 Apr 10 2025 - Apr 13 2025

 Celje

Janus, a festival showcasing new music composers whose compositions are rooted in the classical music tradition, will honour the golden age of the American symphony this year.

The festival will kick off with the launch of a new album featuring double bass solos by Slovenian composers performed by Miha Firšt. The evening of the opening day will pay tribute to tango classics.

On 11 April, the audience will enjoy the sounds of the piano and cello as works by two Slovenian composers, Kristijan Krajnčan and Matija Krečič, will be presented alongside French Romantic composer Cesar Franck's famous Sonata in A Major.

The festival's main venue will be the city's cultural hub, Celje Hall, but two concerts will be also held outdoors.

The main event will be the Picnic Concert, where visitors will be able to hear 15 stylistically different compositions by Slovenian and foreign composers who are working today or were active in the past 100 years.

The Picnic Concert on 12 April will be held indoors, but the organisers would like to create a relaxed cafe-like atmosphere where traditional concert protocols are shed, allowing visitors to eat and drink.

The closing event American Rhapsody will pay tribute to the American sound in classical music featuring George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto, Op. 14, and Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Much Ado about Nothing, Op. 11.

Meanwhile, a take on American composer Terry Riley's groundbreaking piece In C, a seminal example of minimalism, will be performed in Krek Square on 12 April.

There will also be a concert for dogs in front of the Celje Water Tower on 13 April.

Organised by the Celje House of Culture, the festival was launched in Maribor in 2016 and moved to Celje last year. Its artistic director is composer and violinist Krečič.

It is named after the Roman god of Janus, who had two faces - one looking to the past and the other to the future.