Clarinetist and pedagogue, associate professor of the clarinet at the Ljubljana Academy of Music, lives in Ljubljana, where he is employed by the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra as a solo clarinetist.
As a soloist, chamber musician and member of various chamber ensembles, Kotar performs in Slovenia and abroad (Europe, USA, South America...), leads seminars for the clarinet and chamber music (Croatia, Serbia, Italy, Hungary, Belgium, Israel, Brazil), and participates in the jury of international competitions.
He has recorded ten CDs: four as an independent soloist – with the Slovenian Philharmonic String Quartet (RTV Publishing, Slovenia, Ljubljana, 1998), COLLAGE with harpist Nicoletta Sanzin Fabbri (RTV Publishing Slovenia, Ljubljana, 2002), SOLO with compositions exclusively for solo clarinet (Sound-tech, 2005) and most recently with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra (Slovenian Philharmonic, 2006); and six ensemble CDs – three with the Ariart Wind Quintet: ARIART (RTV Publishing Slovenia, Ljubljana 1997), COCKTAIL (Ariart, 2004) and EPISODI CONCERTANTE (Sound-tech, 2005), KLARINETOVANJE with the Slovenian clarinet quartet (Samozaložba, Ljubljana, 1999), FAMILY with the Slovenian Clarinet Sextet (Sound-tech, 2003) and MUSIC OF OUR TIME with the MD7 Ensemble for Contemporary Music (RTV publishing Slovenia, Ljubljana, 2005). His performance of Rossini’s Theme, Introduction and Variations was released on a CD of the Slovenian Police Orchestra (Ljubljana, 1994), as well as a live performance from The Netherlands on a CD of the Trbovlje Workers Band.
Kotar is a member, co-founder and artistic director of the Slovenian Clarinet Orchestra and the Slovenian Clarinet Sextet and a member of the Ariart Wind Quintet and the MD7 Contemporary Music Ensemble. As a clarinetist, he collaborates with the Slovenian Chamber Orchestra, the Slovenian Police Orchestra, The Academie Ars Musicae Orchestra, The Trbovlje Workers Band, etc.
The newest addition to the discography of the first clarinettist of The Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Jože Kotar, offers us a selection of four concertos for clarinet and symphony orchestra. And as the artist presented himself for the first time within the
regular concert season as a soloist before his own orchestra with the Tomasi Concerto, it is precisely this work with which the present CD opens.
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