Mojca Lavrenčič (1993) is a representative of the younger generation of Slovenian conductors, distinguished by her versatile musical curiosity. After studying conducting at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana under the tutelage of conductors Marko Letonja and Simon Dvoršak, from which she graduated with honours (summa cum laude), she furthered her knowledge in the field of historical performance practice while studying harpsichord at the prestigious Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel (Switzerland) under the guidance of professor and conductor Andrea Marcon. For her outstanding performances during her studies, she was awarded the student Prešeren Prize for concert activity, the silver prize in harpsichord at the Svirel International Music Competition and the gold prize and laureate at the International Competition for Complementary Piano in Niš.
During her studies, she began to work closely with the Slovenian National Opera and Ballet Ljubljana and the Slovenian Chamber Music Theatre as an accompanist, assistant and conductor. This brought her into contact first with opera, and soon after with ballet. She was assistant to local conductors (Hribernik, Krečič, Voltolini, Švara, Spasić, Ploj Peršuh, Dvoršak) and conductors from abroad (Švec, Kyzlink, Rhodes and von Steinaecker). She gained insight into the theatrical, dramaturgical and dance aspects of theatre while working with renowned directors such as Frank Van Laecke, Alessio Pizzech, Jiři Nekvasil, Vinko Möderndorfer, Yulia Roschina, Aleksandar Popovski, Matjaž Farič, Rocc, Lutz Hochstraate, Jernej Lorenci, Eva Hribernik, and renowned choreographers such as José Carlos Martínez, Jean-Sébastien Colau, Vincenzo Veneruso, Howard Quintero Lopez, Ivan Peternelj and Lukas Zuschlag.
Despite her youth, she has successfully conducted numerous operas and musical theatre works, such as The Maid of Orleans, The Tales of Hoffmann, The Bartered Bride, Beauty and the Beast, The Diary of Anne Frank, etc., as well as the ballets Bolero, Love, Le Corsair, Giselle and Peter and the Wolf. The French opera Hamlet, which was staged by the SNG Maribor Opera at the end of the season (2024/2025), received a very positive response from both the audience and the music critics. The successful collaboration opened the way for her further work at the Maribor Opera House.
At the Slovenian Chamber Music Theatre, she was active mainly in the field of children’s opera, conducting the premiere of the Slovenian opera Gospod in hruške by Dušan Bavdek. She was also the musical director of the children’s operas Punished Curiosity and Brundibar, in which the singers of the children’s choir of the Glasbena Matica took part. As an accompanist and assistant, she helped in the staging of the operas Candide, The Turn of the Screw, La Ceccina and the musical Urine town.
She regularly collaborates with various Slovenian orchestras, in particular the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and the Slovenian National Theatre Maribor Symphony Orchestra, with whom she presents concerts in various formats and for various occasions.
In March 2023, she made her debut as a conductor abroad. At the invitation of ballet director Jean-Sébastien Colau and choreographer José Carlos Martínez, she took over the musical direction of the ballet production of Adolphe Adam’s Le Corsair at Italy’s largest theatre, the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Sicily. After a successful collaboration, she was invited to conduct the Women’s Day Concert and Prokofiev’s Cinderella in March 2024, choreographed by award-winning Thierry Malandain, and in December 2024, the ballet The Nutcracker in a Sicilian makeover, choreographed by Jean-Sébastien Colau and Vincenzo Veneruso. Among her notable performances abroad, she has also conducted at the Palais Garnier in Paris, where she led the Orchestra of the Opéra National de Paris in four ballet evenings for the opening of the 2024/2025 season.
She enjoys making music with young professional and amateur musicians. She co-founded and directed the Grex Symphoniacorum Symphony Orchestra of the University of Ljubljana, the Jesuit College Chapel and one of the finest tamburizza orchestras in Slovenia, the Tamburjaši. She is committed to spreading cultural awareness in the Slovenian environment, which she enriches with interesting concert programmes called “Dvoriščni koncerti” (Courtyard Concerts).