Biography
Bor Zuljan has introduced innovative repertory alongside distinctive interpretive approaches to lute and additional plucked-string instruments. Recordings by him appear on the Ricercar label.
Slovenia is the country where Zuljan entered the world in 1987, an individual not to be mistaken for the Slovenian rock guitarist sharing that name who arrived in 1969. Both jazz and classical music formed part of his training at the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music. Following completion of those studies, he relocated to Koblenz, Germany, to work with guitarist Aniello Desiderio. Enrollment in the guitar and lute performance curriculum at Geneva’s Haute École de Musique came in 2007; there he obtained bachelor’s and master’s degrees while gaining command of numerous stringed instruments under the primary guidance of Dusan Bogdanovic. Although medieval music constituted his area of specialization during that period, Renaissance compositions have accounted for the bulk of his subsequent performances and recordings. An additional master’s degree in lute pedagogy was awarded by the same Geneva institution. Artistic direction of the Slovenian early music festival Flores Musicae has been in his hands since 2011.
As a soloist and collaborator with early music groups such as Vox Luminis, Il Giardino Armonico, and Le Concert Brisé, Zuljan maintains an active schedule. Frequent duo appearances have linked him with Bogdanovic and with baritone Romain Bockler; the latter partnership produced the 2019 release Josquin: Adieu mes amours under the duo name Dulces Exuviae. Leadership of the ensemble La Lyra also rests with Zuljan, whose album La barca del mio amore presents music by lutenist-composer Giacomo Gorzanis drawn from a critical edition prepared by Zuljan himself. The Ricercar label hosted his first solo album, Dowland: A Fancy, in 2020. A subsequent Ricercar project, Toutes les nuits, reunited him with Bockler and Dulces Exuviae in 2023 and included works by composers Philippe Verdelot, Bartolomeo Tromboncino, and Francisco Guerrero.
Slovenia is the country where Zuljan entered the world in 1987, an individual not to be mistaken for the Slovenian rock guitarist sharing that name who arrived in 1969. Both jazz and classical music formed part of his training at the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music. Following completion of those studies, he relocated to Koblenz, Germany, to work with guitarist Aniello Desiderio. Enrollment in the guitar and lute performance curriculum at Geneva’s Haute École de Musique came in 2007; there he obtained bachelor’s and master’s degrees while gaining command of numerous stringed instruments under the primary guidance of Dusan Bogdanovic. Although medieval music constituted his area of specialization during that period, Renaissance compositions have accounted for the bulk of his subsequent performances and recordings. An additional master’s degree in lute pedagogy was awarded by the same Geneva institution. Artistic direction of the Slovenian early music festival Flores Musicae has been in his hands since 2011.
As a soloist and collaborator with early music groups such as Vox Luminis, Il Giardino Armonico, and Le Concert Brisé, Zuljan maintains an active schedule. Frequent duo appearances have linked him with Bogdanovic and with baritone Romain Bockler; the latter partnership produced the 2019 release Josquin: Adieu mes amours under the duo name Dulces Exuviae. Leadership of the ensemble La Lyra also rests with Zuljan, whose album La barca del mio amore presents music by lutenist-composer Giacomo Gorzanis drawn from a critical edition prepared by Zuljan himself. The Ricercar label hosted his first solo album, Dowland: A Fancy, in 2020. A subsequent Ricercar project, Toutes les nuits, reunited him with Bockler and Dulces Exuviae in 2023 and included works by composers Philippe Verdelot, Bartolomeo Tromboncino, and Francisco Guerrero.
Albums
