Imago Sloveniae festival bringing another music-packed summer
Ljubljana, 10 June - Imago Sloveniae, a festival known for classical music but also jazz and world music concerts in historical town settings, and the Summer in Old Ljubljana festival are getting under way this evening. They bring more than 60 free concerts by musicians from Slovenia and another 26 countries at 27 venues in several cities until 30 August.
Ljubljana
The Stanford Jazz Orchestra performs at the Imago Sloveniae festival in 2023.
Photo: Katja Kodba/STA
Starting off things in Congress Square in Ljubljana tonight is a concert by the SNG Maribor Symphony Orchestra, which will pay tribute to the 200th anniversary of the birth of Bedrich Smetana and the 100th anniversary of the deaths of composers Giacomo Puccini and Gabriel Faure.
The capital's City Museum will serve as the main festival venue to host, among other things, on 21 June six new compositions by Slovenian composers Mark Muni Mihevc, Klara Mlakar, Jan Triller, Tilen Slakan, Aleksandra Naumovska Potik and Klemen Leben.
Among the many top international musicians at the festival, Imago Sloveniae project leader Jan Kern has highlighted the Aron String Quartet from Vienna, Kazakh-born violinist Aiman Mussakhajayeva and Portuguese pianist Bernardo Santon.
The jewel in the programme, according to Kern, is the guest appearance of the State Wind Orchestra Salzburg at the Ljubljana Cathedral on 18 July. Also scheduled at the same venue in July are concerts by the English Chamber Choir Londinium and the Italian Male Choir Il Polfifonico di Ruda.
Traditionally, the festival will also include a concert by the selected winners of the national competition of young musicians TEMSIG.
After a premiere last year, the Ljubljana Zoo will turn into a concert venue this year as well, hosting on 24 August the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and its performance of Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf.
The Jazz stage and Nights in Old Ljubljana, the largest international street festival of folk and jazz music in the capital, will be downsized a bit this year due to financial constraints, but a number of concerts are scheduled at the end of August notwithstanding.
An international musicological symposium is also part of the summer programme, which can be accessed in full at sta.si/quzyiB.