke, Austria
Ng Edane, United Kingdom
Scibilia Sergio, Italy
Grau Guillén Isaac, Spain

Participants of the Composition Masterclass:
Yokota Yukichiyo Gwendolyn, Germany
Grau Guillén Isaac, Spain
Burato Riccardo, Italy
Faidiga Bryan, Italy
Scibilia Sergio, Italy

Masterclass in Improvisation with Noam Sivan / Masterclass in Composition with Guillem Palomar

The quality of the young composers who have made it through the selection process for the Alexander Gadjiev Masterclass promises to be outstanding. These are outstanding young musicians who will be able to improve their playing with the help of Noam Sivan, a pioneer of classical piano improvisation in the world and a first-class teacher, and Guillem Palomar, an internationally renowned Spanish composer.

Noah Sivan was for a time Director of Improvisation at the Curtis Institute of Music (Philadelphia) and a faculty member at the Juilliard School of Music (New York), and is currently Professor of Piano Improvisation at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart (HMDK Stuttgart), where he has launched one of the first master’s programmes of its kind in the world. Composer in residence, pianist and improvisation tutor with the Stegreif Orchestra in Berlin, he is developing new ways of orchestral improvisation.

Guillem Palomar is a Spanish composer based in Berlin. He studied composition at the Barenboim-Said Academy with Prof. Jörg Widmann, electroacoustics with Prof. Gilbert Noun and conducting with Prof. Michael Wendeberg. He has further studied with composers such as George Benjamin, Péter Eötvös, Wolfgang Rihm and Rebecca Saunders. His music has been performed on international stages, including by Daniel Barenboim, Péter Eötvös and Michael Volle, as well as by ensembles such as the Ensemble Modern, the Boulez Ensemble and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. His works have been performed at venues such as the Kölner Philharmonie, Boulez Saal, Konzerthaus Berlin and Philharmonie Luxembourg. In 2023, he was awarded the Roche Young Commissions Prize at the Lucerne Young Commissions Festival and was commissioned for a new chamber opera by the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. Since 2021 he has been teaching the course Strategies of Analytical Listening at the Barenboim-Said Academy, and has also led composition workshops in Germany and Israel.

The Festival Prečkanja – Sconfinamenti, which will take place between 23 June and 6 July 2025 in Ljubljana (SI) and Gorizia (IT), is once again hosting three outstanding masterclasses. Alexander Gadjiev and his father, renowned pedagogue Siavush Gadjiev, are leading a piano course for 12 selected pianists who will deepen their musical expression. The course will culminate in a concert by the participants Per aspera ad astra in Ljubljana (SI). The second masterclass, led by Noam Sivan, world-renowned pioneer of classical improvisation, is dedicated to improvisation in classical music. The participants of the course will present their skills at the closing Impromptu concert in Gorizia (IT). The festival will also offer a novelty – a Masterclass in composition with the internationally renowned Spanish composer Guillem Palomar.

Admission free.

In collaboration with: Kulturni dom (Cultural Centre) Gorica