
NIGHTS IN OLD LJUBLJANA TOWN
NOVI TRG
20.00 Opening of the 31st International Music Festival Nights in Old Ljubljana Town: Big Band RTV Slovenija z gosti
Conductor: Lojze Krajnčan
Soloists:
Marina Martensson (Sweden/Slovenia), vocals
Boštjan Gombač (Slovenia), wind instruments
Goran Bojčevski (Macedonia/Slovenia), clarinet
Nino Mureškič (Slovenia), percussion
The opening concert event with Big Band RTV Slovenia and four charismatic musicians, Swedish-Slovenian singer Marina Martensson, Macedonian-Slovenian clarinetist Goran Bojčevski, Slovenian multi-instrumentalist Boštjan Gombač and Slovenian percussionist Nino Mureškič.
22.00 Babra (Hungary)
Dániel Koller, tamburas
Dávid Pozsonyi, tambura, percussion, vocals
Benedek Réti, accordion
Bence Babcsán, tambura, wind instruments, vocals
Veronika Varga, tambura bass, lead vocal
The Hungarian quintet connects the South Slavic tradition of the Danube region with urban-inspired forms of music styles in the sound of tamburas, accordions and wind instruments.
DVORNI TRG
20.30 The Balkan Experience of Song and Ritual (Serbia, Macedonia, Slovenia)
Jelena Soro, vocals, oboa
Brigita Marko, vocals
Tea Vidmar, vocals
Dejan Jovanov, percussion
Folk music tradition from Slovenia to Turkey: Through traditional setting (polyphonic singing accompanied by percussion), the musicians seek a new expression in the context of content, harmonic and expressive integration in today’s space and time.
22.00 Baro Drom Orkestar (Italy)
Modestino Musico, accordion
Vieri Bugli, electric violin
Michele Staino, electric double bass
Gabriele Pozzolini, drums, percussion
The explosive “power gipsy dance” band from Florence mixes influences of Balkan and Armenian folklore, as well as klezmer and Italian folk dance pizzica.
*In case of rain at 23.00 at Novi trg.
STARI TRG
20.30 Shaun Ferguson (Canada)
Shaun Ferguson, vocals, guitar
Julien Breau, double bass
Marie-Andrée Gaudet, violin
An evening of original compositions by guitarist and composer who explores a wide range of genres and contemporary folk practices and opens them up to an ethereal, free sonority.
22.00 Invisible World (Czech Republic, Turkey, Serbia)
Efe Turumtay, violin
Nikola Zarić, accordion
Tomáš Liška, double bass
Kamil Slezák, drums, percussion
The international ensemble mixes jazz with the colors of the Mediterranean and Southeastern Europe and reflects the influences of minorities (mainly Serbian and Turkish) on the contemporary Czech scene.
GORNJI TRG
21.00 DagaDana (Poland, Ukraine, Hungary)
Daga Gregorowicz, vocals, electronics
Dana Vynnytska, vocals, keyboards
Wawrzyniec Topa, double bass, vocals
Péter Somos, drums
A seductive sound mix of folklore legacy (from Polish-Ukrainian basin) and electronic ethno groove.
*In case of rain at 23.00 at Stari trg.
PLEČNIKOVE PLESNE ARKADE
20.00 Moj Korak – Tango pod arkadami
Tango is a non-verbal intuitive language that is more than just a dance or a musical style – it is a way of life. The magic of tango is in full awareness and attention to the partner, at the moment when the dancers feel the music and their energy blends into one. Their souls connect and the lightest touch becomes the strongest leadership.
31. INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL NIGHTS IN OLD LJUBLJANA TOWN (29th -31st August 2019)
A PART OF THE INTERNATIONAL EUROPEAN PROJECT »VOICES OF MINORITIES«
Nights in Old Ljubljana Town (29th – 31st August) will be also this year a part of the two-year international project Voices of Minorities, supported by the EU programme Creative Europe.
»Voices of Minorities« is a joint project of four festivals from four countries: Nights in Old Ljubljana Town – Imago Sloveniae (Slovenija), Budapest Folk Fest – Hagyományok Háza (Budapest, Hungary), Musicastrada (Toscany, Italy) and Trefpunt (Ghent, Belgium). With the Voices of Minorities project, we would like to point out the often underestimated, even overlooked, but none the less essential influence that ethnic minorities are constantly exercising upon society and (especially musical) culture in Europe. The project specifically refers to the current refugee crisis, the general public’s attitude towards it and the process of integration of refugees into a new living environment. On the basis of intercultural dialogue, through education and awareness-raising as well as by connecting representatives of different ethnic minorities and the general public, we want to stimulate reflection on this issues and on possible positive effects on the integration of ethnic minorities into society, thereby contributing to the openness of society for the differences in the long run.
The main idea of the project is the exchange of musicians and groups whose music reflects the effects of ethnic minorities among the four participating partners. Each of the partners offers several bands representing the music of ethnic minorities in their countries in exchange. The result is a collection of names of musically diverse performers representing minorities from many different areas of Europe and other continents, giving festival program leaders the freedom to design musical content. All programs will reflect the music of minorities, and at the same time, due to the different choices of individual festivals, they will also be very diverse.
An important aspect is the revival of cultural heritage, as the programs of all participating festivals will be held in historic old town centers.
The Old Ljubljana Town will thus be revived in the last week of August as the cultural venue of the biggest street festival in the capital. More than 30 concerts of ethno / jazz music and other cultural events will take place in more than 10 locations in the embrace of the magical historic ambience. The International ethnomusicological symposium “Sound, a poem, a political activity” will be held within the framework of the festival, which is being prepared in cooperation with the leading international association of ethnomusicologists and ethno choreologists ICTM (International Council for Traditional Music).
So, mark it as soon as possible on the calendar to spend the last weekend of August with thousands of other music lovers. As in all past years, all the events of the Nights in Old Ljubljana Town will be free for visitors.
Have a look also to project-partner’s festivals:
- Budapest Folk Fest (Hagyományok Háza) | 22nd–25th May 2019 | Budapest, Hungary
http://www.budapestfolkfest.hu/en
- Musicastrada | 5th July – 9th August 2019 | Toscany, Italy
https://www.musicastrada.it/en/musicastrada-festival-en/
- Trefpunt | 19th–28th July 2019 | Ghent, Belgium
Project partners: