TIRANA, June 29 – European musicians will be performing for two weeks in Durres, the country’s traditional most popular tourist destination, in an international chamber music festival.
The festival, now in its 12th edition, will be held for the second year in a row at the landmark Durres archaeological museum, reconstructed a couple of years ago.
Musicians from Italy, Greece, Germany, Austria and Albania will be performing in seven nights from June 29 to July 12 some of the best international classical pieces.
Albanian musicians will also commemorate composers Prenk Jakova and à‡esk zadeja, the fathers of Albanian classical music.
Seventeen music students of Albania’s University of Arts will also join the festival attending master classes by international professors and performing in the festival’s closing concert.
“The purpose of this festival is to ensure, on the one hand the acknowledgement of the different artistic cultures from different countries such as Italy, Austria, France, Greece, Switzerland, Kosovo, Macedonia etc. through their participation in these events and, on the other hand to encounter the Albanian culture with other foreign cultures through common performances. Another objective is to bring together all Albanian artists who work inside and outside the country,” organizers say.
Musicians will perform in the facilities of the landmark Durres archeological museum which houses around 3,200 items dating back from prehistory to the Middle Ages.
Durres is one of the country’s busiest cities during summer when it is flocked by dozens of thousands of tourists enjoying its beaches and cultural heritage sites.
In addition to the landmark amphitheatre and archeological museum, the port city of Durres offers tourists attractions such as the Roman thermal baths, the Byzantine wall with its towers, the Byzantine forum, the Venetian tower, the Arapaj Basilica and the ethnographic museum.
Founded in the 7th century BC under the name Epidamnos, Durres has been continuously inhabited for 27 centuries and is one of the oldest cities in Albania.
Archaeologists have discovered some of the country’s most beautiful mosaics in the ancient city of Durres and its suburbs including the famous “Durres Beauty” mosaic which is on display at the National Historical Museum in Tirana.
