Their performance is stunning and the ensemble beyond reproach. It is apparent through this recording that this is a world-class duo from which we hope to hear many years of music making.
The Clarinet Magazine, USA

Duo Claripiano

Pianist Tatjana Kaučič and clarinetist Dušan Sodja established duo Claripiano in 1994. They studied chamber music with Božidar Tumpej and composer Ivo Petrić in Ljubljana and completed their specialist studies of chamber music with Anthony Spiri at the Cologne College of Music. Since then they have given a number of noticable concerts throughout Europe (Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Ljubljana Summer Festival, Piran Summer Festival, Villach KulturAbo, Montepulciano Chamber Music Academy…) Their first solo compact disc “Legends”, with the key-works from the 20th century repertoire, recorded in 2000, received excellent reviews in the BBC Music Magazine and in The Clarinet magazine from USA. They have chosen the compositions by contemporary Slovenian composers, dedicated to them, for their second CD »Encounters«, issued in 2004.

Tatjana Kaučič - Piano

The pianist Tatjana Kaučič began her music education in her native town of Ljubljana. She graduated from the Ljubljana Academy of Music and received her Master's degree with Brigitte Engelhard at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg. Afterwards she completed her specialist studies of chamber music with Anthony Spiri at the Cologne College of Music. She perfected her artistry at numerous masterclasses with various teachers (Anthony Spiri, Jose Daniel-Martinez, Leonid Brumberg).
Besides solo performances she is devoting herself to chamber music, cooperating with many instrumentalists and composers. Her concert trail leads her from the Ljubljana Summer Festival to Zagreb, Belgrade, Prague, Salzburg, Berlin, Stockholm to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
The result of her intensive cooperation with the Slovenian composers are numerous new compositions and recordings: in 2001 she recorded the CD »The Sonatas for Wind Instruments and piano« by Ivo Petrić, and in 2002 the CD »The Piano Music« by Janez Matičič. Her new solo CD »Riflessi Mitteleuropei« from 2007 is the result of the cooperation with the Italian composer Riccardo Fabris, which has begun in 2006 with the premiére of his »Suite« at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She records regurarly for the Radio Slovenija.

Dušan Sodja - Clarinet

Dušan Sodja studied clarinet with Alojz Zupan at the Ljubljana Academy of Music and graduated in 1995. Afterwards he studied at the Salzburg Mozarteum with Alois Brandhofer (Solo-Clarinet of Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra) and Christine Gillhaus where he was awarded a Master's degree in 1998. He attended masterclasses with Gerald Pachinger, Vincenzo Mariozzi and Jiri Hlavač.
Dušan Sodja has given concerts in Slovenia, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Slovakia and Sweden, and has performed as a soloist with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of the Darmstadt State Opera, the Žilina Chamber Orchestra from Slovakia, the Bogdan Warchal Slovak Chamber Orchestra and Celje String Orchestra. In 1992 he was first clarinetist in the Youth Symphony Orchestra in Bayreuth, and a year later also in the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra in France.
The performance of Mozart's Concerto brought him the Student's Academy Prize “Prešeren” in 1995. He has premiered many works by Slovenian composers, some of which have been dedicated to him. From 2001 to 2005 Dušan Sodja was lecturing at “Junge Kärntner Bläserphilharmonie” in Carinthia. Since 2006 he is leading the clarinet section at Ljubljana University Symphonic Winds. He has been working regurarly with the Slovenian Chamber Orchestra, Consortium Musicum Orchestra and Academia Ars Musicae. He is clarinetist soloist of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and teacher at Conservatory of Music in Ljubljana.