Gjirokastra castle hosts “Musical meeting of two worlds”

TIRANA, June 7 – Artists from Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia and Croatia performed for three nights in the fourth edition of “Musical meeting of two worlds” held in the Argjiro castle of the southern Albania UNESCO World Heritage site of Gjirokastra.
The three-day international festival closed on June 6 with a performance by Macedonian jazz guitarist Toni Kitanovski and his horn driven Cherkezi Orchestra mixing Gypsy wedding brass with New Orleans funk, Turkish, Samba and African rhythms. The final night of the event organized by the Argjiro French Albanian Cultural Association also brought on the stage set up inside the castle of Gjirokastra, the Himara polyphonic group of southern Albania, which performed a mix of traditional songs from the repertoire of Himara region. Albania folk iso-polyphony is recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
The festival opened on Friday night with a concert by soprano Eva Golemi who was accompanied by the string quartet of the Arts Academy of Prishtina.
The second night brought polyphonic songs by the Tepelena group and an accordion concert by a Croatian quintet led Kosovo musician Bashkim Shehu. The event was hosted by actors Viktor Zhusti and Blerta Sula.