Slovenian mezzosoprano Barbara Kozelj has firmly established herself as a charismatic and hugely versatile artist. Her voice and performances have been described as "thrillingly beautiful," "deep and powerful," "breathtaking," "deeply expressive," and "straight to the heart." Equally at home in opera, concert, and recital repertoire, her performances have brought her to leading international stages and continue to captivate audiences around the world.

Recent opera engagements include Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier) and Mélisande (Pelleas et Mélisande) with Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra and Jun Märkl in Taipei, Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde) at Leipzig Oper, Wagner22 and at Teatro de la Maestranza in Sevilla, Judith (Bluebeard’s Castle) with NJO and Antony Hermus and Penelope (Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria) with the Academy of Ancient Music and Richard Egarr at London’s Barbican Hall.

Barbara is in great demand as a concert soloist. After her debut with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and her Carnegie Hall debut her carreer has taken flight. Her recent highlights include Berg's Sieben frühe Lieder with Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and Respighi's Il Tramonto with Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife conducted by Antony Hermus, Canteloube's Chants d’Auvergne with Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and Bas Wiegers in Ljubljana and Ligeti's Requiem with Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de Espagna and David Afkham.

This season, she return to Wigmore hall for the performances of Mahler Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Zemlinsky 6 Songs to Poems by Maurice Maeterlinck and Schönberg Pierrot Lunaire with Klangforum Wien and Vimbayi Kaziboni, and to perform her beloved Mahler Das Lied von der Erde with Camerata RCO (members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra) later this year. Future concerts also include Winterreise with Nino Gvetadze in Amsterdam, Frauenliebe und Leben with Richard Egarr in Namur, Haydn Ariadna a Naxos with Shunske Sato and Mathew Passsion with Phion and Residentie Orchestra.

Barbara has collaborated with conductors including Iván Fischer, Jaap van Zweden, Jun Märkl, Henrik Nánási, Stefan Soltesz, Richard Egarr, Neeme Järvi, David Afkham, Paul McCreesh, Kenneth Montgomery, Reinbert de Leeuw, Bas Wiegers, Antony Hermus, Otto Tausk and with orchestras including the Royal Concertgebouw orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Residentie Orchestra, Academy of Ancient Music, Gabrieli Consort and Players, Athen’s State Orchestra, Orquestra Simfonica de Barcelona, Orquesta y coro nacionales de Espagna, St Luke’s orchestra, Slovenian Philharmonic, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and most of the Dutch orchestras.

Her versatility has also attracted the attention of many composers who have written works speciffically for her. She has sung world premieres of compositions written by Thomas Beijer, Jan van de Putte, Max Knigge and Oscar Bettison. She has a strong affinity with Lieder, regularly performing recitals with Julius Drake, Thomas Beijer, Phyllis Ferwerda and Nino Gvetadze.

The foundation for her musical development was established in Slovenia, where she graduated from the Academy of Music in Ljubljana. She later continued her studies and graduated from the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. She was a member of The New Opera Academy and the Dutch Opera Studio. Barbara has been coached by Marcos Bajuk, Irena Baar, Phyllis Ferwerda, Meinard Kraak, Ann Murray, Graciela Araya, Anne Sofie von Otter and continues to study with Sasja Hunnego, who has been her mentor and vocal coach throughout her carreer.

Residentie Orkest The Hague proves that even in the 21st century, symphonic music can still be meaningful to large and diverse audiences. Its reputation as one of the finest orchestras in Europe makes it an appropriate figurehead for The Hague as a cosmopolitan city of justice, peace, and culture. The orchestra performs concert series in the Zuiderstrandtheater in Scheveningen and in addition performs at venues such as Concertgebouw Amsterdam, TivoliVredenburg Utrecht and De Doelen in Rotterdam. Special crossover and innovative productions are also provided at The Hague’s prominent pop venue Paard van Troje throughout the season. The Residentie Orkest performs regularly at various other major concert halls abroad. Tours have brought the orchestra to New York, Boston, Chicago, London and Vienna amongst others and the orchestra also performed in countries like Japan, China, Germany, France and South America. There are also many prolific collaborations with a wide range of partners, including the Dutch National Theatre, Gemeentemuseum and the Dutch National Opera. Recent seasons have seen a much acclaimed production of Messiaen’s rarely performed opera Saint François d’Asisse and Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites.

A rich history Since its first concert in 1904, the Residentie Orkest has developed into one of the prominent symphony orchestras of The Netherlands. Founded by Dr Henri Viotta, who was also its first principal conductor, it quickly attracted composers like Richard Strauss, Igor Stravinsky, Max Reger, Maurice Ravel, Paul Hindemith and Vincent d’Indy. Guest conductors included Arturo Toscanini, Bruno Walter, Leonard Bernstein and Hans Knappertsbusch.

After World War II, Willem van Otterloo was appointed chief conductor. He led the orchestra from 1949 to 1973 and built a strong reputation by combining high-quality performances with adventurous programming. Van Otterloo was succeeded by Jean Martinon, Ferdinand Leitner, Hans Vonk, Evgenii Svetlanov, Jaap van Zweden and Neeme Järvi.

Chief conductor Starting season 2018/2019 Nicholas Collon is chief conductor and artistic advisor of the Residentie Orkest. Richard Egarr will join the orchestra as principal guest conductor in 2019. Until the summer of 2019 Jan Willem de Vriend will act as principal conductor.

Jun Märkl is a highly respected interpreter of the core German repertory, and has become known for his refined and idiomatic explorations of the French Impressionists. He serves as Music Director of the Taiwan Philharmonic (National Symphony Orchestra), Music Director of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and Chief Conductor of the Residentie Orkest The Hague, Netherlands. He also serves as Principal Guest Conductor of the Oregon Symphony.

Märkl’s expertise in the world of opera and long historical relationships with the state operas of Vienna, Berlin, Munich, the Semperoper Dresden, the Metropolitan Opera of New York, San Francisco Opera and New National Theatre in Tokyo have been complemented over the past many decades by his orchestral music directorships of the Orchestre National de Lyon, the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Basque National Orchestra, and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.

Märkl regularly guest conducts the leading orchestras of North America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe and has conducted many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, the Bavarian Radio Symphony, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, NHK Tokyo, and many others.

In the season 25/26, he is returning to the Auckland Philharmonic and Essen Orchestra; he is making his debut with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and recording with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Mr. Märkl also has an extensive discography of more than 60 recordings.

In recognition of his achievements in France, he was honored in 2012 with the title of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

He studied in Munich with Sergiu Celibidache, at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa.

Mr. Märkl is highly dedicated to working with young musicians: for many years, he worked as Principal Conductor at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo and the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado. He teaches as a Guest Professor at the Kunitachi College of Music, Tokyo, and in 2023, he founded the National Symphony Youth Orchestra of Taiwan.