ORIYON

11.7. 2016 at 20:30
Grand Hotel Toplice


The music group ORIYON has prepared an enchanting programme of  French Chanson Songs  with new arrangements that gently flirt with the spirit of jazz  emphasizing the harmony between  music and lyrics to create a charming atmosphere »à la française«. The band that  has developed its own particular sound  consists of Marko Zaletelj – guitar, Zmago Štih – accordion, Gašper Žerjal – contrabass, bass guitar, Aleš Vunjak – drums, Sonja Lovrenčič – voice. Welcome!




ORIYON is made up of five members:

Marko Zaletelj (guitar) – Marko Zaletelj has been actively pursuing a musical career in Slovenia for over 35 years. He has worked a lot as a studio musician, and played abroad for some time. He has been involved in numerous projects, working with renowned musicians such as Dada Kladenik, Nika Perunović, Mia Žnidarič, Lado Leskovar, Maja Keuc and Maja Založnik. He has also performed in large ensembles, including Big Band Maribor, Hammond trio with Raphael Wressnig, Urban Boogaloo, The wanted 4, Frikeros, Bilbi, Pappas, Marko Grobler Band, and Tzigano Brutallo. Occasionally, he appears as a guest performer with other Slovenian jazz orchestras (big bands) and in TV music shows. In the course of his long career, Marko Zaletelj has invented his own unique musical style.

 Zmago Štih (accordion) After completing the Secondary Music School in Ljubljana, he continued his studies in Germany, at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar, in the class of Prof. Ivan Koval, where he graduated in 1999. A multiple prize-winner of national and international competitions, Zmago Štih now performs as a soloist or member of different chamber groups and teaches the accordion at the Fran Korun Koželjski Music School in Velenje.

Aleš Vunjak (drums) – He has been actively involved in music for over 20 years. His preference lies with musical genres that require an intensive interactive performance that focuses on clarity, precision and expresiveness. Vunjak has performed a number of different styles, such as jazz, rock, funk, pop, swing and others. He has worked with renowned and established performers Bambola, Zoran Predin, Peter Andrej, Svetnik, Granna, Ana Karneža, Trinitas, Vlado Kreslin, The Pyramids, Maja Založnik & Papas, Boštjan Bračič, The SwingTones, Karin Zemljič, Norbert Arbesser, Peter Januš, Nina Miglič. He has also performed in many musical events  such as the Maribor Swiing Festival, Festival LENT, The Swing Brats Cabaret, Zlatna Koogla, All that swing weekend dance festival, Radio City anniversary celebration, presentation of the Val 014 compilation, Swing break 2014, Blejska noč, Swingin' Graz, Frankie 100, and others.

Gašper Žerjal (bass) - Having completed his e-bass and double bass training at the B.A.S.E., he was mentored by Matej Hotko and admitted to the jazz and improvised music course at the Anton Bruckner Universität in Linz. For several years, he has been working with the the orchestra of Druga gimnazija as a co-mentor and played in numerous bands in Slovenia and abroad. In order to perfect his knowledge and skills, he has attended several specialized courses and seminars (e.g. Summer Jazz School in Grožnjan, Summer Jazz School 'Boben in Lajn').

Sonja Lovrenčič (vocal) - A teacher of French and English by profession, Sonja was driven by her passion for languages, poetry and music into the world of French chansons. Private singing lessons with Dada Kladenik had paid off; several years ago Sonja released a CD album of French chansons with a modern twist titled »Toutes ces histoires« (All These Stories), which includes French versions of several most popular Slovenian pop songs.