Dmitri Shostakovich

Maribor – The Western Balkans will be in the centre of musical exploration at this year’s Maribor Festival. A “fireworks of rhythm and emotions”, tonight’s opening concert will see the artist-in-residence, North Macedonian pianist Simon Trpčeski, perform with the SNG Maribor Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Romanian conductor Gabriel Bebeselea.

Romanian violinist Valentin Serban won the First Prize of the George Enescu International Music Competition - Violin section, having performed in the final Jan Sibelius' Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47, accompanied by the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra led by well-known conductor Wilson Hermanto.

The Athens State Orchestra has invited critically acclaimed conductor Vladimir Fedoseyev to lead the ensemble - for the first time - in a splendid tribute to the classical music of his native Russia at the Athens Concert Hall on Saturday, June 1.

The Greek Festival is screening Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 masterpiece "Battleship Potemkin" at the open-air Herods Atticus Theater on Wednesday, July 5, with live music from the Athens State Orchestra. Dmitri Shostakovich's symphonies 4, 5, 8, 10 and 11 accompany 65 minutes of breathtaking cinema under the baton of distinguished German conductor Jens Troester.

The Athens Concert Hall will screen a performance of Dmitri Shostakovich's ballet "The Bright Stream," recorded at Moscow's Bolshoi Theater, on Sunday, November 6. The performance features the Bolshoi principals, soloists and corps de ballet. The ballet is based on a choreography by Alexei Ratmansky. The event starts at 5 p.m. and admission costs 15 euros (8 euros for students).