This Sunday, the fifth instalment of the Zagreb Guitar Festival was opened and the world’s leading guitarists from the whole range of genres will perform for the audience in Zagreb until April 6th.
For a week, Zagreb will be world’s musical and cultural capital. It is a young festival, but it has already became one of the most important guitar festivals in Europe. Classical guitarists throughout the world arrive to Zagreb for the festival, to listen to some amazing performances and get some additional education, Mak Grgić, the art director of the Zagreb Guitar Festival explains.
The major events of the festival are the evening “All Stars” concerts, taking places in Westin Hotel and Mimara Museum (just across the street from Westin), where several thousand overall visitors are expected during the week. Thematically, those All Stars concerts will be divided into Gipsy night, Brazilian night, Tango night, Flamenco night and Eurostrings night.
The festival was started on Sunday evening in the Hotel Westin’s Crystal Hall by a concert performed by a guitar duo Stochelo Rosenberg and Mate Matišić, performing the Gipsy night. Monday evening the same location will see the performance of a Brasilian guitarist Yamando Costa, who is a huge guitar star in North and South America, and his performance in Zagreb will be his first ever European concert! He will continue his European tour after his Zagreb stop. Tango night will be on Tuesday in Mimara Museum, performed by art duo Bandini and Chiacchiaretta. Antonio Rey will headline the Flamenco night on Wednesday evening, and on Thursday the same location is where the Classical night by the famous Brasilian duo the Assad brothers will happen. Eurostrings night will take place also in Mimara Museum on Friday night, with Aniello Desiderio and Eurostrings Orchestra. The final evening of the festival will be on Saturday, April 6th with the finale of an international guitar competition and awards ceremony.
In addition to Zagreb, the virtuoso guitar music will be heard all over Croatia on April 3rd. 10 young winners of guitar competitions, joint into Eurostrings platform, will perform concerts in Varaždin, Karlovac, Križevci, Osijek, Marija Bistrica, Zaprešić, Novska and Velika Gorica.
Masterclass workshops will also be held during the festival, for those wanting to learn more about the guitar, but also about cultural entrepreneurship and getting funded in culture. One of the lectures will be about getting European financing for the projects in culture, which is also how this festival is partially financed. More information about the Zagreb Guitar Festival can be found on the official web site and Facebook page, and tickets can be bought online through eventim.hr
