Press release · Bratislava, 31 August 2026
THIRTEEN WINDS closes SEA2ON with five world premieres
Conducted by Marián Lejava, CODEnsemble presents five new works by distinctive voices in Slovak contemporary music.
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Five composers, thirteen wind instruments and five works the audience has never heard before. Conducted by Marián Lejava, CODEnsemble presents THIRTEEN WINDS – Five World Premieres on 16 September 2026 at 19:00 in Moyzes Hall, Bratislava.
The final evening of CODEnsemble SEA2ON brings world premieres by Milan Paľa, Jana Kmiťová, Marián Lejava, Anton Steinecker and Peter Dan Ferenčík. Pianist Katarína Paľová and violinist Milan Paľa appear as soloists.
THIRTEEN WINDS is also the culmination of CODEnsemble’s artistic journey so far: a collective that brings together distinctive figures of the Slovak performance and composition scene while creating space for new works, premieres and fresh readings of 20th- and 21st-century music.
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Thirteen wind instruments as one sonic organism
At the centre of the concert is an ensemble of thirteen wind instruments, based on the wind section of Alban Berg’s Chamber Concerto, a landmark of 20th-century music. In THIRTEEN WINDS this historical model becomes the starting point for five contemporary and distinctly different artistic statements.
The ensemble comprises piccolo, flute, oboe, English horn, E♭ clarinet, B♭ clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, contrabassoon, two horns, trumpet and trombone. The combination offers an unusually broad palette, from subtle chamber textures and delicate colour to a powerful, orchestrally layered sound.
The title refers not only to the number of instruments but to the essence of their sound. Human breath becomes tone, movement, tension, colour and shared energy. Thirteen individual voices form one living, continuously changing sonic organism.
Milan Paľa’s work adds solo piano to the ensemble. Jana Kmiťová expands the spectrum with violin and piano, while the remaining three works are scored for the thirteen winds alone.
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Five premieres, five creative worlds
Milan Paľa presents SUUM for piano and thirteen wind instruments, with Katarína Paľová as soloist. Jana Kmiťová’s fancy toys is written for violin, piano and thirteen winds, featuring Milan Paľa and Katarína Paľová.
Marián Lejava presents TAAS, a cycle of four pieces for thirteen wind instruments. The same forces appear in Anton Steinecker’s Shatten and Peter Dan Ferenčík’s TILT – Tiny, Inconspicuous Little Trinkets.
All five works were created specifically for this project. The concert is therefore more than a presentation of new music: it is the moment five new scores first become live sound and meet their audience.
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The artists behind the project
Marián Lejava
One of Slovakia’s most distinctive conductors and composers devoted to 20th- and 21st-century music. For more than two decades he has presented new music with Slovak and international orchestras and ensembles. His work includes VENI Ensemble, VENI ACADEMY, Melos Ethos Ensemble and Prague Modern, alongside regular collaborations with the Slovak Philharmonic, Slovak National Theatre and other institutions. He is the initiator, artistic director and conductor of CODEnsemble.
Milan Paľa
A leading figure of the Slovak performance scene and one of its most sought-after interpreters of contemporary music. He has premiered numerous works by Slovak and international composers and created an extensive discography spanning 20th-century classics, contemporary music and a unique collection of Slovak works for solo violin. In recent years he has also developed his own work as a composer.
Katarína Paľová
A pianist specialising in 20th- and 21st-century music, rarely performed repertoire and contemporary chamber works. She has premiered music by several Slovak composers and appeared as a soloist and chamber musician at festivals in Slovakia, Czechia and France. With Milan Paľa she recorded a series of violin, viola and piano works for Pavlík Records.
Jana Kmiťová
An internationally established Slovak composer based in Vienna. Her music has been heard at Wien Modern, Warsaw Autumn, Melos-Étos and the Munich Biennale, performed by ensembles including Klangforum Wien, the Arditti Quartet, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Slovak Philharmonic. She is a two-time recipient of the Ján Levoslav Bella Prize and also works in literature and visual art.
Anton Steinecker
A Slovak composer whose artistic formation connects Bratislava’s composition milieu with international experience in Prague, Jerusalem and Saarbrücken. He works mainly in chamber, ensemble, vocal and orchestral music, focusing on the inner world, memory, spiritual dimensions and detailed work with sound.
Peter Dan Ferenčík
A Slovak composer, dramaturge and co-initiator of CODEnsemble. His music explores the relationship between musical time and space, the migration of sound and unconventional placement of performers. His works have been presented by the Slovak Philharmonic, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, State Philharmonic Košice, Ostrava Banda and Ensemble Ricercata. For many years he worked as a dramaturge, presenter and programme manager at Rádio Devín, where he also initiated its resident ensemble project supporting Slovak music.
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From SeasOne to SEA2ON
CODEnsemble entered the Slovak music scene with SeasOne in 2024. Its aim was to present contemporary music in the context of defining 20th-century works while creating space for new Slovak music and its premieres.
The project’s first concert took place in Moyzes Hall, Bratislava, on 14 April 2024. The programme connected Wolfgang Rihm and Pascal Dusapin with music by Marián Lejava and Peter Dan Ferenčík. Dusapin’s violin concerto Quad received its Slovak premiere with Milan Paľa as soloist, while the works by Lejava and Ferenčík were heard in world premiere.
GET CARTER followed at Dvorana in November 2024. Music by Elliott Carter and Helen Grime met works by Jana Kmiťová, Adrián Demoč and Milan Paľa. The first season established CODEnsemble’s central principle: bringing Slovak music into dialogue with artists who shaped the international music of the 20th and 21st centuries.
SEA2ON developed this approach with a stronger focus on Slovak music and wind instruments. It opened with SOLO/DUO in the Small Hall of the House of Arts in Košice on 28 January 2026, featuring CODEnsemble’s principal performers in solo works and varied chamber formations.
The second event, TRIO, took place at Pálffy Palace in Bratislava on 23 May 2026. Clarinetist Horia Dumitrache, pianist Katarína Paľová, violinist Milan Paľa and cellist Andrej Gál performed works by Robert Kolář, Peter Javorka, Marián Lejava and Milan Paľa.
THIRTEEN WINDS builds on these chamber formations and expands them into a large wind ensemble. Its five world premieres fulfil SEA2ON’s central purpose: creating new Slovak works, presenting them at the highest interpretative level and bringing contemporary music to specialist and wider audiences alike.
CODEnsemble appears together with invited performers, including flautist Martina Kamenczay, clarinetists Martina Lišková and Horia Dumitrache, pianist Katarína Paľová and violinist Milan Paľa. Marián Lejava conducts.
Programme
Five world premieres
- Milan PaľaSUUMfor piano and 13 wind instruments · world premiere
- Jana Kmiťováfancy toysfor violin, piano and 13 wind instruments · world premiere
- Marián LejavaTAASfour pieces for 13 wind instruments · world premiere
- Anton SteineckerShattenfor 13 wind instruments · world premiere
- Peter Dan FerenčíkTILT – Tiny, Inconspicuous Little Trinketsfor 13 wind instruments · world premiere
CODEnsemble
Performers
16.09.2026 · 19:00 · Moyzesova sieň
THIRTEEN WINDS
Organiser: MUSICode / CODEnsemble