Festival Maribor
The history of the Festival Maribor spans almost half a century, mainly focusing on Baroque styles in its beginnings and gradually extending its repertoire to post-modern transformations. It evolved from Music September, an international chamber music festival, inheriting its refined programming, stellar performance standards and unorthodox organizational style.
The festival offers a unique line-up that can't be found anywhere else, as the in-house production features concert programs and musical ensembles hand-selected by festival organizers. Acclaimed musicians from all over the world and members of exceptional Slovenian and foreign orchestras are individually chosen to form various chamber and orchestral ensembles as well as the core of the Festival Maribor Orchestra in accord with the program prepared by the artistic director.
Festival Maribor Orchestra
The boldly selected repertoire encompasses both, repertoire for chamber orchestra as well as outstanding symphonic and vocal-instrumental works.
During pre-production the festival serves as a kind of music laboratory, where musicians can collaborate and team up to prepare a concert line-up that is brimming with creative synergy.
The program concept is based on a distinctive, recognizable and unique structure. The Festival Maribor namely commissions and premiers numerous works by Slovenian and foreign composers and prides itself on breaking beyond the boundaries of the so-called classical music tradition.
For two weeks, the Festival Maribor entertains audiences with around 20 concerts (main and complimentary program), workshops and exhibitions, and includes multimedia projects, primal ethnic, classical eastern or jazz music as fundamental elements of its rich program.
Venues
The concerts are held at various concert halls around Maribor and smaller venues in the area filled with history and charm, such as Maribor Castle, Ptuj Castle, Dornava Mansion, the Fin de Siècle Union Hall acclaimed for its superb acoustics, Kazina Hall and the Old and Grand Hall of the Slovene National Theatre Maribor. In addition, Festival Maribor concerts in the picturesque squares of Maribor's historic centre lend variety to the city’s atmosphere.
The annual list of festival participants includes internationally acclaimed and established artists. The heart of Festival Maribor’s music creation consists of foreign celebrities as well as renowned Slovenian musicians. The musicians have ample opportunity to exchange ideas, hone their skills working with the biggest names on the global music scene, and further their own creative potential. Over a longer period of time, such intense collective work opens up new possibilities for collaboration, such as guest appearances by Slovenian artists or reciprocal artist exchanges through partner organizations and festivals.
Festival Maribor is also a launching pad for young Slovenian artists, who get a chance to play before large audiences, gain valuable insight by working with the greats of classical music, and add a prestigious event to their list of appearances.
