In July, the oldest Slovenian city, Ptuj, has been transforming into a world gathering place of music artists from various parts of the world for many years, with concerts of top classical, jazz, ethno, world, rock, instrumental and vocal music upgraded by Music in the City, Youth Stage, Children’s Music Festival, street events, open kitchen and a rich accompanying program. In its previous 13 versions, the Arsana Festival so far presented more than 1000 events hosted in many venues of the city center with 9,000 internationally renowned artists, and attracted more than 400,000 visitors from all over the world.
Festival stories were written with us by eminent artists such as New York Voices (USA), Take 6 (USA, 10 x Grammy award), Naturally 7 (USA), The Swingles (UK, 5X Grammy award), Glinka Choir, Russian. Smolny Chamber Choir, Danube Philharmonic, Zagreb Chamber Orchestra, Ukrainian Youth Orchestra (UKR), Rade Šerbedžija & Miroslav Tadič (HR & USA), Stefan Milenkovich (SRB & USA), Edin Karamazov (CRO), Kaliopi (MAK), Vlatko Stefanovski (MAK), Josipa Lisac (CRO), Opera SNG Maribor with soloists, Sabina Cvilak, String Quartet Feguš, Magnifico, Perpetuum jazzile, Vlado Kreslin, Siddharta, Joker out, MI2, TABU, Gušti, Tomi Meglič, Alexei Kornienko, Elena Denisova , Big band RTV Slovenia, Klemen Slakonja, Elda Viler, Boštjan Gombač, Rudi Bučar, Alenka Godec, Lado Bizovičar, Tinkara Kovač, Aleksandra Ilijevski, Bilbi, Mia Žnidarič, Romana Kranjčan, Maja Keuc, Ana Soklič, Nina Strnad, Neisha, Papir , Vladimir Milosevic, Marko Hatlak, Otto Pestner, Uros Peric, Nusa Derenda, Milena Arsovska, Nika Gorič, Teo Collori and Momento Cigano, Renato Chicco, Marko Črnčec, Žan Tetičkovič, Jure Pukl, Melissa Aldana, Vasko Atanasovski, Zoran Majstorovič, Pliš, Gal and Severa Gjurin, Terrafolk, Infected, Vesna Zornik, Neca Falk, Irena Tango Stoy, APZ University of Primorska & Bedtime Story Strings,…
This year, the 14th Arsana Festival will take place between July 1st and 4th of September. The festival is divided into 8 parts:
Opera Evening on Panorama Hill
After last year’s record visit of more than 5,700 visitors from all over Slovenia and abroad, we will look forward to summer in the embrace of a treasure trove of millennia and timeless opera classics. Under the baton of Simon Krečič, SNG Maribor will perform with their symphony orchestra, choir and soloists.
Highlits
VLADO KRESLIN, Mali bogovi and Beltinška banda
The fruit of the Ptuj-Prekmurje alliance are various collaborations and a wide range of guests, with whom Vlado Kreslin presents songs from his extensive musical treasury every year. This year we will listen to him in the company of the Mali bogovi (Little Gods) and the musicians from his birthplace, Beltinci, Beltinška banda (Beltinci Gang) with whom he managed for a breakthrough of Slovenian folk/ethno music and the Prekmurje dialect which a he brought closer to all generations with his personal touch.
Big Band RTV Slovenija with Soloists
Under the guidance of Lojze Krajnčan, the excellent performers of all generations will lead us into a summer night imbued with Slovenian song and world’s greatest soul and jazz hits: Eva Hren, Maja Keuc, Klemen Slakonja and the legend of Slovenian pop songs – Lado Leskovar.
The BALKAN FEVER project is the collaboration of a Macedonian guitarist Vlatko Stefanovski, Serbian guitarist Miroslav Tadić, and a Bulgarian kavalist Theodosius Spassov, presenting the Balkans musical wealth. With an attractive musical mix intertwining elements of jazz, rock, classical and folk music, they have already performed on some prestigious world stages, including the Royal Albert Hall in London and the Musikverein in Vienna.
Jan Kus & The Slavo Rican Assembly is an international ensemble exploring the details and differences between the music of the Puerto Rican and South Slavic traditions. Vesna Pisarović, the famous Croatian vocalist will join them on the European tour for the first time.
PRIFARSKI MUZIKANTI, Nuška Drašček, Anja Bukovec
PRIFARSKI MUZIKANTI come from Fara and have been performing on stage for 34 years. They began their musical journey as interpreters of folk songs from Kostel and the surrounding area, but today they do not hide from any musical genre. They perform everything from folk music, evergreen melodies, pop songs to many songs of other nations. This time they will be joined by outstanding artists – Nuška Drašček, the mezzo-soprano, and Anja Bukovec, violin.
OBLIVION is an exclusive music project of the Macedonian singing diva Kaliopi and a world-renowned guitarist and lute player Edina Karamazova.
New York Voices feat. Vox Arsana
New York Voices, a two-time Grammy-winning vocal quartet, is renowned for its excellence in jazz and the art of polyphonic singing. The album “Reminiscing In Tempo” celebrated their 30th anniversary. “The flawless vocal interpretations justify the reputation of the most exciting vocal ensemble on the planet. Gathering such unique voices in one group is extremely rare, and their masterful intertwining of colours is unique…” are the words of BOSTON HERALD. The guest of the evening will be the VOX ARSANA vocalist group.
The end of the festival at the new venue of the City Market will be a double rock concert of the legendary Siddharta and young shaggadelic rock and roll stars Joker out that appeared on the Slovenian music scene with a speed of a torrent.
Tadej Toš, a local and the festival ambassador will once again take his place under the festival stars, performing in the courtyard of the Ptuj Castle.
Music in the City
Music in the City remains a constant pulse of festival events. In the embrace of the beautiful ambience of the Hotel Mitra, the Muzikafe House of Culture and Kavarna Bodi, as many as 6 genre-diverse concerts will take place. The current winner of the Slovenian song will perform Raiven with a fresh project electro – opera, Astrid Beak, , versatile artist and master of opera singing, and Tomaž Zupančič, MRFY guitarist, both jazz students of European music academies with the project Soundsketch, Nocturnal four, P’jays and Freekind, a young duo writing a new chapter of the regional neo-soul.
Youth Stage
Free outdoor events will be taking place on the Slovenski trg market, already established as Youth Stage and represented by: Bands and the trial school of the Summer Music School, vocalists of the Summer Music School, Fried pies quintet, HGS and Birdland.
Children’s Festival
As part of the events of the Children’s Festival, being at the core of music events for the youngest, there will be creative workshops, musical fairy tales, interactive theatre performances, artistic performances, the cinema garden and the musical yoga for children.
Music in the Park
In the autumn months, the Jazz department of Karol Pahor Music School, Wckd nation and MRFY will perform under the slogan of Music in the Park.
Summer Music School
Arsana Vocal School and Instrumental.ko Music School are preparing a SUMMER MUSIC SCHOOL, intended for young musicians with primary or more advanced musical knowledge. This year’s novelty is the “little music school (trial school)”, intended for the youngest children without prior musical knowledge.