The International Festival of Young Musicians – DAM Festival Pristina is one of the most prominent cultural events taking place in the capital city of

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...

. Founded in 2006, DAM Festival is an annual music festival which gathers young and talented national and international musicians from all over the world. This festival works on enriching the Kosovar cultural scene with the collision of the traditional and the contemporary. DAM Fest was founded by back then art student, now well known TV producer, musician, journalist and manager of ''Kosovo's Philharmonic Orchestra'',

Dardan Selimaj Dardan Selimaj (born 1984 in Prishtina, Kosovo) is a journalist, producer and music theorist. He started his career as a journalist by writing for magazines and hosting a live show on local radio station in Prishtina. Since 2005 he has hosted a ...

Origin of the Festival

Music Art Center DAM ''Music Art Center DAM'' was founded in 2007, a year after DAM Festival was founded by a group of students of the

University of Pristina The University of Pristina ( sq, Universiteti i Prishtinës) is a public university located in Pristina, Kosovo. It is the institution that emerged after the disestablishment of the University of Pristina (1969–99) as a result of the K ...

- Musical Art Branch. The first edition of the festival was organized as part of the yearly activities of the Faculty of Arts of Pristina - Musical Art Branch. The founders of the Music Art Center DAM were Dardan Selimaj, Yllka Rexhepi, Meriton Ferizi, Avni Krasniqi and Lule Ballata. The executive director was Dardan Selimaj and members of the directors’ board were Yllka Rexhepi and Bleta Qerkini.

DAM Festival throughout the years

First Festival (2006)

The first DAM Festival was held in 2006 and was the first of its kind to debut on the Kosovar cultural scene. The opening concert was held on 20 April in the ''Red Hall of the Palace of Youth'' in Pristina. More than 500 guests attended the first night of the festival, among them the famous Kosovar composer

Fahri Beqiri Fahri Beqiri (born 1936) was an Albanian composer and professor at the University of Prishtina Department of Music. Education Beqiri was born in Yugoslavia and graduated composition from the University of Arts in Belgrade, Serbia, where he studie ...

. Kosovar jazz musician

Ilir Bajri Ilir Bajri (born 1969) is a Kosovo Albanian The Albanians of Kosovo ( sq, Shqiptarët e Kosovës, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovar/Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars/Kosovans, constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo ...

worked with the young musicians for 5 months. Musicians from the

, Faculty of Arts of Pristina Branch, ''MNO Octet'' from Mitrovica and other guests coming from Albania, Italy, Macedonia, Germany and Slovenia performed on stage. The Kosovar guitar quartet Elvis Bytyqi, Gjulian Bytyqi, Drilon Qoqaj and Agron Peni performed the ''D-dur Concert'' by

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...

. Pianist Neritan Hysaj performed ''Quazi Variations'' composed by the young Kosovar composer Dafina Zeqiri. The closing concert was held on 1 May, with the performance of ''Fegus Quartet'' coming from Slovenia. The first DAM Festival was well received by the audience leaving a lot to expect for the oncoming years.

Second Festival (2007)

The second DAM Festival, organized in 2007 was one of the most expensive projects organized by the Music Art Center DAM, this because of the many workshops taking place parallel to the festival. International professionals and tutors offered master classes and lectures for the Faculty of Arts of Pristina students. 10 concerts were held in different locations in Pristina. Participants came from Albania, Austria, Egypt, England, Bulgaria and Croatia. The opening concert was held on 4 April in the ''Red Hall of the Palace of Youth and Sports''. One special guest of this year's festival was the famous English violinist, Peter Sheppard Skaerved. Part of this festival was a theatrical play performed by the ''Lalish Theatre'' of Vienna which took place on 5 April in the ''National Library''. Later on this year, a memorial concert honoring the figure of

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

, one of the world's best operic tenors, was organized by the ''Music Art Center DAM''. This was the only event held in Kosovo honoring Pavarotti, parted from life in September 2007.

Third Festival (2008)

The third edition of the International Festival of Young Musicians-DAM Festival, was the first cultural festival to have been held in the independent

Republic of Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...

. It started its journey on 24 March 2008, and it offered to the audience seven shows during the seven days of the festival. More than 200 young musicians, coming from worldwide famous music schools, such as

Academy of Music in Kraków The Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków ( pl, Akademia Muzyczna im. Krzysztofa Pendereckiego w Krakowie) is a conservatory located in central Kraków, Poland. It is the '' alma mater'' of the renowned Polish contemporary composer Krz ...

(Poland),

Zurich University of the Arts Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK, german: Zürcher Hochschule der Künste) has approximately 2,500 students, which makes it the largest arts university in Switzerland. The university was established in 2007, following the merger between Zurich' ...

(Switzerland),

Academy of Music, University of Zagreb The Academy of Music ( hr, Muzička akademija or MUZA) is a Croatian music school based in Zagreb. It is one of the three art academies affiliated with the University of Zagreb, along with the Academy of Dramatic Art and the Academy of Fine Arts. ...

(Croatia), Faculty of Music in Skopje (Macedonia),

Academy of Arts in Tirana The University of Arts ( sq, Universiteti i Arteve), formerly known as the Academy of Arts ( sq, Akademia e Arteve) is a public university and the main institution that offers higher education of the arts in Albania. History Founded in 1966 as the ...

(Albania), attended the third edition of DAM Festival 2008. These musicians, were accompanied by young Kosovar musicians from the Faculty of Arts of Pristina –

. More than 50 artworks of Albanian and international composers, premièred in front of the audience of the third edition of DAM Festival. To mark the opening of this edition, 30 musicians executed the famous music work of the well known French composer,

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (, ; ; 17 May 18661 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but was an und ...

, ''

Vexations ''Vexations'' is a musical work by Erik Satie. Apparently conceived for keyboard (although the single page of manuscript does not specify an instrument), it consists of a short theme in the bass whose four presentations are heard alternatingly ...

''. The 2008 edition of the festival, was attended by many special guests, among them the successful musicians Jan Pilch,

Mendi Mengjiqi Mengjiqi in 2005 Mendi Mengjiqi is a Kosovo Albanian composer, author of the National anthem of Kosovo". He was born in Lupç i Epërm, District of Pristina. Biography In the years 1976–1980 he studied at the 2nd degree music school in Pristin ...

, Mojca Sedeu,

Petrit Çeku Petrit Çeku (born 2 June 1985) is an Albanian classical guitarist. Biography Born in Prizren, Kosovo , Çeku was inspired to play guitar by his father from the age of six. He attended the Lorenc Antoni music school from age 9 to 17, where he t ...

, Alexandre Dubach and Toshio Yanagisawa. During this edition, these special guests organized master classes and workshops related to DAM's character. This fulfilled one of the festival's main aims – to provide the young musicians an environment where they can benefit from the professionals’ experience. DAM Festival 2008 included 9 music concerts which took place in the ''Red Hall'' of the ''Palace of Youth and Sports'' in Pristina.

Fourth Festival (2009)

26 March 2009 marked DAM Festival's fourth step. By that time, it had already become one of the most important cultural events in Kosovo. Within that year, several major changes were conducted. Since 2009, DAM started to present young conductors and soloists along with the ''Kosovo's Philharmonic Orchestra''. Important national and international musicians attending the festival, continued to become larger in number. During DAM's eleven days long marathon, participants from all over the world, shone on the festival's stage. ''Arcata Stuttgart Orchestra'' (Germany), ''Franc Liszt Wind Quintet'' (Hungary), instrumentalists Selina Cuonz (Switzerland), Ognenka Gerasimovska (Macedonia), Laurent Cirade (France), Paul Staicu (France) and the distinguished Kosovar tenor, Riad Ymeri, among other musicians, performed on the 9 shows of DAM 2009. The well known German orchestra, ''Arcata Stuttgart'', performing for the first in Kosovo, drew the greatest attention during 2009's edition. They offered the Kosovar audience a wide repertoire, from early

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

up to

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included seria ...

. The French duo ''Duel'', made up of Laurent Cirade and Paul Staicu performed on the closing concert of this year's festival. The 2009 DAM Festival was well received by critics and the audience. This edition was sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.

Fifth Festival (2010)

Kosovo's Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Claudio Buchler

The 5th DAM Festival, continued the tradition of the festival throughout the years. The opening concert was held on 25 March. DAM 2010's edition included 11 concerts and performances. The closing concert took place on 19 April, with the performance of ''Fatosat n’Dam''. More than 200 musicians participated in that year's festival, among them the famous Slovenian cellist

Luka Šulić Luka Šulić (born 25 August 1987) is a Slovenian-Croatian cellist. He is a member of 2CELLOS, along with Stjepan Hauser. Early life Šulić was born in Maribor, Slovenia. Šulić's father, Božo (through whom Šulić has Croatian citizenship ...

, part of the duo

2Cellos 2CELLOS (stylized 2CΞLLOS) were a Croatian cellist duo, consisting of classically trained cellists Luka Šulić and Stjepan Hauser. Signed to Sony Masterworks since 2011, they released six albums. They played instrumental arrangements of well ...

, Albanian violinist Jonian – Ilia Kadesha and Kosovar percussionist Patris Berisha. Piano Recital by Kosovar pianist - Agron Shujaku . The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music New Music Ensemble led by conductor and composer David Dzubay, also performed as a guest ensemble at the 2010 International Festival of Young Musicians. ''Pristina’s New Orchestra'', founded in 2008 by the talented Kosovar violinist, Visar Kuci, premiered in the 5th DAM Festival. Special guest of this edition were the Albanian violin master, Ethem Qerimi, the most famous Swiss violinist, referred to as the ''Swiss Paganini'', Alexandre Dubach.

Sixth Festival (2011)

The 6th edition of the DAM Festival was inspired by the famous saying of the British leader,

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

:''"I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else"''. It started on 27 March, and during the 9 days of the festival 9 concerts were held. DAM Festival 2011 started with the performance of the ''Philharmonic Orchestra of Kosovo'', with the young and very talented conductor

Alexander Prior Alexander Prior (born 5 October 1992) is a British composer and conductor who studied at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. He was Chief Conductor of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra from 2017 to 2022. Life and career Prior was born in London ...

and the Chinese pianist Wu Qian, whereas the festival came to an end with the performance of the Jazz Duo, vocalist

Rona Nishliu Rona Nishliu (born 25 August 1986) is a Kosovo-Albanian singer and songwriter. She came to international prominence after Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, representing Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan, w ...

and pianist Gent Rushi. A broad range of performers participated in this festival, which is considered to be the most successful festival in DAM's history. British conductor,

, Italian pianist Maurizio Mastrini, Turkish soprano Pervin Chakar were among the international performers. Kosovar musicians participated in this event as well, such as violinist Visar Kuci, pianist Neritan Hysa, composer

Liburn Jupolli Liburn Jupolli (born 11 December 1989 in Pristina, Kosovo) is an Albanian Musician/Composer from Kosovo. Prof.PhD. Liburn Jupolli is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, inventor, producer with more than 15 years of experience. Released 25 music ...

, mezosoprano Ardiana Bytyqi and flutist Ermira Citaku.

Seventh Festival (2012)

During 2012, the organizers of DAM Festival, faced many political and economical problems. This event was made possible by the support of ''Pristina Municipality'' and other private donors. The main theme of the 2012 Festival was the relationship between arts, especially music, and politics and raising the awareness of what qualitative classical music is. One of the most attention attracting performances was the one of the German band ''

Sparks Sparks may refer to: Places *Sparks, Georgia * Sparks, Kansas *Sparks, Kentucky *Sparks, Maryland * Sparks, Nebraska *Sparks, Nevada *Sparks, Oklahoma *Sparks, Texas * Sparks, Bell County, Texas * Sparks, West Virginia Books * ''Sparks'' (Raffi ...

'', who opened the festival in an unusual way, by dancing and talking on the stage, that being their 100th performance. Another highlight of 2012's festival was that of 1 April. The ''Chloe Cailleton Trio'', a mix of popular French music and

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive lis ...

, took on the stage by serving to the audience a very spectacular performance. This trio included the vocalist and percussionist Chloe Cailleton, Ronan Court in contrabass and Armel Dupas in piano, their performance reaching the climax in the second part of their piece. Famous Kosovar pianist Lule Elezi and soprano Besa Llugiqi were among the national participants of 2012's Festival.

Eighth Festival (2013)

The Eighth DAM Festival started on 1 November 2013 and offered to the Kosovar audience three days of classical and innovative music performances. Performers came from different Balkan countries such as Croatia, Macedonia and Kosovo. The first performers of this Festival were a group of Kosovan girls, ''Haveit''. The first performance took place in the ''National Theatre'' in Pristina. Seven expositions were offered to the public during this edition of the festival. Some of the most notable performances were brought on stage by ''Sudar Percussion'', ''Flooder'', ''String Quartet Pristina'', ''Loja Laboratory Theatre'', Kosovan DJs Dardan Ramabaja and Tonton and Nesim Maxhuni – ''Hip Bob Quintet''. Part of the festival's program, was a non-musical work of art. ''The Dealers'' – a theatrical play by ''Loja Laboratory Theater'' was shown in the second night of the festival. This play took place in the abandoned building, once the building of ''Rilindja'', once Kosovo's largest printing house.

Ninth Festival (2014)

The ninth DAM Festival is set to be held from 29 March to 8 April. It has been made known that many prominent musicians have been invited, still awaiting to be confirmed.

List of performances

Special Guests

* ''1st Festival'' -

Dafina Zeqiri Dafina Zeqiri (; born 14 April 1989), also known mononymously as Dafina, is a Swedish-born Kosovo-Albanian singer. Life and career Dafina Zeqiri was born on 14 April 1989 into an Albanian family from Kosovo in the city of Varberg, Sweden. ...

* ''2nd Festival'' - Igor Krizman,

Alice Parker Alice Parker (born December 16, 1925) is an American composer, arranger, conductor, and teacher. She has authored five operas, eleven song-cycles, thirty-three cantatas, eleven works for chorus and orchestra, forty-seven choral suites, and ...

, Robert Shaw, Borut Zagoranski, Bashkim Shehu * ''3rd Festival'' - Jan Pilch, Alexandre Dubach, Toshio Yanagisawa,

* ''4th Festival'' - Arcata Stuttgart Orchestra, Franc Liszt Quintet, Riad Ymeri * ''5th Festival'' -

, Visar Kuci, Ethem Qerimi, Juliana Anastasijevic * ''6th Festival'' -

, Wu Qian,

, Maurizio Mastrini, Pervin Chakar * ''7th Festival'' - Sparks, The Chloe Cailleton Trio * ''8th Festival'' - Haveit, Sudar Percussion, Flooder, Hip Bob Quintet

Collaborations

Hakawaytiyyah - The Story Teller

''Hakawaytiyyah'' (English – ''The Storyteller'') was the greatest project in which the Music Art Center DAM was involved. This was a ''British Council Creative Collaborations'' project aiming to build networks across the arts communities of South East Europe and the UK and increase the number of artists working in cross-cultural collaborations within these countries. Hakawaytiyyah included different forms of creative arts in order to paint the picture of the Muslim women of 21st century in the dimension of art. This project was launched at the ''World Music Expo'' in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

, Spain in 2008. It was a collaboration between the ''Music Art Center DAM'' and ''Ulfah Arts - Muslim Women Music Makers''. The partnership began in March 2009 and work started in early January 2010. The leader of the project was the founder of Ulfah Arts, Naz Koser, a Pakistani originating British women's rights activist inspired by personal tragedy due to religious extremism. 100

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

women from the UK and Kosovo participated in this project. They shared their stories and personal experience as devoted women to Islam. Stories were brought from the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

and

Hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...

and within 6 weeks, the finalized product was ready. The stories of the interviewed women had given attributes to three main female figures in religion: Fátima,

Saint Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

and Asya. The final product premièred as a post-DAM Festival 2010 event on 31 March 2010 in ''Oda Theater'' in Pristina, and the tour continued throughout the UK.

Project Cooperators

* ''Alia Al Zough'' - BAFTA Scotland nominated and award-winning actress and writer. Her participation in this project included rewriting the stories told by the interview women * ''Rosalind Parker'' - well known composer who created the original score * ''Visar Kuci'' - famous Kosovar violinist who translated the story of ''Asya'' into a music composition * ''Dafina Zeqiri'' - successful Kosovar composer who was responsible for creating the original composition for the story of ''Mary'' * ''Armend Xhaferi'' - Kosovan composer and guitarist who participated by composing the music part based on the story of ''Fatima'' * ''Holy Jones'' - well known flautist, part of the UK tour * ''Riad Ymeri '' - one of the most successful Kosovar tenors

DAM Festival Photo Gallery

File:DAM'07 (2).jpg, Flute quartet performance File:DAM'07 (1).jpg, St. Anthony Church File:DAM'07 (3).jpg, St. Anthony Church File:DAM'07 (4).jpg, St. Anthony Church File:DAM'07 (5).jpg, St. Anthony Church File:DAM fest..jpg, DAM fest File:Rona Nishliu.JPG, Rona Nishliu File:DAM fest.jpg, DAM fest File:Koncert DAM.jpg, DAM fest

Notes

References

{{reflist, 2 Events in Pristina Festivals in Kosovo 2006 establishments in Kosovo Annual events in Kosovo Classical music festivals in Kosovo Music festivals in Kosovo Music festivals established in 2006