The 2012/13 Winter Season in Slovenia

The season features musical highlights from the performance of world-renowned soprano Anna Netrebko in Cankarjev dom, cellist Mischa Maisky, Malian kora player Toumani Diabaté to renowned blues musician Lucky Peterson, who will perform at the well-known tourist site of Postojnska jama. We will also be able to experience many first-class performances by renowned Slovene musicians, such as the internationally acclaimed world music group Terrafolk, opera singer Sabina Cvilak and organist/cembalist Dalibor Miklavčič.

LJUBLJANA'S CLASSICAL MUSIC VENUES

Cankarjev dom

Slovenia's central cultural venue is Cankarjev dom, which is the main organising institution for Ljubljana's cultural events. It houses several concert halls which host classical subscription series as well as concert series focusing on classical music, jazz, world music and modern dance, ballet and opera stagings. The 2012/13 season features many performances by national orchestras such as the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, the Slovene Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as renowned guest orchestras such as the National Academy of St Cecilia Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic and Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, whose performances will take place in Gallus Hall, the biggest venue of Cankarjev Dom, seating 1545 spectators.

The RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra is a prominent national orchestra which has highlighted the creativity of Slovenian composers by recording almost the entire Slovene symphonic repertoire. The orchestra's annual concert series Kromatika, which features ten performances under chief conductor En Shao and international guest conductors, is held in Cankarjev Dom. The orchestral performances of a traditional classical repertoire will be accompanied by the Tone Tomšič Academic Choir of the University of Ljubljana and guest soloists such as the virtuoso trumpeter Sergei Nakariakov among others. 

Cankarjev Dom's Gold and Silver season series will present prestigious concerts by some of the world's renowned orchestras, virtuosos and conductors such as Antonio Pappano and Iván Fischer, oboist François Leleux, the National Academy of St Cecilia Orchestra, the Belgian National Orchestra and the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra in Gallus Hall. This year, the silver concert season taking place in the Slovenian Philcharmonic Hall as well as in the Gallus Hall of Cankarjev Dom, traditionally focuses on the best of chamber music by prestigious chamber ensembles such as the Duo Sitkovetsky and the Pavel Haas Quartet, and will also celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Gallus hall organ with four recitals, including performances by world-renowned Czech organist Jaroslav Tůma and the Slovenian pedal harpsichord pioneer and organ soloist Dalibor Miklavčič.

The Slovene Philharmonic

The national institute of the  Slovene Philharmonic incorporates the leading ensembles in the field of classical music in Slovenia: the Slovene Philharmonic Orchestra and the Slovenian Chamber Choir. Both ensembles have acquired an international reputation. The Slovene Philharmonic Orchestra also offers two concert subscription series at Cankarjev Dom's Gallus Hall. The  Orange and  Blue season series feature a mostly classical orchestral music repertoire, with a few premiere performances of commissioned contemporary works by Slovene composers (Uroš Rojko, Janez Matičič). Both series feature nine concerts by the Slovene Philharmonic Orchestra and its artistic director and chief conductor Emmanuel Villaume in collaboration with guest conductors and well-known soloists such as world-renowned cellist Mischa Maisky, Slovenian soprano Sabina Cvilak and conductor/pianist Matthias Pintscher. In the 2012/13 season the orchestra will undertake two European tours with internationally renowned musicians. In November, the Choir and Orchestra will perform Tchaikovsky's Iolanta, with soprano Anna Netrebko in the leading role at various European venues, and in April 2013, performances will be held in Germany with cellist Mischa Maisky.
 

The  Vocal Concert Series also takes place at the Slovene Philharmonic. The series brings to the stage both traditional and contemporary choral music performed by the Ave Chamber Choir and the Slovenian Chamber Choir. The repertoire of choral music includes national contemporary works by Petra Strahovnik, Nana Forte and Tadeja Vulc among others.

Chamber music venues

As the Ljubljana Summer Festival drew to a close, Križanke opened its doors to talented young musicians within the annual international music cycle Young Virtuosos. Concerts at Križanke’s Knight's Hall feature mostly Slovene and international chamber groups, as well as talented young soloists. Chamber music is also the focus of the 2012/13 Harmonious Worlds series at the National Gallery, where the Slovene Philharmonic String Chamber Orchestra will take its listeners on a musical journey with its renditions of Russian works by Tchaikovsky and Glazunov. At the year's end, the 150th anniversary of the birth of the French impressionist Claude Debussy will be celebrated with performances of the Danses sacrée et profane for harp and string orchestra and an arrangement of his compositions Claire de lune and the String Quartet in G minor.

The Slovene National Theatre Opera and Ballet Ljubljana

Ljubljana's Opera house will host a ceremonial jubilee concert on 26 and 27 October in celebration of its 120th anniversary. The concert will include performances by all the Opera house ensembles and all the best national opera singers. The concert repertoire features arias and orchestral pieces from the most popular operatic and ballet works throughout the history of the SNG Opera and Ballet, such as the finale of the second movement of J. Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus among other pieces. Throughout the opera season 2012/13, there will be stagings of bel canto and veristic operas such as Verdi's Nabucco and Puccini's La Bohème as well as a co-production of Wagner's The Flying Dutchman, which will premiere at Gallus Hall in Cankarjev Dom on 18 January.


CONTEMPORARY MUSIC FESTIVALS

Slowind

The annual contemporary music Slowind Festival organised by the wind quintet of the same name takes place in the Slovene philharmonic. Slowind brings to the forefront contemporary chamber and electro-acoustic works by Slovene and international composers. The 14th edition of the annual festival took place between 13 and 16 October under the artistic direction of German composer/conductor Matthias Pintscher. The repertoire of six concerts included works by Anton Webern, Kaija Saariaho, Pierre Boulez, M. Pintscher, as well as Slovene compositions by Larisa Vrhunc and Nina Šenk among others.

UNICUM

The biennial festival of contemporary music UNICUM, organised by the Society of Slovene Composers, came to a close on 12 October. It featured works by composers such as Terry Riley and Sofie Gubaidulina performed by ensembles such as the Romanian Traiect and the Slovenian MD7 on the stage of the Slovene Philharmonic.


POP AND ROCK MUSIC SCENES

Stožice Stadium

Mark Knopfler, the world-renowned British singer and guitarist, former lead vocals and lead guitar of the British rock group Dire Straits will be performing in Stožice, one of the newest and biggest venues in Slovenia, where he will present his seventh studio album Privateering on 4 May 2013.

Cankarjev Dom

There are also rock concerts on Cankarjev Dom’s programme by Slovenia's most loved rock musicians such as Vlado Kreslin and Zoran Predin.

Orto Bar

Another interesting venue for rock and heavy-metal concerts is Orto Bar in Ljubljana, which features live performances by international and Slovene bands, such as the popular Dan D among others.

JAZZ AND WORLD MUSIC IN LJUBLJANA

For jazz and contemporary improvisation enthusiasts, a visit to the Estate Hall at Ljubljana Castle featuring performances by popular Slovene musicians is in order. The concert series Boben & Lajna (Drum and Hurdy Gurdy) (http://www.ljubljanskigrad.si/events/) features six concerts by well-known national performers such as the trumpeter David Jarh, pianist and composer Kaja Draksler and the new creative jazz trio Balžalorsky/Drašler 30, whose performance will be recorded for their next album.


The concert program known as Tuesday Clubbing (Cankarjevi torki) taking place at Cankarjev Dom's Klub CD every Tuesday and featuring a varied repertoire ranging from jazz to world music. Cankarjev dom also hosts the Music of the World '12  series (Glasbe sveta) featuring on tradition based music by the African Grammy award winner Toumani Diabaté and the Iranian duo Kayhan Kalhor & Ali Bahrami Fard among others.


CLUBBING

For club-goers, there is Ljubljana's Klub K4, which offers different genres of electronic music ranging from garage, deep house, acid to hard techno, with live performances by foreign DJs such as Akiko Kiyama, as well as K4's favourite DJ Dojaja among others.

ALTERNATIVE MUSIC SCENES


The Metelkova mesto Autonomous Cultural Centre is a complex of venues located on Metelkova Street near Ljubljana’s main bus and train station. As the second largest producer of concerts in Slovenia, it plays a major role in Slovenian culture. Its many smaller halls and galleries are intended for installations and art exhibitions, whilst its other venues host a wide variety of music from trance, surf rock to black metal among others.


In Ljubljana's renovated former cinema venue Kino Šiška Centre for Urban Culture concerts are held featuring a wide range of music genres from post-punk, rock, experimental music to blues and jazz. Among the performers is Marina Rosenfeld, known for her work in hybridisation between the domains of visual art and music.


On 15, 16 and 17 November, the Zavod Sploh institute is hosting evenings of experimental music and improvisation at the Španski borci Cultural Centre. The project Sound Disobedience (http://www.sploh.si/indexeng.html ) will provide participants with the opportunity to practice and develop musical improvisational skills.


New and interesting events are also taking place at  Vodnikova domačija (Vodnik's Homestead), which provides a stage for a newly created sound theatre and will host a variety of activities related to sonorics: sonoric performances and sound installations.


MUSICAL HIGHLIGHTS IN THE ŠTAJERSKA REGION

Maribor, the European Capital of Culture 2012 , is hosting many events at its different venues. There are around 600 events still in the pipeline, ranging from exhibitions, contemporary art installations, dance and theatre performances to concerts of varying music genres. Among the intriguing musical projects is the Slovenia/Europe chamber series, performed by the students of the Academy of Music of the University of Ljubljana. The series of chamber music concerts will showcase a selection of lesser-known Slovenian works selected from the archives by the artistic director and mentor Tomaž Lorenz.

Opera buffs will be able to visit the Slovene National Theatre Maribor for stagings of a traditional opera repertoire: Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, Bizet's Carmen and Verdi's Rigoletto among other opera works and ballets.

This year Maribor's Etnika Festival features a performance by guitar virtuoso Stanley Jordan in the Jazz Club Satchmo on 22 October and later also the leading national world music ensemble, the BBC Radio World Music Audience Award winners Terrafolk.
 

BLUES IN THE PRIMORSKA REGION

At the tourist attraction of Postojnska jama in Jamski dvorec, the 9th season of the Postojnska jama Blues Festival opens on 25 October with a concert by a master of jazz organ and guitar, Lucky Peterson. Thursday blues nights will feature seven international performers from the blues scene, including Grammy nominee Eric Bibb.