August the 1st, 2024 – The 75th Dubrovnik Summer Festival will be held in various site-specific locations in Dubrovnik from 10 July to 25 August. Over the 47 days of the festival, more than 60 theatre, dance, folklore and other programmes will be presented to domestic and foreign audiences.
Dubrovnik’s incredible summer festival is the oldest cultural and artistic manifestation in Croatia, while simultaneously being among the oldest summer festivals in Europe. It was founded in 1950, when numerous cultural and artistic events and festivals were springing up across the continent.
Anyone who has ever been to Dubrovnik will realise what a truly unique and special ambience this city boasts, and so the Dubrovnik Summer Festival worked to blend its renaissance and baroque, mixing in the living spirit of drama and music. That spirit is woven very deeply into the intellectual way of life of this historic city itself, from its living creative tradition, which has bestowed upon Croatian cultural and scholarly history (especially in theatre and literature) countless great names and works. It has also continuously kept it in close touch with contemporary currents across western Europe.
This year’s exceptionally rich and varied theatre programme includes three big premieres, performances of successful productions from previous seasons, and further development of dynamic co-productions and site-specific concepts through various collaborations and revitalisation of neglected festival venues.
william shakespeare – the tempest
The third premiere this year, William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, brings a vision of the new age to the 75th Dubrovnik Summer Festival – the future Shakespeare believed was coming. The play is directed by Slovenian director Vito Taufer and performed by the Festival Drama Ensemble, while the Island of Lokrum will provide the perfect setting for the Bard’s final work.
waiting for orestes
Visiting productions this season include the Croatian National Theatre of Varaždin’s Waiting for Orestes, based on Sophocles’ Electra, adapted by Lada Kaštelan and directed by Livija Pandur, who have both often explored big themes of our civilisation in their work.
the melancholy women of ragusa
Marijana Fumić’s roaring success from last year, The Melancholy Women of Ragusa, is back for the 75th Dubrovnik Summer Festival. It is based on the search for the contours of everyday life in old Dubrovnik focusing on the lives and fates of nine exceptional women. Directed by Dora Ruždjak Podolski, it will be performed in Gradac Park as part of the 75th Dubrovnik Summer Festival by the Festival Drama Ensemble.
opera gala concert
This 75th Dubrovnik Summer Festival will be brought to a spectacular close with an Opera Gala concert. Select opera arias will be performed by one of the greatest opera singers of today, soprano Sonya Yoncheva, Maltese golden tenor Joseph Calleja and one of the most sought-after basses on the international scene, Ante Jerkunica, accompanied by the Croatian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ivan Repušić.
dubrovnik symphony orchestra
The staple of the Festival’s music programme, the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra will delight audiences once again. Led by the charismatic conductor Valentin Egel, the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra will share the stage at the Rector’s Palace with Pablo Sáinz-Villegas, world-renowned guitarist considered by many the successor of the legendary Andrés Segovia. Under the baton of the energetic Ivan Hut, the orchestra will perform two world premieres, including a piece by Petar Obradović, winner of the Orlando Prize.
zagreb quartet
The music programme of the 75th Dubrovnik Summer Festival also includes concerts of a duo consisting of prominent, artistically versatile soloists from Dubrovnik, pianist Marija Grazio and violist Marko Genero, as well as the Zagreb Quartet, Croatia’s oldest string ensemble, playing alongside one of the most successful Croatian pianists of the younger generation, Ivan Krpan. One of the most prominent domestic chamber ensembles and recent winner of the Vatroslav Lisinski Award of the Croatian Composers Society for the contribution to Croatian music, the Papandopulo Quartet will also perform at the festival this year. The rich and varied music programme includes the performances of the leading international artists, both notable ensembles and first-class soloists.
youth for youth
The music programme at the Rector’s Palace will be concluded with the benefit concert Youth for Youth, featuring Croatia’s best young musicians, pianist Jan Niković, double winner of the 20th Ferdo Livadić International Competition of Young Musicians, and guitarist Lovro Peretić, winner of the Jeunesses Musicales Croatia Ivo Vuljević Award, with the Luka Sorkočević Art School chamber ensembles.
world music and jazz concert series
Following the example of major international classical music festivals, the Dubrovnik Summer Festival has started the World Music and Jazz Concert Series with the aim of audience development, offering unique cultural-artistic experiences, including the performance of the JM Jazz World Orchestra, gathering top young musicians form different countries under artistic leadership of the renowned American trombonist, composer and educator Luis Bonilla, known for his collaborations with McCoy Tyner, Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Bowie, Tom Harrell, Phil Collins and many other prominent musicians.
Bërbili (Nightingale) – Forgotten Songs of the Zadar Arbanasi
The series also includes the concert of the legend of the Dubrovnik chanson, Ibrica Jusić, who has left an indelible mark on the Dubrovnik Summer Festival with his midnight serenades and guitar recitals. This year, he marks the 60th anniversary of his artistic career with the programme From Shakespeare to Sevdah. The ethno-musicological project by Dina Bušić and Melita Ivković entitled Bërbili (Nightingale) – Forgotten Songs of the Zadar Arbanasi will also be presented in this series of concerts. In collaboration with experienced musicians such as Edin Karamazov, Dina e Mel are dedicated to keeping the songs sung in one of the most endangered European languages alive. The series ends with the flamenco show programme Tarab, performed by the Cristina Aguilera Flamenco Trio. The best of the flamenco tradition is brought by the cantaor (flamenco singer) Miguel Lavi, David Caro, with his toque, or guitar playing skill, and bailaora (flamenco dancer) Cristina Aguilera, a powerful performer with powerful rhythm and expressive movement.
Payments made with Mastercard cards receive a 10% discount, while instalment payments (up to 3) are provided for Mastercard cardholders when spending over 70 €. Buying tickets for 2 premiere theatrical or 3 musical events grants a complimentary ticket for 1 repeat theatrical or musical performance of your choice. Students with the Croatian Student Card (X-ica) or International Student Identity Card (ISIC) can get 10% discount for up to two tickets per event. Daily DU PASS card grants a 10% discount, three-day one 30%, while the seven-day DU PASS unlocks a 50% discount for two tickets per event.
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