Bratislava Wind Quintet a pioneering ensemble of Slovak musical culture and its most significant representative in the field of wind music ensembles. At the time of its foundation the quintet consisted of Vojtech Samec (flute), Josef Čejka (oboe), Jozef Luptáčik (clarinet), Jozef Illéš (French horn) and František Machats (bassoon).

The quintet was established in 1967 during the studies of its members at the Bratislava Conservatory. During studies at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava the ensemble successfully introduced itself at Interpodium within Bratislava Music Days. In a relatively short period of its artistic activity it became an artistic ensemble of outstanding qualities, which were presented in numerous performances at home and abroad. One of the significant achievements is indisputably its participation in the International Performing Competition (ARD) in Munich in 1975, where the ensemble took the fourth place, as well as awarding the title of laureate of the International Rostrum of Young Performers UNESCO within Bratislava Music Days in 1977.

One of the dominant features of the Bratislava Wind Quintet was the interpretation of the music of 20th century by Slovak, but also foreign composers. In foreign concerts the ensemble performed works of authors of the most visited provenances, where it made contacts with composers, some of whom dedicated their works to the quintet (e. g. Italian composer Renato Dionisi, Hungarian composer Tibor Sárai and others). The most important merit of the ensemble is in encouraging and promoting original Slovak works for wind quintet. The quintet realized and premiered almost all Slovak literature for this kind of group. Its extensive repertoire also included works of different periods.

Bratislava Wind Quintet realized numerous recordings for the Czechoslovak Radio, television and for the music publisher OPUS (in a smaller number for foreign publishers).


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