ABBA

Clarinetist who attended the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Bratislava, the conservatory in Kosice, and the Royal Conservatory in Gent, where he took master classes in contemporary music.

Groups with whom he has performed include the Gent Clarinet Quartet (nee Rok Clarinet Quartet), Harmonieorkest Drachten, the Isny Oper Festival Orchestra, the Quasars Ensemble, the Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Kosice (CSSR), and Soozvuk de Profundis.

The Gent Clarinet Quartet is an international foursome that comprises Marco Mazzini of Peru, Martin Mosorjak of Slovakia, Citlalli Rosas of Mexico, and Sven Vandevoorde of Belgium. They specialize in taking non-clarinet pieces and adapting and arranging them for clarinet. Marco, who plays bass clarinet, often does these arrangements, such as “Hungarian Dance No. 5” by Johannes Brahms and “Spring” from The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi.

The Quasars Ensemble tackles a much different repertoire, frequently focusing on contemporary composers such as Antonio Ferreira, Viera Janarcekova, and Salvatore Sciarrino. On 27^th February 2008, they performed a concert at the Slovak Radio Symphony Hall that included Geerard Grisey’s “Vortex Temporum”, Tristan Murail’s “Barque Mystique”, and Josef Podprocky’s “Two Meditations”. They appeared at the Belem Arts Centre on 24^th September in a program that featured “Assonance III” by Michael Jarrell, “Coll’Age” by Vladimir Bokes, and “Sonata 1960” by Roman Berger. In November, they participated in the Ars Nova Cassoviae 6^th Festival of Contemporary Art, sprinkling works of Ivan Buffa, Vladimir Godar and Juraj Vajo in between those of Johann Sebastian Bach.

Martin was a guest performer with the Zwiebel Quartet at the 44^th Bratislava Music Festival on 23^rd November on “American Night” which consisted of “Black Angels (Images I)” by George Crumb, “Different Trains” by Steve Reich, and “The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind” by Osvalo Golijov.

In February 2009, the Quasars Ensemble returned to the Slovak Radio Symphony Hall for a “One Year After” concert that shined the spotlight on Vladimir Bokes’ “Postludium”, Petra Oliveira’s “Bachrata – Eyes Wide Shut for 8 Instruments”, and Salvatore Sciarrino’s “Quintettino No. 1”.

Soozvuk de Profundis performed “4 canzoni per voce e due strumenti melodici secondo le poesie di Michelangelo Buonarroti” at Studio 12, Jakub Platz 12, on 21^st May. Peter Zwiebel played viola and Lucia Duchnova handled the vocals.

Martin shared playing time with the Zwiebel Quartet on the Martin Burlas album, Sotto Voce, in 2009, teaming up with cellist Josef Luptak and pianist Eleonora Skutova on “Familienbilder (Family Pictures)”.

On 14^th August 2010, the Quasars Ensemble appeared at Congress Hall in a wide-ranging program that featured music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Ivan Buffa, Vladimir Godar, Darius Milhaud, Ennio Morricone, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Juraj Vajo.

He also collaborated with cellist Josef Liptak and pianist Nora Skutova in a multimedia presentation of photography-inspired works by Martin Burlas, Bosko Milakovic and Peter Zagar, in concomitance with Photography Month in Bratislava and Vienna, Austria.

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