The Ohrid Summer Festival

www.ohridsummer.com.mk

Phone: ++389 46 262 304

Fax: ++389 46 261 304

Chroniclers have written: "The musical and theatre festival called "Ohrid Summer" was born on 4th August 1961 under the vaults of the cathedral temple of St. Sofia. The Primadonna of the Opera within the Macedonian National Theatre from Skopje, Ana Lipsa-Tofovic, followed by Ladislav Predlik on piano, performed the arias of Stradella, Rossi, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, and Gluck. The following year Vladimir Ruzgak (Croatia), the Slovenian Octet (Slovenia), Martina Arojo (USA), and once again Ana Lipsa-Tofovic confirmed the fact that the temple of the ancient Ohrid Archiepiscopate can also be the temple of arts.

In 1963 the Festival started with a concept. Unfortunately, due to the disastrous earthquake in Skopje only a few of the planned 13 performances took place.

Key moment in the development of the Festival was the establishment of a separate Festival Subsidiary 5th March 1964. The next years the quality of the festival improved: in 1964 the first theatre play was performed ("As you like it" by William Shakespeare); in 1967 the first ballet ("The Ohrid Legend" by Stevan Hristic); and in 1971 the first opera "Dido and Aeneas" by Henry Percil).

In its thriving years "Ohrid Summer" started to act as a Musical Academy. The presence of the great instrumental virtuosos was used for organizing special seminars aiming at passing the experience to the new generation. Through the hands of the esteemed maestro such as Elephterio Papastavro (cello), Jeanne Blanchard (piano), Leonid Kogan (violin), Aldo Chiccolini (piano), Andre Navara (cello), Octav Enigharesco and Johnny Becky (soloists), Eugenia Chugaieva (violin), Ikhukko Endo (piano), and Arbo Valdma (piano), generations of musicians took part in these seminars. They, later on in their lives, gained affirmation on the musical stages throughout the world.

The Festival aspired at becoming a part of the large family of the World's musical festivals. In that respect, every year, the creators of the Festival added new names that have marked the performing arts in the world. Those names in the initial years of the Festival were Andre Navara (cello) and Leonid Kogan (violin). The range of famous musicians who marked the first decade included: Sviatoslav Rihter, Aldo Chiccolini, Adre Vats and Grigorij Sokolov (piano, Ruggiero Ricchi, Salvadore Akhardo, Hainrich Sherring, (violin), the chello player Mstislav Rostopovic, The Bach Chamber Orchestra, The Romanian Madrigalists, The Slovenian Vocal Octet, and others.

In its mature years (1974), the Festival finally defined its time frame - the period between 12th July and 20th August.

The annals of the Festival contain records of capital musical achievements by the Macedonian composers, such as: "John Chrysostom's Liturgy" by Atanas Badev, the oratorios "Protector of People" and "Klimentu" by Vlastimir Nikoloski, the opera "Czar Samuel" by Kiril Makedonski, the oratorios "Ilinden" by Mihailo Nikolovski and "Ohrid" by Dimitri Buzaroski, the ballet "Macedonian Tale" by Gligor Smokvarski, and others.

This music and drama festival also introduced a series of names who were ascending towards the top of the art of music such as: the pianists Rudolph Kerrer, Maria Tippo, Nikkhita Maghalov, Dahn Thai Son, Eugenij Korogliov, Ivo Pogorelich, the violinists Victor Trethiakhov, Pavel Kogan, Gideon Cremer, Vatzlav Hudachek, Eduard Grach, the cellists Pierre Furnier, Daniel Shafran, Hainrich Schief, Paul Torteglie, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Prague Madrigalists, "Borodin" Quartet, Ansamble "Virtuosi di Roma"...

In recent years the history of the Festival was endowed by the indelible performances of the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, the soloists from Sankt Petersburg, the "Musica Viva" Orcestra, the Vichan Quartet, the Zurich Trio, "Znameni raspev", Iolanda Hernandez, Paulos Raptis...

In addition to the music, the Festival also nourishes the tradition of theatre performances. Roughly 50 theatre companies have performed approximately 300 plays, adaptations, and monodramas on more than 15 stages in Ohrid. The most present author of "Ohrid Summer" is Shakespeare, with 18 staged titles of his capital works. Next are the local (Macedonian) authors Goran Stefanovski with 8 plays, Jordan Plevnes, etc... The festival was the host of the performances of the most important classical dramas by Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Plato, and the unbeatable comedy writers Moglierre and Goldoni, all the way to Brecht and Beckett, the fathers of contemporary theatre, and many other names that are unavoidable in the theatrical art.

Since 1995 "Ohrid Summer" is a member of the European Festival Association (Association Européenne Des Festivals)

It should be mentioned that after 37 years of "Ohrid Summer", Ohrid has become a place where highly artistic qualities are respected and from where universal artistic messages have been disseminated. In the last three and the half decades this has been confirmed by artists from more than 50 countries world-wide, who have brought more than 1, 200 musical and theatrical performances to an audience of more than one million people.

The Balkan Festival of Folk Songs and Dances

Makedonski prosvetiteli 4

Phone: ++389 46 261 063

"The Balkan Festival of folk songs and dances" is an international folklore event established in 1962. Its original title was "The Ohrid Festival of Amateur Folk Songs and Folk Bands". The ceremonial opening took place 20th July 1962 in the town's square. In 1967 the Festival was restructured and ever since it has been hosting vocal and instrumental bands and solo singers presenting their authentic folk creations and traditional culture through horas, songs, rites, traditional clothes, local costumes, traditional musical instruments, and handicrafts.

For more than twenty years "The Balkan Festival of Folk Songs and Dances" has been a member of the UNESCO Associations of CIOFF (The International Council of the Organizations of Folklore Festivals and Folklore Art), and IOFA (The International Organization for Folklore Art.

Traditionally, the Festival takes place in the beginning of July. Countries from the Balkans and neighbouring countries take part in the Festival. In the 36 years of its existence, it has hosted about 40,000 folk singers, dancers and instrumentalists from Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, FR Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Turkey, Cyprus, as well as from France, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Russia, Moldavia, Poland, Bohemia, Slovakia, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Australia, USA, Canada, Malesia, and others.

Part of the Festival focuses on displaying exhibitions. In recent years the Folklore Institute "Marko Cepenkov" from Skopje organizes seminars on Balkan folklore.