Javorca - Dawn of Peace

We invite you to Javorca for a sunrise concert. The event, entitled Javorca – Dawn of Peace, will take place on Saturday, 8 August, at the Memorial Church of the Holy Spirit and will be broadcast live on Radio Koper. The concert will begin at 5.30 a.m. Performers: vocalists Bogdana Herman and Jani Kutin, storyteller Renata Lapanja, instrumentalists Dejan Lapanja and Andrea Pandolfo, and the Simon Gregorčič Octet. Seating is limited, but you are welcome to bring a cushion or blanket. In the event of bad weather, the concert will be held one day later at the same time. Admission is free. Access Access by car will be possible as far as Srednjica Pasture, as the traffic restriction will not apply to concert visitors. Organised free public transport: all places are already fully booked.   The event is co-organised by Radio Koper, the Municipality of Tolmin, the Tolmin Museum and the Soča Valley Tourist Board. The event is co-funded by the Municipality of Tolmin.   About the performers: Jani Kutin is a farmer, woodworker, amateur archaeologist, musician and songwriter, as well as the founder of the band Bakalina Velika. In the songs he writes in his native Čadrg dialect, he explores the rich cultural and spiritual heritage of his home region and life in harmony with nature. Bogdana Herman is a professor of Slavic studies and a communication skills teacher, as well as a poet, researcher and folk singer. She became passionate about folk songs in childhood. During her student years, she performed protest songs and songs from around the world as a solo singer accompanying herself on guitar. It was during this period that the experimental music group Salamander was formed. She prepares, hosts and contributes to numerous radio and television programmes devoted to folk songs. She is particularly dedicated to the folk traditions of Resia and Prekmurje. Renata Lapanja is an anthropologist and cultural studies expert, as well as an amateur accordionist who performed with the band Bakalina for 11 years. She currently manages the Maks Bookshop in Nova Gorica, which operates under the auspices of the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. She is dedicated to folk storytelling, particularly to telling fairy tales for adults. Dejan Lapanja is a guitarist with a master’s degree in jazz guitar, a multi-instrumentalist, producer and sound engineer who works in both mainstream and alternative projects. He developed his skills in the Škofja Loka band Ulixes and later performed with the cult groups Projekt mesto and Olivija. He subsequently played with Laibach and Terrafolk, as well as with Vlado Kreslin, Vlatko Stefanovski, Vasko Atanasovski, The Fool Cool Orchestra, Katarina Juvančič, Severa Gjurin and numerous other renowned musicians. He is a member of Bakalina Velika and also composes his own music. Andrea Pandolfo is an Italian trumpeter, composer and teacher born in Rome. He graduated in trumpet performance from the Conservatory of Perugia and later specialised in Baroque trumpet at the Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome. In addition to classical music, he became involved in jazz at an early age and collaborated with various big bands. He teaches trumpet at the Tolmin Music School and composes music for theatre, film and television. The Simon Gregorčič Octet has been one of the most prominent male vocal ensembles in the Primorska region for almost 50 years. Alongside the classical choral repertoire, it devotes particular attention to compositions based on texts by its patron, the poet known as the Nightingale of Gorizia. In recent years, the Simon Gregorčič Octet has performed as an accompanying ensemble with Duo Bakalina, Ljoba Jenče and Svetlana Spajić.  Javorca – Dawn of Peace is a project that, in the unique setting of the Memorial Church of the Holy Spirit, uses a range of musical expressions, from folk traditions to original compositions, to explore fundamental questions concerning humanity’s relationship with the self, with others, with nature and with the transcendent. These relationships can lead to internal or social conflict, but also to the search for coexistence and peace. At a time when new centres of armed conflict are emerging, the project seeks to connect its message with the more than 110-year-old symbolic significance of Javorca and to offer visitors and Radio Koper listeners a live awakening into a dawn of peace. We warmly invite you to join us!