Harmony of the Spheres XXIV

Dear Friends of the National Gallery of Slovenia and the Slovenian Philharmonic String Chamber Orchestra,

In the 24th Harmony of the Spheres season, we will conclude our “Voices of Earth” series, inspired by the Golden Record attached to NASA’s historic Voyager missions, exploring superb music by composers from all over the world, many of whom were overlooked by history because of their gender, country of origin or skin color.

Whereas last season’s focus was primarily Europe, this season we expand our reach to include music from the other continents. We will hear inspiring music by Osvaldo Golijov, Takashi Yoshimatsu, Joseph Bologne – Chevalier de Saint-George, George Walker and Teresa Carreño, as well as beloved classics by composers closer to home such as Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert Schumann, C.P.E. Bach, Henry Purcell, Arnold Schönberg, Marcel Tournier and the popular English composer Max Richter. Slovenia will be well represented: in addition to the music by Dane Škerl, a whole program of music by Slovenian Baroque composers (Isaac Posch, Janez Krstnik Dolar and Giuseppe Tartini) will be performed as a prelude to a new exhibition at the National Gallery. At the end of the season we will hear the world premiere of a newly commissioned piece by New Zealand-Slovenian composer Neville Hall, while two new pieces by two talented composers at the Music Academy in Ljubljana, Jernej Bedekovič and Simon Kravos, will also receive their world premieres this season

Joining us as we continue our survey of cultures around the world are our excellent soloists: renowned Slovenian flutist Boris Bizjak, violinist Domen Lorenz, harpist Urška Križnik Zupan and our concert master Ana Dolžan. In November, we will present the talented winner of this year’s Young Soloists Audition.

This season's art-history lectures will again take us into the story of each single evening. Michel Mohor will introduce us to Baroque chiaroscuro and tenebrism, mezzotint, the gloomy realism of the nineteenth century and the dark modernism of the twentieth. Presenting paintings from the East, Tjaša Debeljak Duranović will talk about the principles of Shinto and Buddhism. Mexican muralists are an outstanding example of the creation of a regional style and identity through local cultural traditions, which influenced the emergence of a specific high-modernist painting in the West. They will be identified in the lecture by Andrej Smrekar. In the full swing of great Baroque ambitions of a small town, interesting things began to happen in a minor country on the outskirts of the empire. Katra Meke will tell us about them. Sara Müller will show us how artists and illuminators in the past made their way from the dark forest of hell to the bright gardens of paradise.

We hope that you will join us to enjoy the rich diversity of voices on Earth!

Barbara Jaki, Director, National Gallery of Slovenia
Steven Loy, Artistic Director, Slovenian Philharmonic String Chamber Orchestra 

Subscription Harmony of the Spheres

Subscription price for the 2024−2025 season: 75 EUR
Single ticket: 19 EUR

Friends of the National Gallery of Slovenia: 50 EUR
Single ticket: 15 EUR

Subscription or single tickets available at the front desk of the National Gallery of Slovenia, Prešernova 24, Ljubljana, 10 am–6 pm, Thursdays through 8 pm, or half an hour before the event; closed Mondays.

Concert and lectures dates at the Grand Hall of the National Gallery of Slovenia

Each time the event begins with a lecture at 7.30pm and continues with a concert: