Duo Furioso consists of prize-winning young cellists Helena Švigelj and Urška Horvat from Slovenia. They started playing together during their postgraduate studies in Belgium in 2013, where they made many appearances on stage including two concerts at Fêtes de Wallonie in 2013 and 2014. In July 2015 they debuted in beautiful Union Hall in Maribor at Festival Lent, one of the most prestigious festivals in Slovenia. The duo has also received coaching by leading musicians such as David Cohen and Eric Chardon. Their passion for playing chamber music has always been their principal way to express.
Last year they have performed at Go Cello Festival in London. In the near future they will have series of concerts in UK with their standard repertoire, to which they will include some of new pieces, written especially for them.
Urška Horvat is a young Slovenian cellist. She is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes from national and international competitions: Music Club of London 2017, Concordia Foundation 2017, 1st prize at the Vera Kantrovitch Bach Competition 2015, 1st prize at the Soloists' Competition 2016, 1st prize at the Leonard Smith and Felicity Young Competition 2016, Wettbewerb fur Violoncello Liezen (Austria), Young International Janigro Competition (Croatia)...
Urška has appeared in venues including the Wigmore Hall, St. Martin in the Fields, St. James's Piccadilly, Cadogan Hall, King's Place, Southbank Centre and Flagey (Belgium).
Urška has been invited as a soloist and a chamber musician to participate in various festivals, such as Davos Festival (Switzerland), Les Sons Intensifs (Lessines, Belgium), Festival 'Côté Cour, Côté Jardin' (Belgium), Virenze Concerts Series (Netherlands), Glasbena mladina Ljubljanska (Ljubljana, Slovenia) and Festival Lent (Maribor, Slovenia). In June 2016 she performed Dvorák's Cello Concerto at Cadogan Hall.
She finished Postgraduate Artist Diploma in 2016 with Distinction and Director’s Prize for Excellence in Strings under the guidance of internationally renowned cellist David Cohen.
Helena Švigelj is a young Slovenian cellist, recipient of many prizes such as 1st Prize at Soloist Competition 2018, Silver Medal of Worshipful Musicians Company, John Thompson String Ensemble Prize, 1st Prize at Cavatina Intercollegiate Chamber Music Competition 2017, 1st prize at the Vera Kantrovich Bach competition 2016, 1st prize at the Vivian Joseph classical concerto competition 2016. Currently, she is studying a Postgraduate Artist Diploma at Trinity Laban Music and Dance Conservatoire in London, in the class of renowned professor, David Cohen.
As soloist she performed with established orchestras like Slovenian Philharmonics Orchestra, Orchestra of Royal conservatory of Mons (In Belgium and France), Orchestra de chambre de Wallonie and NOVA philharmonics.
Other musicians that Helena had worked with include Jessica Cottis, Rivka Golani, David Parry, Yi-Chen Lin, Uxia Martinez Botana, Jodie Devos. Just to name a few.
As passionate chamber musician, Helena has performed in Great Britain, Belgium, Slovenia, Croatia, China, Germany, Italy, France and Austria. She played at renowned venues like Cadogan Hall, St. John's Smith Square, St. Martins in the Fields, St. James Piccadilly, Blackheath Halls Recital room, Orcn Chapel, Pound Arts Centre, Slovenian Philharmonics Hall, Studio 4 in Flagey, Brussels.