32nd Music Biennale Zagreb: Get to Know the Music of the Future

The 32^nd Music Biennale Zagreb will be held from 13 to 22 April with the following message: “Get to know the music of the future at the most important festival of contemporary music.” This is the period in which Zagreb will become the European centre of contemporary music, which encompasses the classical music of the 20^th century, radical new sound and electronic music all the way to music pieces composed for very young children.

This year’s edition of the festival, which has been held since 1961, supports the principles of ecological responsibility and cultural sustainability. Music content is used to face challenges of the modern world such as climate crisis, political instability and social intolerance, putting emphasis on the importance and transformative power of art in the modern world.

During ten days of the festival, more than 50 programmes will be presented in around ten sites in Zagreb. There will be performances of symphonic orchestras and chamber ensembles, modern opera and jazz, electronic and alternative music as well as sound experiments, multimedia installations and contemporary dance. This will be an opportunity for music lovers to hear 25 new, pre-commissioned pieces of Croatian and foreign composers, the aim of which is to provide support to contemporary music creation.

The festival will open with the performance by Croatian Radio Television Symphony Orchestra. A unique ensemble Zeitkratzer will also perform on the first day and combine seemingly incompatible oeuvre of classic avant-garde composer of the 20^th century Ivo Malec and the music of German band Kraftwerk, who are innovators and pioneers of electronic music and new sound. Yalda Zamani, a Hamburg - based Algerian Iranian conductor, will perform at the festival once again. She is dedicated to performing contemporary music, and in this occasion, she will conduct the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra.

Within the Balkan Affairs programme, the ensemble Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart will premiere six pieces of Croatian and regional composers commissioned for this year’s Biennale. The festival will end with an opera performed on stage entitled “Lennon” which is the work of the Music Biennale’s longstanding director Ivo Josipović.

Within the festival, a masterclass for composers will also take place. It has welcomed around thirty young composers from around fifteen countries until today. This year the applications for the masterclass were the most numerous and versatile, owing to the fact that mentors are the greatest authorities in composition on the international music scene. A renowned ensemble, Klagenforum Wien, will play a major role in the masterclass and the entire festival. It has been dedicated to researching new possibilities in contemporary music for almost four decades.

As of 2019, the Biennale has a special programme dedicated to children and youth. It continues to push boundaries so this year it includes an opera dedicated to children aged one to three. It is a unique music and sensory experience created in coproduction with the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.

The festival also has a humanitarian aspect. The Singing Stories project is dedicated to those who are growing up far away from home. The aim is to collect means to help Ukrainian children who live in Croatia.

Apart from the possibility to hear it, the programme of the Music Biennale Zagreb will also be visible in installations put up in public spaces, multimedia content and botanical walks in Zagreb, the aim of which is to raise awareness about the link between humans and nature.

Learn more about the Music Biennale Zagreb at the following link: www.mbz.hr