Brda Contemporary Music Festival

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Brda Contemporary Music Festival

Hiša kulture Šmartno, Šmartno 38-40, SI-5211 Kojsko

http://www.brda.si/tradicionalni_dogodki/2012091215575739/Brda%20Contemporary%20Music%20Festival/

tatjana.basin200@gmail.com

Founded by[[Zlatko Kaučič]]

Organised byHiša kulture Šmartno

Frequencyannual

Festival dates10.9.2015 - 12.9.2015

Held in the hilly, wine growing region in the south west of Slovenia, Brda Contemporary Music Festival is a small and yet very diverse and ambitious festival for all kinds of arts, but with a special focus on improvised music practices. It is held just at the border with Italy and this liminal location is possibly its main asset, as it tries to foster cross-cultural ties and cooperation, as well as create a cross-border musical scene. The festival's main organiser and curator, the drummer Zlatko Kaučič, has been operating in between the countries for a long time now, and has also been actively helping younger generations of musicians in their musical strivings. Thus, this festival is in a way a reflection of his personal artistic path, crossing the borders between countries, generations and artistic practices.

The festival was first held in 2011, than still under the name Smartfest. It took place in the picturesque medieval village Šmartno, where it is still going on today and where it occupies the various parts of the walled village, from the hall of the local cultural centre to the main square and the church. In 2012, the festival temporarily moved to the nearby Medana and was first held as Brda Contemporary Music Festival.

Free improvisation amongst the fig trees by Gonzo Tech on YouTube

Festival programme

Besides Zlatko Kaučič, the other festival curator is the Italian double bass player Giovanni Maier, a long-time collaborator of Zlatko. Together they present a programme that mainly features Slovenian and Italian artists of the younger generation, with the Italians often coming from the Dobia Lab collective, an informal cultural organisation and venue in the neighbouring Italian town Staranzano. Similarly, the Slovenian musicians are often connected to the Zlatko Kaučič Kombo project, in which a number of Slovenia's young improvisers have participated. Some of the musicians playing on the stages in Šmartno (or Medana) were Jošt Drašler, Vid Drašler, Marko Karlovčec, Boštjan Simon, Vitja Balžalorsky, Marko Lasič, Massimo di Mattia, Paolo Pascolo, Aghe Clope, and naturally also Kaučič and Maier.

Alongside these musical acts, there are photography exhibitions by photographers such as Žiga Koritnik, Tanja Rusjan or Iztok Zupan, and also light installation and performances by the crew of Hybrida from Tarcenta, Italy. While the video performances are done in conjunction with the music being played, the installations are set throughout the village. Dance performances, poetry acts and even film screenings are paired with live music being played, with some of the poets being Petra Koršič, Alenka Jovanovski and Petra Paravan. Besides all this, other things make their way into the programme as well.

Music workshops and Orchestra Without Borders

One of the main festival features are two-day long workshops, led by important figures from the improvised music scene, such as Evan Parker, Phil Minton, Joëlle Léandre, Johannes Bauer and Ab Baars (who also hold concerts of their own). The participants of the workshops are usually the hosted musicians and some random visitors, coming from Slovenia, Croatia and Italy. These workshops at the end result in orchestra gigs, led by the mentors of the workshops.

FERAL CHOIR Phil Minton Live at BCMF Šmartno 13 9 2014 by Roger On on YouTube

The name of these orchestra formations is usually Orkester brez meja / Orchestra Senza Confini [Orchestra without borders], and in way it is an extended combination of the Dob Orchestra (of the Dobia lab musicians) and of the Zlatko Kaučič Kombo. In 2014, Zlatko and Giovanni started developing a double simultaneous conduction concept which resulted in a 2014 concert of the Orchestra at the the festival, where it was recorded and later released in 2015.

See also

• Zlatko Kaučič Kombo

External links

• Brda Contemporary Music Festival web page
• Dobia Lab website
• Zaltko kaučuč website