Skopje Jazz Festival opens with record lineup from 13 countries

The 45th Skopje Jazz Festival will open Thursday evening at the National Opera and Ballet in North Macedonia with a performance by Slovenian percussionist, drummer and composer Zlatko Kaučič, who will present Bravery of the Brave project with his ensemble Combo BC.

The second concert of the evening will feature tenor saxophonist, clarinetist and composer Leonhard Skorupa, who leads the international Quispel Quintet. Commissioned to write a new piece of music for the festival’s opening, Skorupa will expand his regular quintet with three Macedonian musicians Bozhidar Peić (cello), Bojan Talevski (viola) and Gjorgji Petrushevski (oboe) to form the Quispel Octet.

The midnight programme will be dedicated to Italian-American duo comprising vibraphonist Pasquale Mirra and vocalist Hamid Drake, who is regarded as one of the leading percussionists in improvised jazz, CE Report quotes MIA.

The programme on October 16 will feature Norwegian duo Eivind Aarset (guitar, electronics) and Jan Bang (live sampling). From Iceland, composer and bass guitarist Skúli Sverrisson and composer and multi-instrumentalist Ólöf Arnalds will also perform. The midnight concert will be dedicated to the Punkt music festival in Kristiansand, with its founders, Norwegian musicians Jan Bang and Erik Honoré, appearing as guests.

The evening of October 17 will open with a performance by a Macedonian quintet led by vocalist Andrea Mirchevska, presenting her project Lullaby for Lunatics. South African composer and pianist Nduduzo Makhathini, who has been recording for Blue Note for some time, will take the stage at 10 pm.

The midnight programme on the small stage at the National Opera and Ballet will feature British composer, pianist and organist Alexander Hawkins and Ethiopian-born Swedish vocalist Sofia Jernberg, performing their joint project Musho.

The festival’s closing evening on October 18 will present the Brazilian-American trio São Paulo Underground, which, according to Skopje Jazz Festival organizers, redefines the possibilities of electro-acoustic composition, spontaneous composition and sonic invention.

The closing concert will feature the Living Being quintet, headed by French accordionist Vincent Peirani. The programme will not include a midnight performance.

This year’s Skopje Jazz Festival brings together a record number of performers from 13 countries. The four-day festival features eight concerts at 8 pm and 10 pm on the main stage at the National Opera and Ballet, plus three midnight performances on a specially prepared small stage at the venue. In previous years, the midnight concerts were held at the Youth Cultural Centre (MKC).

Continuing its annual tradition, the Skopje Jazz Festival has named clarinetist and saxophonist Ninoslav Spirovski the Best Macedonian Jazz Musician of 2026.

Photo Facebook/skopjejazzfest