On the evening of Wednesday, 21 August, starting at 8.30 pm, Križanke will resound to a programme of film music, moderated by Marcel Štefančič. As part of the 72nd Ljubljana Festival, the Slovene Youth Orchestra, led by versatile conductor Živa Ploj Peršuh, will perform famous pieces composed for the cinema and classical music that has been used in films. The evening’s special guest will be the Finnish film music composer and electric bass guitarist Lauri Porra, the great-grandson of the composer Jean Sibelius.
This is the period of the Slovene Youth Orchestra’s traditional Summer Orchestra Camp led by Živa Ploj Peršuh. Bringing together 100 young musicians from all over Slovenia, the camp is an unforgettable experience lasting just over a week, during which participants get to know their peers and meet musical role models as they learn, make music, create together and prepare for the grand finale: a performance on the main stage of Ljubljana’s Križanke Summer Theatre in the company of elite, internationally acclaimed soloists.
The young musicians will play music spanning numerous genres and gain practical experience performing demanding masterpieces from the classical repertoire, original music by Slovene composers and arrangements. This year’s programme tells the story of the intimate relationship between music and film. We will hear music from such well-known classics as Tom and Jerry, A Summer in a Sea Shell, West Side Story, The Godfather and Kekec.
Soloist Lauri Porra will perform his own concerto for electric bass and symphony orchestra, entitled Entropia, which he premiered with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra at the concert that opened the 2015 season, Jean Sibelius’s 150th anniversary year. Porra comes from a family of professional musicians stretching back four generations, the most famous of which is the iconic composer Jean Sibelius. Something of a musical polymath, Porra has deep roots in classical and rock music to draw on.
An award-winning artist, he has considerable experience of playing different contemporary, popular and ethnic styles of music and a long and successful track record of international collaborations. As well as composing music for orchestra, film and media, he is a member of the heavy metal band Stratovarius, with which he has recorded four albums and performed in more than 50 countries. A highly versatile musician, he also leads his own band, the Lauri Porra Flyover Ensemble, in which he combines musical styles ranging from rock and jazz to classical, electronic and film music. It is the last of these genres that will take us on a nostalgic journey at the upcoming concert.
