 Sept 11 - Sept 22

 Maribor

The Maribor Festival will feature 13 concerts that reflect the multicultural roots of Slovenia's second largest city and the region beyond.

The programme interweaves Slavic vibes with exotic Roma sounds, Austro-Hungarian glamour, Alpine melodies and Balkan temperament, says the new artistic director, award-winning clarinet player, composer and conductor Mate Bekavac.

Bekavac will conduct the Symphony Orchestra of the Slovenian National Theatre Maribor at the opening concert of Slavic music entitled Slavic Umami. The concert will feature soloists Barnabás Kelemen on the violin and Katalin Kokas on the viola.

The programme includes the classical music repertoire, such as Brahms and Bartok, performed by the Kelemen Quartet, as well as the passionate rhythms of the Sarkozy Band, the world's hottest gypsy group.

There will be jazz played by Austrian trumpet star Thomas Gansch, a concert by the duo Gansch & Breinschmid, as well as melancholic Sevdah music.

Open-air events will pay tribute to the tradition of promenade concerts in Maribor and a special concert will be given at the Water Tower in Lent borough.

A new piece commissioned by the festival, the monomusical Ponočnjak (Nightcrawler), will premiere on 17 September.

There will also be several music events for children, and a guided tour of Maribor.

For a detailed programme, click here.