The Noches de tablao series' final event features a project by Juanfe Pérez, a flamenco bassist, guitarist, composer, and producer nominated for a 2023 Latin Grammy. On his debut album, Pérez pushes the classical vocal and guitar tradition into new dimensions, anchoring it in the old flamenco rhythms but with a vital, contemporary signature. Prohibido el toque unveils stunning soundscapes that take listeners from subtle, gentle melodies to the ecstasy of avant-garde contemporary flamenco. Juanfe Pérez combines heartfelt creation with deliberate craftsmanship – his music leaves nothing to chance. He respects tradition while passionately advancing into modernity, seeking authenticity and natural artistry through masterful improvisation. At Cankarjev dom, his stellar team, including vocalist Alicia Morales and percussionist Kike Terrón, will be joined by Karen Lugo, one of the world’s most renowned contemporary flamenco dancers. 

Juanfe Pérez studied classical and flamenco guitar at the Huelva Javier Perianes Conservatory, flamenco guitar at the Superior Rafael Orozco Conservatory in Córdoba, as well as world music at Codarts DMWC in Rotterdam. He honed his flamenco skills as a bassist-guitarist with stars such as Farruquito, Duquende, Montse Cortés, Rosario La Tremendita, Javier Ruibal, and Turkish guitarist Çenk Erdogan, as well as in the jazz-flamenco bands of Alfonso Aroca, Sergio de Lope, Antonio Lizano, and Raúl Rodríguez. He has developed his own guitar language and technique, a signature flamenco idiom reflected on his energetic debut album Prohibido el Toque (Playing Forbidden), for which he wrote the music and arrangements and produced all the tracks. In addition, he is also the producer and musical arranger of the award-winning albums Mar de Cobre by singer Cristina Soler and Ser de Luz by flautist Sergio de Lope. As a composer and guitarist he collaborates with the dance companies of Olga Pericet, Rafaela Carrasco, Sara Calero and Ana Pastrana.

His artistic journey unfolds on stages worldwide with renowned performers such as Farruquito, Diego Amador, Duquende, Rosario la Tremendita, Jorge Pardo, Montse Cortés, Olga Pericet, Belén López, José Manuel León, Raul Rodríguez, Çenc Erdogan, Jose Antonio Rodríguez, Javier Ruibal, Antílopez, Diego Guerrero, Canteca de Macao, Antonio Mesa, Juan Pérez, Sergio de Lope, Alfonso Aroca, Antonio Lizana, Karen Lugo, Robertinho Silva, Daniel Navarro, El Junco, Eduardo Trassierra, Mario Díaz, Manuel Malou, and others.

Karen Lugo is a Mexican dancer known for her creative restlessness and innovation. She has performed as a soloist at the Festival de Jerez, the Sangre Nueva Jóvenes Flamencos Festival at Teatro Espanol in Madrid, the Flamencos y Mestizos series by the SGAE Foundation, the Flamenco Ibérica Contemporánea Festival, the Concierta Independencia series at Lunario del Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City, the Flamenco Festival in Vancouver, the Flamenco Festival in Montreal, the Flamenco Festival Ciudad de Jaén, the Flamenco Madrid Festival, and the Flamenco de Saintes Festival, among many others. In collaboration with the Casa Patas Flamenco Foundation, she premiered three performances: Flamencura, Flamenco Territorio DeMente and Flamenco Frequencies, with tours in the Middle East and the United States. As a choreographer, she has received several awards, including Best Choreography at the Spring Film Festival in Barcelona, First Prize for Flamenco Dance at the International Festival in Almería, First Prize for Choreography at the Contemporary Flamenco Festival in Finland, and Third Prize for Choreography at the XVII Certamen de Danza Espanola y Flamenco in Madrid. Under the direction of Javier Latorre, she participated in Carlos Saura’s film Flamenco Flamenco and in the performances FLAMENCONAUTAS and Lorca x Bach. Her latest performance, titled Golpe de Tierra, was nominated for the Premis de la Crítica d’Arts Esceniques award for Best Solo Performance. She is currently collaborating as a choreographer and performer in the productions Caminos by Juana Gómez Chicuela, Cant Espiritual by Carlos Denia, CAYANA by Anna Colom, El Amir Ensemble by Amir Haddad, and Por Bach (GEMA 2020 Innovation Award) with the Hippocampus group featuring Jorge Pardo.

The Noches de tablao series presents fresh artistic initiatives in the field of contemporary flamenco that intertwine the disciplines of live music and dance, with an educational and theoretical accompanying programme. The series builds an intercultural arc between foreign and local creators, who establish a dialogue between flamenco and other artistic genres, and tap into new creative approaches to music, dance and performance art. Since its launch in 2017, Noches de tablao has served as a platform for new artistic projects based on genre intersectionality, running through a wide gamut of contemporary forms of expression. It features a series of concerts and dance performances that marry tradition with innovation in fascinating new ways. 

19:30
Pre-concert talk with Uroš Rojko (moderation: Gregor Pompe)  

Artist: Sae Lee, piano; Miha Rogina, saxophone; Simon Klavžar, percussion; Janez Podlesek, violin; Eldar Saparayev, cello

Programme 
Vinko Globokar, Terres brulées, ensuite
Uroš Rojko, In memoriam Tomaž Lorenz
Bor Turel, Jesenska pripoved
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Lojze Lebič, Expressions 
 

New Music Forum, Society of Slovene Composers and Cankarjev dom celebrate jubilees of four respectable Slovenian composers Lojze Lebič (1934), Vinko Globokar (1934), Bor Turel (1954) and Uroš Rojko (1954).

ENISA and the National Slovenian SI-CERT are excited to announce the 1st Cybersecurity Awareness Conference in the EU on November 27, 2024. During this conference, experts from academia, industry, and government will explore the human side of cybersecurity. The event will feature engaging keynotes, best practices, and interactive sessions on topics like psychological attack vectors, neurodiversity, gamified learning, and innovative awareness-raising strategies. Whether you are a cyber educator, awareness specialist or someone interested in protecting digital spaces, this conference is your opportunity to gain valuable insights and network with experts in the field of Cybersecurity awareness.

The event will once again feature interesting lectures by renowned experts. Hybrid construction will be presented on the example of the design and construction of three large buildings, as well as the presentation of the possibility of prefabricated hybrid construction. It will showcase the combination of different building materials such as concrete, wood, steel, glass and rammed earth combined on projects to optimize structural integrity, aesthetic appeal and sustainability. All three projects also demonstrate a number of innovative sustainable designs.

18.30 
Accompanying concert - AFORM.duo (Sara Lešnik - concept, vocals, movement; Ivana Tripković - piano, laptop)

Programme: 

Bernhard Lang: The Cold Trip 
Part 2 for piano, computer and voice, based on Schubert's cycle Winterreise, Monadologie XXXII

In the centre of their interpretive reflections, the two performers (Lešnik and Tripković) place the research of traumas and psychological illusions that characterise the protagonist from Lang's cycle. Their concept does not offer definitive answers, but rather creates space for one's own interpretation and opens up questions for further thinking.

Entry to accompanying event with ticket for "Independent and original" concert.
* 
With the fourth concert of this year's festival, we are moving from a collective to a distinctly original one - the compositions and composers of the "Independent and original" concert are chosen in such a way that they highlight characteristic features, a completely unique stamp and an original compositional language.

19.30 
Pre-concert talk with Bojana Šaljić Podešva (Moderator: Gregor Pompe)

Programme: 
Ferruccio Busoni, Sonatina Seconda
Gabriel Iranyi, Quartett
Michael Finnissy, new work [world premiere]
Marco Stroppa, Gla-dya [world premiere of a new version]
Bojana Šaljić Podešva, Highway to Dadaab

Performed by the members of New Music Forum Ensemble.

19:30 
Pre-concert introduction (Sara Zupančič on music by Pavle Merkú)

Programme: 
Farzia Fallah, Lalayi, ein Schlaflied für Sohrab
Michael Pelzel, As time goes by
Enno Poppe, Tier
Béla Bartók, Melodia
György Ligeti, Hora lunga
Pavle Merku, Quartetto Nr. 2 
György Kurtág, Hommage a Mihaly András, 12 Mikroludien

Performed by members of the New Music Forum Ensemble. 

»String music from Bartók to the present day« will focus on instrument(s) - a different usage of strings and string ensembles, as seen in the Hungarian classics of the 20th century (Bartók, Ligeti, Kurtág), the Iranian composer (Farzia Fallah) and the great Slovenian composer Pavle Merkú.

Armando Brizani, piano, keyboards; Bernardo Brizani, cello; Imer Traja Brizani, vocals, el. bass guitar
Friends: Anja Burnik, flute; Lovro Ravbar, alto saxophone; Uroš Rakovec, acoustic guitar; Neža Drobnič, Miha Vanič, Trinda Haxhiu, vocals; Igor Bezget, guitar; Miha Recelj, drums; Lazaro Amed Hierrezuelo, percussion; Blaž Avsenik, piano

For this concert, Imer Traja Brizani, a synonym for the movement in contemporary Romani music culture, blends the Romani tradition with flamenco and jazz improvisation, as well as the original artistic expressions of the younger and middle generations of musicians. Rooted in the Romani tradition, his powerful music speaks in the language of genuine sincerity, meaningfully enriching the local and international musical creativity. Brizani reinterprets Romani music, known for its temperamental intensity, its rhythmic and improvisational vitality, through his distinctive approach – blending Romani music and jazz to create a unique authorial poetics. 

The Priština-born, Slovenian-based (since 1980) multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, arranger, producer and music pedagogue has an MA in musicology. His oeuvre includes more than fifteen albums of original music. He is also the author of the first Slovenian Romani musical, Stekleno jabolko. He began his musical career in Slovenia as a bassist in pop music bands, but his flair for improvisation opened the door for a glittering career in jazz. The jazz greats he has played with range from Jože Privšek to Peter Erskine.

In 1996, he founded Amala, a music group that preserves the rich musical heritage of the Roma people while masterfully combining elements of traditional Romani music with jazz, as well as classical and band music. With Amala, Brizani has performed at numerous jazz and ethno music festivals, both in Slovenia and abroad. He has given solo concerts with the RTV Slovenia Big Band and the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, and his regular guests – partners in music-making, include many other Romani music performers, both local and international.
Musicologists say that his music is sentimental and passionate, his lyrics in particular being deeply expressive of the destiny and life philosophy of the Romani people. But the Roma say, "Amare gila si dukhade!" (Our songs are songs of pain.)
 

In 2016, the then President of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, awarded Brizani the Medal of Merit for his creative contribution to the promotion and visibility of Romani culture in Slovenia. "Without tradition, any kind of culture is empty, and poor without innovation and modernity. The Romani people, to whom I belong, are marginalised worldwide. I am trying to set an example to make sure that this is not the case in future, my basic guideline being intercultural dialogue," said Imer Brizani in his acceptance speech. The artist has been striving all his life to enrich Romani culture and build a bridge between tradition and modernity. This is one of the reasons why in the Romani community he has dedicated himself to Romani music education as a pedagogue and mentor.

He has collected and arranged many songs from the world's Romani musical treasury while also composing some himself. He has published the sheet music of the most famous Romani songs he collected in his book Le ostanite, Romi gredo! – a chronicle of the history of the Romani people, their customs, skills, beliefs, tales, poetry and language.

Harold López-Nussa, piano; Luques Curtis, bass; Grégoire Maret, harmonica; Ruy López-Nussa, drums

Cuba is an island with widely branched musical family trees, and it is not uncommon for them to yield excellent pianists. Harold López-Nussa is certainly one of them. Chucho Valdés describes him as “at the forefront of a new generation of musicians”, and a pianist with “a subtle sound, brilliant ideas, and a unique musical style.” With numerous albums as band leader under his belt, he has taken audiences worldwide by storm with his infectious energy. Harold López-Nussa's latest album and his first on Blue Note Records, Timba a la Americana is closely linked to his personal life. Melancholy and homesickness, the longing for “the colours, the food, the people and the ocean”, the homeland he left behind in late 2021, when he moved from Cuba to Toulouse, France, with his wife and two daughters, are interlinked with the excitement about starting a new life and the experience of discovering new milieus, environments both personal and musical. His compositions are a musical record, a view of Cuba “from the outside”. 

The album is the result of López-Nussa's long friendship with Michael League, Snarky Puppy producer and bassist, who produced the album, and the “blessing” of Don Was, President of the notable Blue Note Records, who’d been keeping track of López-Nussa in Havana for a long time. Their joint effort culminated in an eclectic album that the Rolling Stone magazine hails as “a true jewel of Latin jazz”.

“Timba is the popular music that we make in Cuba today, it is the modern salsa that in Cuba we call timba, but also a dish, a guava paste that we eat with cheese. And Americana because there were several Americans, North Americans, involved in the project,” is Harold López-Nussa’s explanation of the album's title. It features ten dynamic original compositions performed by a tight-knit band featuring harmonica virtuoso Grégoire Maret, who works with legendary musicians such as Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny and Cassandra Wilson, bassist Luques Curtis, an alumnus of the prestigious Berklee College of Music and member of the Eddie Palmieri band, Bárbaro “Machito” Crespo on congas who gave the album a deep touch of Afro-Cuban roots, and the musician Harold’s been playing with his whole life, his favourite drummer and brother, Ruy Adrián López-Nussa. 

They are making their Cankarjev dom debut as a quartet, and judging from their excellent credentials, we are in for a virtuoso ride, and inspiring and thrilling musical adventure.

Christoph Irniger, tenor sax; Stefan Aeby, piano; Raffaele Bossard, bas; Michael Stulz, drums

Christoph Irniger, tenor saxophone / Stefan Aeby, piano / Dave Gisler, guitar / Raffaele Bossard, bass / Michi Stulz, drums
The airborne view of the Swiss Alps and the magical plateaux reflected on the surface of the vast lakes fascinates us over and over again, but the familiarity of the landscape is sure to touch a chord with us too. And that is probably also true of the music that comes from there. In recent days, the world has witnessed not only an emergence of notable Swiss pop artists, winning laurels at this year's Eurovision Song Contest, but the blossoming of other genres in this country of 8 million people. Jazz is one of them. The eminent teachers at Switzerland's many renowned conservatoires and universities are attracting scores of young prospective students, including Slovenian musicians. An alumnus of these prestigious seats of learning, the Zürich -based tenor saxophonist Christoph Irniger has been hailed by critics as one of the most promising musicians in contemporary Swiss jazz, and his Pilgrim quintet as one of the most exciting ensembles in young European jazz.

Before he entered the world of jazz Christoph Irniger worked in rock music, as leader of the prog-rock band Cowboys from Hell. He was a member of the Lucerne Jazz Orchestra for seven years, and took lessons from mentors such as Dave Liebman, Mark Turner and Ari Hoenig. He formed two bands, Pilgrim and the Christoph Irniger Trio, so far releasing seven albums (three on Intakt Records). A multi-award winning artist, he has played his original music on European, Asian and US stages. The Pilgrim members play in various other bands and have had the opportunity to work with jazz greats such as Dave Douglas, Christian Weber, Nasheet Waits and Joey Barone. Now passing on this knowledge and experience, Irniger teaches at University of the Arts and the Musikschule Konservatorium in Zürich. He initiated the concert series Jazz im Seefeld, co-founded the Jazzwerkstatt Zürich festival and is a member of the programming team of the Unerhört! festival. 

“I do not see jazz as representing a particular sound or content, but as a way of making music. To me jazz is that music which always processes its time,” says Christoph Irniger who gets ideas for his original compositions from every style of music, and from life itself. His main inspirations are Lake Zürich, the mountains, his family, friends, a range of other art-forms and travelling – above all Berlin and New York, places where he further developed his musical potential and gained inspiration. Irniger places melody above everything else, even in dense, complex notated compositions, or within free jazz passages. 
To mark their tenth anniversary last year, Pilgrim released their fifth album Ghost Cat on Intakt Records, proving once again that they use written compositions and themes merely as a gateway to other, free musical expanses.
 

Ob desetletnici delovanja je zasedba Pilgrim lani pri založbi Intakt Records izdala svoj peti album Ghost Cat, v katerem znova dokazuje, da so spisane kompozicije in teme zanjo le vrata, ki vodijo v drug, svoboden glasbeni prostor.

Enkhjargal Erkhembayar, glas; Philipp Schiepek, kitara; River Loring Adomeit, bas

Enkhjargal Erkhembayar – Enji, for short – equates music with freedom, originality, singularity, belonging, her music reflects colours and natural phenomena, through her music Enji vocalises unspoken emotions that touch even listeners unfamiliar with her language. Her songs are soulful and confessional, rooted in Mongolian folk tradition. 
Enji was born in Ulaanbaatar and grew up in a yurt, a traditional tent used by nomads, in a close-knit working-class family. Music and singing was an intrinsic part of her family’s daily routine, and Enji's parents encouraged her in her musical creativity. Initially, she pursued the career of a music educator, teaching music at a primary school, but a jazz workshop brought to Mongolia by the Goethe-Institut turned her life upside down. She was accepted to the Munich Conservatory; as a student there, she realised that singing was her life's passion. With support from the Goethe-Institut, Enji recorded her debut release, Mongolian Song – an album of traditional Mongolian song with jazz arrangements, accompanied by accomplished performers like the legendary drummer Billy Hart, pianist Paul Kirby, saxophonist Johannes Enders and bassist Martin Zenker. The encounter with Martin Brugger, owner of Squama Recordings, was catalytic for Enji’s creative talent. Enji's second album, Ursgal, was released during the pandemic, when, used to living in a close-knit community, she suddenly had to face the situation of being alone and truly seeing herself for who she was when on her own. The answer yielded by her self-reflection was a ritual form of expression, the traditional Mongolian singing style of Urtiin duu, which translates as "long song". 

“My father’s side, they used to sing in that style in the countryside, and this long song kind of belongs to me,” Enji explains in an interview. In the Mongolian folk tradition, vocalists extend single words and syllables in vibrato-laden lines that can stretch to minutes. “In our long song, you don’t have bars or strict tempo. Soundwaves extend across space. It is more a picturing of the melody. You have your own energy and your own tempo, and you can sing in a completely free way. The techniques and sounds are related to nature. You can, for example, hear sounds like water, animals, or mountains reflected in the music,” says Enji about her singing style.

Enji’s third release ventures beyond the structures of the Western musical canon she studied at the Conservatory. Alongside her long-time music collaborators, guitarist Paul Brendel and bassist Munguntovch Tsolmonbayar, she recruited two Brazilian musicians, drummer Maria Portugal and clarinettist Joana Queiroz to join her at the studio. She titled her most personal album to date Ulaan, which means ‘red’ in Mongolian. Ulaan is the nickname that has stuck with her since childhood. When a baby, Enji was crying so much she turned red as a beetroot, and her family just called her Ulaan. 

It’s an elegant and powerful twist on traditional Mongolian music, writes The Guardian, while Washington Post thus reviews her concert: “These songs sound so inventive, so free, yet so grounded – and if they end up calming your mind, the aim wasn't to numb it, but to open it.”