STA, 27 August 2020 - Slovenia-based artists will be in the focus of the 32nd Nights in Old Ljubljana Town. The international music festival will bring traditional sounds of modernity to the Ljubljana old town Thursday through Saturday.
"Culture is one of the sectors that have been hit particularly hard by the current crisis," Janoš Kern of organiser Imago Sloveniae has said in a press release. "Therefore we decided to support domestic artists this year."
In 23 admission-free events, spectators will be able to listen to music to "some of the best Slovenian performers and selected foreign musicians living in Slovenia. The programme will also be sprinkled with a few top ensembles from abroad".
In total, more than 100 musicians from 12 countries will perform in six venues in the .Ljubljana old town. The festival will feature folk, jazz and classical music, using traditional influence in modern sound forms.
A large share of artists performing are members of ethnic minorities, as the festival will be accompanied by an international conference dedicated to music and minorities.
Organised by the Musicology Department of the Ljubljana Faculty of Arts, the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU) and KED Folk Slovenija, the conference will mark 20 years since the establishment of a minority music study group within the NGO International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM).
The festival will kick off tonight with Mi Linda Dama, an Italian-Serbian ensemble, narrating Sephardic stories to the sound of Andalusian melodies and Arab rhythms.
Moreover, spectators will be able to enjoy a modern take on tango as part of Tori Tango, a project by accordion player Jure Tori, and a performance by Zvezdana Novaković, an interpreter of folk songs, as well as a concert by Kapobando, an ensemble of accordion player Marko Hatlak.
The festival will also feature Flamenko dancer Ana Pandur, accompanied by Vito Mareence Flamenco Duo, Mascara Quartet performing fado, while the ensemble Lasanthi will perform Indian classical music.
The renowned British folk musician Hanna James and her The JigDoll Ensemble will also perform, as well as composers Aldo Kumar and Matija Krečič, with the latter presenting his most recent album Cut/Rez.
The open-air events will take place even if it rains, the organisers have said.
The full programme can be found here
