Opening concert
On 16 April 2019 the opening concert of the SONEMUS Festival 2019 took place at the Brew Imperial Society - BIS in Sarajevo, a famous old cinema hall in one of the most magnificent buildings of Sarajevo in the center of the city. This location is of great importance, as the building was just for this year's SONEMUS Festival opened to the public. This year's SONEMUS festival was the first cultural event since the restoration of the building and attracted a large number of spectators. The concert opened with Paul Clift's "Third Station" for flute, trombone and accordion, followed by Ališer Sijarić's violin concerto.
Highlights of the Festival
The highlight of this year's festival edition was clearly the Bosnian premiere of Simon Steen-Andersen "Black Box Music". Carlota Caceres is a highly acclaimed interpreter of the solo part of this composition, and it was an honour for SONEMUS Festival to have the opportunity to work with such an artist and her performance. The staging of this performance in a cinema room was a great success in terms of construction of the composition and the entire visual and acoustic effect. The composer Simon Steen-Andersen was present at the SONEMUS Festival 2019 and worked closely with Carlota Caceres on her solo part. The musicians of the Ensemble Proton were our "reinforcement" for this concert and participated in the large cast pieces.
On April 17, the concert of the Ensemble Proton together with Jerome Noetinger took place in the Army Hall Sarajevo. The concert began with a world premiere of the Bosnian composer Dino Rešidbegović, followed by the gigantic "Les Abîmes Hallucinés" by Swiss composer Antoine Chessex - Journey through detailed structures of instrumental colours that will be supported by electroacoustic elements.
On 18 April, again in Brew Imperial Society, the Ensemble Mosaik from Berlin played a concert whose focus was on interactive works with video. The Ensemble quickly won the sympathies of the audience and delivered an excellent concert, the first of its kind in all of the Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Feedback
The overall impression of this event on the cultural scene in Sarajevo and all of the Bosnia and Herzegovina was enormous, which is evident from the extensive media support we received this year and the reactions of the audience.
Achievement of objectives
SONEMUS Fest, the only festival for contemporary music in Bosnia and Herzegovina, presented again positive impulses and energy for promotion of this kind of music. Besides the insight into the current repertoire of contemporary music with outstanding performances by musicians and ensembles, SONEMUS Festival provides, the unique opportunity for music students to explore their profession, enabled by a large number of workshops and lectures organised by SONEMUS.
This year's edition of the Festival was a real surprise for several reasons. Truth is, that a growing number of young people are showing interest in this form of artistic expression. The real proof of this is SONEMUS Festival, whose concerts get more and more visitors every year. Although SONEMUS Festival is one of the few events in the field of new music in the region, the organization of such events has a positive outcome for the future of musical life, in order for the new generation to create better development opportunities.
I would like to thank i-platform very much for the cooperation with SONEMUS Festival and emphasize that without your help and understanding it would not be possible to realize this project.
Azra Ramić, Management of SONEMUS Festival