The Balkans meet in Bulgaria's Kyustendil at new jazz festival

On the warm summer evening of August 22, musicians from Bulgaria and North Macedonia will bring together the traditions of Balkan music and the freedom of jazz. The inaugural edition of the Balkan Jazz Festival in Kyustendil, titled “Awakening”, is about to take place.

The one-day festival aims to turn jazz into a space for cultural exchange among the Balkan countries, bringing residents and visitors of the town face to face with some of the most prominent jazz musicians from Bulgaria and across the Balkans.

The festival’s artistic director is Bulgarian trumpeter and composer Mihail Yossifov, who describes the Balkans as a kind of incubator for new and exciting jazz musicians. In his view, they combine the traditions of the genre with the distinctive local intonations and folk motifs of the region.

“When you add the temperament and outlook on life characteristic of the region, the result is an intriguing musical experience with a unique sound,” Mihail Yossifov says.

Although the Balkan countries are geographically close, cultural exchange between them is still not sufficiently active, he notes. That is why the festival aspires to be not only a musical event, but also a meeting place for artists from across the region and an opportunity to create future joint jazz projects.

Two ensembles will take the stage in the park in front of the Vladimir Dimitrov-Maistora Art Gallery: the Big Band of the National Academy of Music “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov”, conducted by Mihail Yossifov, and the National Jazz Orchestra of North Macedonia, led by composer, arranger and conductor Vladimir Nikolov.

The National Academy of Music Big Band will present a programme featuring works from the international and Bulgarian jazz repertoire, including pieces by popular Bulgarian performers.

The guests from North Macedonia will arrive in Kyustendil with their programme “Macedonian Dreams”, which presents the country’s rich folk heritage through the contemporary language of jazz. Traditional melodies, rhythms and musical motifs will be heard in new jazz arrangements.

The idea for the Balkan Jazz Festival was born in early 2025, when Mihail Yossifov and his students from the National Academy of Music gave a concert at the Vladimir Dimitrov-Maistora Art Gallery. The event was the finale of “Latin Jazz in Osogovo”, a project organised by Elena Nacheva, head of the Probudzhdane 2020 Community Centre in the village of Smolichano, according to information provided by the organisers.

The festival on August 22 is free to attend for residents and visitors to Kyustendil. The event will be hosted by Lili Goleminova of BNR's Radio Sofia, while the accompanying programme will feature a presentation of the local “Living Places” initiative, dedicated to the people, places and ideas breathing new life into the Kyustendil region.

The Balkan Jazz Festival is organised by the Probudzhdane 2020 Community Centre in Smolichano and the Kyustendil Youth Centre as part of a project supported by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, with the support of Kyustendil Municipality and under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Iliana Iotova.

Photos: unsplash.com, Facebook/ Cantus Firmus, Probudzhdane 2020 Community Centre, village of Smolichano

English version: R. Petkova