OPENING CEREMONY OF THE XVIII INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF KLAPA PERAST

Friday, June 28 
St. Nicholas Square, 9 p.m. 
OPENING CEREMONY
TROUBADOURS IN PERAST

Program

Male klapa KAŠE (Dubrovnik, Croatia)
Male klapa SUBRENUM (Dubrovnik, Croatia) 
Female klapa ALATA (Podgorica, Montenegro) 
Male klapa ASSA VOCE Podgorica, Montenegro)  
Love Letters of Kate Kalfić and Ante Slovic, recital from the Pustinjak novella by don Srećko Vulović (Perast, Montenegro)
Male klapa LIBERO (Leskovac, Serbia)
Young klapa ŠTIGLIĆI (Podgorica, Montegnegro) 
Kolo Bokeljske Mornarice, commission of the festival, arrangement for mixed choir by Mo Mario Katavić (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hercegovina)  
Maestro IBRICA JUSIĆ (Dubrovnik, Croatia), solo concert

TROUBADOURES IN PERAST, a unique music event of the festival, is based on the tradition of troubadours singing, one which bloomed in Dubrovnik and Boka Kotorska (Kotor Bay). The common origins of love poetry, from Petrarch’s XV century sonnets to later influences of Italian literature, have long been shared by both Boka Kotorska and Dubrovnik thanks to their similar historical ties with Venice, their common ally for centuries. During the Baroque period of the XVII century and the Enlightenment of the XVIII century,  the phenomenon of lyric  poetry spread across literature and music, witnessed by the significant written testimony of Boka cultural heritage – the song books Lyric of Dobrota and Songs of Miroslav Zenovic from Budva as well as a series of later song collections by Boka poets from late XIX century (A. Verona, G. Zarbarini, B. Lazzari from Prčanj, A. Milostić from Dobrota) attest to this proliferation, as do many private collections from the seamen of Boka.   

In Dubrovnik, during the last century, this troubadours’ music was preserved by its excellent and famous musicians and authors and it had a significant influence on the music creativity of Boka, including its klapa music. Therefore, this concert is dedicated to preservation of the common culture tradition performed by the most significant representatives of the troubadours of Dubrovnik and their guests. In the unique ambience of Perast, this romantic concert not only stands out as a unique musical and stage spectacle, but represents an authentic part of our cultural heritage.                        

Maestro IBRICA JUSIĆ, the chancellor and author of cantations, an artist who introduced the dog to equal footing in the public space, a bohemian who has reveled in the splendor and misery of Paris, a poet of eternal verses, guitarists, and vagabonds, singer for the Dubrovnik Scale, is a musician who has for 55 years been on the scene. He sojourned twice in Paris during the length of his career, once for five years, and another for nine, and in The City of Lights, he recorded his only album in French. Although he has gained artistic fame in the wider area of the former Yugoslavia, he has never been part of the mainstream scene, but rather remained a steady presence, never compromising his artistic oeuvre with trends and passing modes, always carefully choosing texts and associates. He burst onto the music scene in 1968 when he won the Zagreb Festival with the song Celluloid Clown. In the seventies of the last century, he celebrated, among others, the songs of Cat, Good Morning, Margaret, I loved, I loved Your Daughter, among many others. In November 2018, in Zagreb's Croatian National Theater (HNK), he marked the 54th anniversary of the concert From Shakespeare to Sevdah. His artist work is a uniquely recognizable musical blend, intertwining Croatian, French, and Italian influences. Jusić traditionally holds concerts within the Dubrovnik Summer Festival.