‘’Unpretentious, serious and reflective, he is one of the most exciting saxophonists of his generation and explores new sound dimensions with his instrument.’’ Dorothea Walchshäusl, Crescendo Magazine

‘’…you can rarely experience the saxophone so diversely’’. Klaus Friedrich, CLASS:aktuell

Oskar Laznik (*1987, Slovenia) began learning the saxophone in 1996 in the Hrastnik Music school with Prof. Vanjo Tomc. Between 2002 and 2006 he attended the Secondary School of Music and Ballet in Ljubljana, where he successfully graduated from the class of Prof. Dejan Prešiček. He continued his studies with Prof. Matjaž Drevenšek at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, where he graduated with a special commendation in 2010. In 2012 Oskar completed his Masters degree with Prof. Daniel Gauthier at the Hochschule of Music and Dance in Cologne, Germany.

Oskar is the winner of numerous competitions: National competition for young musicians of the Republic of Slovenia (2004), International contest for young saxophonists in Nova Gorica, Slovenia (2003, 2007), European Competition for Young Saxophonists in Gap, France (2003, 2005), and was the finalist of the ”Hülsta Woodwinds 2011” competition in Münster, Germany. He was awarded the ”Škerjanec Award”, a highly acclaimed prize from the Secondary School of Music and Ballet in Ljubljana, as well as the ”Prešeren award” from the Academy of Music, Ljubljana in 2008 for the performance of the Lars-Erik Larsson Concerto with the Symphony Orchestra of Opera and Ballet, Ljubljana.

His repertoire includes both standard works for saxophone, as well as transcriptions of works from the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods. He has performed at many festivals (Festival Ljubljana, International Festival of Contemporary Music Koper, Slowind Festival, Two Days & Two Nights of New Music Odessa, Lent Festival Maribor, Festival Echos, World Music Days) and numerous other venues in Slovenia and abroad, including Serbia, Germany, France, Latvia, Ukraine, Italy, Austria and the USA. As a soloist he shared the stage with orchestras Kammersymphonie Berlin, Symphony Orchestra of Opera and Ballet Ljubljana, RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra.

He is devoting a lot of his time and attention to cooperation with composers and expanding the repertoire for saxophone. Many composers, i.e., Peter Šavli, Nina Šenk, Uroš Rojko, Matej Bonin and others, dedicated their works to him.

Since September 2012 Oskar Laznik has worked as a professor of Saxophone at the Conservatory of Music and Dance in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Additionally, he holds master classes at various universities (Hartt School of Music Hartford, USA; Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, Germany).

As their performing artist, Oskar Laznik plays exclusively Henri Selmer Paris saxophones and mouthpieces.