Zora Slokar

Zora Slokar was born in Bern and is principal horn in the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano. 

During her studies, Zora was sponsored by the Orpheum Foundation Zurich as well as being a Migros/ Kulturprozent scholarship holder. Zora won 1st prize at the Anemos Competition in Rome in 2002 and at the "Ceccarossi" Competition in Orsogna, Italy in 2003. She is a laureate of "Paxman" Competition "Young Horn Players" in London, the ”Schenk" Foundation Zofingen and the "Kiwanis" Club Zurich 2007. 

As a soloist, Zora has performed with the Tchaikovsky Radio Orchestra Moscow, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Radio/Tv Orchestra Ljubljana, Zagreb Soloists, Istanbul Devlet Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, Orchestra di Camera di Milano, Bern Kammerorchester, Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz, Orchestra da Camera de Curitiba (Brazil), Capella Istropolitana and Brandenburg State Orchestra Frankfurt. Conductors she has worked with include Gerd Albrecht, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Alain Lombard, Andrés Orozco-Estrada and Howard Griffiths. 

As a passionate chamber musician, she is a regular guest at many chamber music festivals, such as the Verbier Festival, December Nights Moscow, Ljubljana Festival, Oleg Kagan Musikfest Kreuth, Oxford Chamber Music Festival, Progetto Martha Argerich Lugano, Beethovenfest Bonn, Augsburg Mozartfest, Musikfestival Mondsee and the festival "Chamber Music Connects the World" Kronberg. At the invitation of Gidon Kremer, Zora played at the "Lockenhaus" chamber music festival for many years. Her chamber music partners include Gidon Kremer, Martha Argerich, Eduard Brunner, Natalia Gutmann, Maurice Bourgue, Heinz Holliger, Alexander Lonquich, Nicolas Altstädt, Shirley Brill, and the string quartets Terpsycordes and Auryn.

Zora Slokar began her musical training at the age of five playing the violin. At the age of 16, she fell captive to the charms of the french horn. Under the tutelage of her famous trombonist father, she began her horn studies. After completing a teaching diploma specializing in violin at the Hochschule der Künste in Bern, she concentrated entirely on playing the horn.  She then studied  at the Mozarteum in Salzburg as well as with Erich Penzel in Maastricht, where she received her Bachelor's Degree in 2003. In 2008 she received her soloist diploma at the Zürich Hochschule Der Kunste as a member of Radovan Vlatkovic’s class.

As principal horn she has played in many renowned orchestras such as the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, Verbier Festival Orchestra, Tonhalle Zurich, London Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Ensemble Modern Frankfurt, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Mikhailovsky Theatre St. Petersburg. 

Zora Slokar has given masterclasses at the International Chamber Music Academy in Ochsenhausen, Germany, Festival Cornisctico dell`Etna, Italy,  Carnaval du Cor, Germany as well as at various music faculties across Europe.

In a trio with Dénes Varjon and Tamàs Major she recorded Johannes Brahms and György Ligeti’s horn trios for Swiss television.