Kristijan Krajnčan takes a nostalgic path down the memory lane of family musical tradition, yet always includes in his compositions everything he deems to be of interest to him: the raspy voices from more than hundred-years-old recordings on wax cylinders, untempered quarter-tone intervals, stories hidden in lyrics, mystical customs of Slovenian pagans … The original melody is left intact in some pieces, while elsewhere all that remained was the atmosphere emanating from the song’s essence.
Kristijan Krajnčan, cello, drums, percussion, electronics
Special guest: Tomaž Gajšt, trumpet
About Kristjan Krajnčan
Kristijan Krajnčan is making a name for himself as one of the most prominent European artists of his generation. A virtuoso both on the cello and on drums, composer, and movie maker, Kristijan is fusing diverse art forms and always refuses to be pinned down by single-art labels. His work is characterized by exploration and the ambition to combine classical storytelling with modern creative techniques.
Kristijan earned numerous awards across many fields of art; he was the first winner of the Jazzon award for best Slovenian jazz composition, the first award at the national competition of classical musicians of Slovenia, and earned rave reviews at the Seifert Competition for jazz strings in Poland, where he won a special award for artistic value and original playing style. He can also be rightfully proud of having made it to the semi-finals at the Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition for Drums in Washington (USA).
His solo project saw him release four albums: DrummingCellist (2017), on which he arranged Bach’s Suite No. 2 and Arvo Pärt’s Fratres for cello and jazz drums; Abraxas (2019), for which he wrote original music inspired by world mythologies and C. G. Jung’s work; Floating Sand (2021), on which he collaborated with his father, conductor and music arranger Lojze Krajnčan, and the RTV Slovenia Big Band; and his latest album entitled Zabučale gore / The Mountains Roared (2022), on which he reinterpreted Slovenian folk music through contemporary classical and improvisational concepts.
