Jazz festival kicks off in Shkodra

TIRANA, June 10 – Jazz musicians and bands from Albania, Spain, Austria will perform for two days in a festival in the northern city of Shkodra.
The sixth edition of the annual festival is organized by the Rrok Jakaj Cultural Association, named after the late Albanian violinist and Optional Music International.
The festival will bring on the stage Albanian jazz musician Orges Toce, the Ein Orge(s) duo composed of Albanian guitarist Orges Toce and Austrian contrabass player Hanibal Scheutz.
Meanwhile, Spain will be represented in the festival with Isaac Turienzo, one of the most important Spanish jazz musicians in the 90s and Jorge Pardo, another renowned Spanish jazz player.
Austria’s Ockus-Rockus band will also perform in the festival which will be held in the local Migjeni theater is. The festival will also offer master classes.
The annual Shkodra Jazz Festival is an effort to add a new soundtrack to the cultural life of this town in northern Albania.
Since 2005, the festival has brought top performers from Western Europe, United States, as well as local talents. Through the years, it managed to bring performers like saxophonists Diego Borotti and Michael Rosen, trumpeter Johannes Faber, harpists Park Stickney and Uschi Laar, pianists Fred Ferrari and Markelian Kapedani, as well as Eileina, a singer. The program has included classic and contemporary, ethnic, Gypsy and Latin jazz.
The festival has also sought out to the musical community in Shkodra, Albania and more widely, through musical education offered by the performers in different workshops. It has also built a network of international performances and presentations mostly in Italy and Germany. It has also reached out to underprivileged groups in the society offering them musical training.
The festival intends to become a necessary stop for music and party lovers in the region, by offering a complex product of quality music, education, tourism and regional development.
While most concerts are performed at the Migjeni Theatre Hall of Shkodra, the festival has also reached out the public through various street performances and late jam sessions in some of the main bars of the city.
The festival is dedicated to Rrok Jakaj, a renowned Albanian violinist and musical manager who parented the idea and supported it until his premature death.