Running time: 90 min

Duane Eubanks, trumpet; Jure Pukl, saxophone; Renato Chicco, Hammond organ; Andy Watson, drums

American jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger and producer Duane Eubanks is a multi-talented force that defies categorization. There’s a gritty soul and passion that emphatically captures his Philadelphia roots on his most recent pair of albums as a bandleader: Things of that Particular Nature (2015, Sunnyside) and DE3 – Live at Maxwell’s (2016, Sunnyside). Duane studied jazz in master classes at Temple University with the legendary Dr. Billy Taylor. When he headed to New York, Duane was tapped by the great pianist Mulgrew Miller to join his ensemble, Wingspan. Acclaimed double-bassist/bandleader Dave Holland invited Duane to play with his big band on a pair of Grammy award winning albums. Eubanks became a hotly sought-after horn player. He has recorded and played with Elvin Jones, Mulgrew Miller, John Hicks, Curtis Fuller, Louis Hayes, Randy Brecker, Avery Sharpe and others.

For the Ljubljana concert, Duane Eubanks has recruited local musicians, Slovenian jazz greats Jure Pukl and Renato Chicco. The line-up includes American drummer Andy Watson, known for his collaborations with legendary musicians such as Bill Frisell, Benny Golson, Tom Harrell, Jon Hendricks, Joe Lovano, Wynton Marsalis, James Moody, Mike Stern, and others.

Together, they will pay tribute to the musical legacy of jazz giant Lee Morgan.
 

Running time: 90 min

Sullivan Fortner, piano; Tyrone Allen, double bass; Kayvon Gordon, drums

Grammy-winning pianist Sullivan Fortner, one of the most original pianists of his generation, showcases his native New Orleans spirit with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Marcus Gilmore on his latest release, a joyful trio album, Southern Nights.

Recorded during a weeklong residency at New York’s iconic Village Vanguard, Southern Nights channels the raw energy of the trio's live sets. Their unrehearsed connection culminated in a spontaneous recording session, with no edits, or retakes. Fortner, a former student of Ellis Marsalis and long-time collaborator of Cécile McLorin Salvant (he performed with Cécile at the 66th Ljubljana Jazz Festival in Križanke in 2025), pays homage to his musical roots with a selection of songs by Allen Toussaint, Clifford Brown, and tributes to his mentor, bassist Bill Lee, and his sister, pianist Consuela Lee.

“It’s definitely not America. The Spanish and Caribbean influences run deep, and you can hear that in the music,” Fortner explains, while in the album's liner notes music historian Ashley Kahn emphasizes Fortner’s New Orleans roots, noting how the city’s unique musical ethos—marked by an openness to tradition and innovation alike—shines through in his playing. “There’s something about the music of New Orleans that goes beyond distinctive rhythms,” writes Kahn. “It’s an unrestrained respect for music’s porous nature, a willingness to mix, meld, and breathe. You hear that generosity and bubbling joy in every note Fortner plays,” adds Kahn.

Southern Nights, nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental Album Grammy, has solidified Fortner’s place as one of jazz’s most vital voices – a pianist garnering praise from critics and audiences alike. 

Fortner’s touring line-up includes bassist Tyrone Allen II, and drummer Kayvon Gordon. Tyrone developed a passion for music at an early age under the tutelage of his father, a music teacher. He earned his master's degree at Berklee College of Music and then moved to Brooklyn, where he performed with legendary musicians such as the late Ralph Peterson, Terri-Lynne Carrington, Gerald Clayton, and Jazzmeia Horn.

Kayvon Gordon, protégé of trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, studied at the University of Michigan and has toured most continents with various bands. He seeks to contribute to the forward thinking aesthetic of his contemporaries while honouring the rich musical legacy of his native Detroit.

A second trio CD with Fortner’s touring line-up will come out in 2026.
 

Running time: 90 min

Line-up: Brina Vogelnik, vocals, melodies; Metod Banko, vocals, guitar, ivy leaf; Wolfgang Moitz, vocals, flutes, bagpipes, nose flute, accordion; Lothar Lässer, vocals, accordion; Andreas Safer, vocals, violin, mandolin, mandola, singing saw

Their world is music. That is why the term "world music" is not an overstatement here. Although based in Styria, Austria, the songs of the band Aniada a Noar have always crossed borders – to Friuli, Hungary, France, Ireland, Sweden... Finally fulfilling their their long-standing wish, they now join forces with their closest neighbours to explore forgotten or lost commonalities.

Brina and Metod collaborated and sang together for the first time in Rudi Pančur's Mala mestna muzika (Small Town Music) project. Their voices blended tunefully into a fully natural, organic whole. At Cankarjev dom, they will present a project with the Austrian band Aniada a Noar.

Brina and Metod are regarded as the voice of Slovenia. In their diverse projects, the duo have developed a new musical language that draws on the rich tradition of Slovenian folk songs. Putting a fresh spin on traditional material, they breathe new life into old songs that are important to Slovenian history and identity. In Brina’s sensitive hands, adding elements of jazz and world music, the songs get an imaginative makeover. A singer and guitarist, Metod also plays the ivy leaf. His singing career has taken him from choir singing, musicals, chanson, and passing on folk traditions to throat singing. Apart from being a member of the music groups Teo Collori and Momento Cigano, Uršula Ramoveš and Fantje z jazbecove grape, as well as Mala mestna muzika, as a songwriter and performer Metod explores the connections between folk heritage and contemporary musical expression.
 

In Slovenian and Croatian, without translation.

Hodalič has been collaborating with Croatian archaeologists for a number of years, and has taken numerous photographs of exceptional underwater archaeological finds in the Eastern Adriatic. The talk will be dedicated to the mysteries of the Adriatic Sea – more specifically, the area around the island of Mljet, where archaeologist Igor Miholjek from the Croatian Conservation Institute is conducting groundbreaking underwater research. The discoveries of shipwrecks and their valuable cargo reveal important fragments of maritime history and shed light on the onetime dynamics of trade routes in this area.
 

Running time: 90 min

Kaja Draksler, piano, keyboards, vocoder; Lena Abeba, vocals; Marta Warelis, keyboards; Andy Moor, guitar; Samo Kutin, prepared hurdy gurdy; Macio Moretti, drums, analog synthesizer

matter 100 was a commission by the Bimhuis, Amsterdam. In matter 100, Kaja Draksler moves towards song and sound – song on the level of form and sound as a navigator and idea generator. She is interested in using basic harmonic structures, coloured and expanded through microtonality, and working with amplification and audio effects to shape the sound of the group. Dean Young’s poetry, sometimes sang, other times narrated, moves between experimentation and surrealism.

The choice of musicians generated inspiration and direction in writing music – Kaja invited artists across generations and musical backgrounds to open the possibilities, provide freshness, and challenge her composing. All the members of this international group have a pronounced sound of their own and a rich musical history, regardless of their age or country of origin.
 

Running time: 90 min

Zvezdana Novaković ZveN, project author, composition, lyrics, vocals, electronics; string quartet: Ana Mezgec, violin; Mojca Batič, violin; Barbara Grahor Vovk, viola; Zala Vidic, cello

Singer and composer Zvezdana Novaković ZveN’s latest project, Midnight Sun / Polnočno sonce, is a musical reflection of the polar day, a natural phenomenon that can be observed above the Arctic Circle in summer, as the sun never dips below the horizon. The music invites us to confront our inner labyrinths while offering hope that we may find peace and light even in the deepest recesses of the human soul, says the artist.
"If we don't listen to our sorrow, who do we become? And who do we become if we don't listen at all? When was the last time you really listened to someone... and when was the last time you really listened to yourself, without judgment or prejudice?" she asks and replies through her music.


W www.zvenmusic.com/midnightsun 

Nika Perunović, vocals; Arsenije Krstić, piano; Tadej Kampl, bass; Janez Gabrič, drums

A Slovenian music group, Patetico’s alchemic blend of music and lyrics reattaches the original noble connotation to the word "pathetic”. Since their 2003 ‘kick-off’, they have stood on a par with Slovenia’s most original music creators – with powerful lyrics, soulful vocals and the fiery energy of live music. With three albums under their belt (Prolog, Patetico, and Vse je vredu z mojo dušo), a new creative path is unfolding with the band’s latest project, Armadilo.

More than a mere collection of songs – Armadillo is a spatial-emotional experience and a metaphor for life marked by both hardness and vulnerability. According to the band members, the album sounds both like a racehorse at the start of its racing career, and a stargazing reflection on a galaxy existing somewhere beyond the fifth dimension. Their music combines poetry, jazz, and pop grooves with raw sincerity, creating a sense of authenticity, synchronicity, and ‘spine-tingling’ thrills. 

A project created with great dedication and love, Armadilo urges us to listen with an open heart and a curious mind.
 

19:30
Pre-concert talk with Simone Heilgendorff (moderated by: Gregor Pompe)

20:00
Concert 
The concert Let’s Experiment! offers an in-depth perspective on the experimental practices that emerged in the second half of the twentieth century, where the boundaries between composition, interpretation, and performance were consciously dissolved. The performer assumes the role of co-creator, and the score becomes a site of open exploration. In the works of Pauline Oliveros and Karlheinz Stockhausen, where text replaces traditional notation, one observes a shift from prescriptive writing towards a conceptual understanding of the musical event. Oliveros develops a practice of deep listening as a form of sonic consciousness, while Stockhausen, in his cycle Aus den sieben Tagen (From the Seven Days), articulates the paradigm of “intuitive music”. The works of Dieter Schnebel extend this experience into the domains of corporeality and space, whereas Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes provide a historical framework for these experimental inquiries.

Under the artistic direction of Simone Heilgendorff—renowned violist, musicologist, and researcher of performative practices—the concert establishes a reflective space for the exploration of relationships between sound and silence, and between individual and collective creativity.

Programme 
Selection from the collections:
Earle Brown, Folio
John Cage, Song Books
John Cage, Sonatas and Interludes
Pauline Oliveros, Deep Listening 
Dieter Schnebel, Museumsstücke I
Dieter Schnebel, MoMA Museumsstücke II
Karlheinz Stockhausen, Aus den sieben Tagen
Chrfistian Wolf, Prose Collection
Karlheinz Essl, Fontana Mixer 

Performers: Simone Heilgendorff (concept & artistic leadership), Ina Puntar (voice), Lucija Lorenzutti (piano), Rok Zalokar (electronics, intermedia), Urška Rihtaršič (harp), Weronika Partyka (saxophone), Luka Poljanec (percussion)

Co-produced by Društvo UHO (New Music Forum) and Cankarjev dom. 

New Music Forum 2025 Festival: An Open Cage 
Featured Composer: John Cage 
11–26 November, various venues 
More >>
 

A series of lectures on John Cage and the artistic currents of his time — encompassing music, visual art, and dance — will illuminate the historical contexts and open broader reflections on his aesthetic legacy. The second part of the event features the presentation of the Slovene translation of Cage’s seminal book Silence, conceived as a performative act in the spirit of Cage’s own artistic philosophy.

19:30 
Cage and Music (dr. Gregor Pompe)
Cage and fine arts (dr. Rebeka Vidrih)
Cage and contemporary dance (Rok Vevar)

21:00
Presentation of the translation of the book Silence by John Cage
Performers: CPG impro (Primož Čunik, Ana Pepelnik, Tomaž Grom)

Co-produced by Društvo UHO (New Music Forum) and Cankarjev dom. 
In collaboration with Zavod Sploh and LUD Šerpa. 

New Music Forum 2025 Festival: An Open Cage 
Featured Composer: John Cage 
11–26 November, various venues 
More >>

The concert titled Instrumental Theatre draws from John Cage’s concept of musical performance as a performative act—a notion that Mauricio Kagel further developed and established as a form of musical theatre during the 1960s and 1970s. The programme features works by composers who explore the intersection of music and theatre from various perspectives: from Cage’s early experiments in extended interpretation (such as Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs and Aria) to conceptually driven pieces by Cathy Berberian, Vinko Globokar, and Mauricio Kagel, in which the performer assumes an active, performative role as a co-creator of the stage action.

Within this framework, the programme also includes works by Primož Ramovš, who adapts the ideas of instrumental theatre into his distinctive sonic and structural language, and Petra Strahovnik, who subtly continues this tradition, situating it firmly within a contemporary context.

Programme: 
John Cage, Cheap Imitations I
Cathy Berberian, Stripsody
John Cage, The wonderful widow of eighteen springs
John Cage, Aria
Vinko Globokar, Metamorphosis
Mauricio Kagel, Match
Primož Ramovš, Pentektasis
Primož Ramovš, (Ne)-simetrija
Petra Strahovnik, 4’44’’
Performed by members of the New Music Forum Ensemble.

Co-produced by Društvo UHO (New Music Forum) and Cankarjev dom. 

New Music Forum 2025 Festival: An Open Cage 
Featured Composer: John Cage 
11–26 November, various venues 
More >>