The Belgrade Philharmonic and conductor Mario Venzago will perform an unusual program featuring trumpet virtuoso Simon Höfele at Kolarac Hall on Friday, 11 March, at 8:00 p.pm. Belgrade Philharmonic concerts in the first week of March traditionally have been dedicated to the memory of the late Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjić.

The upcoming performance of the Belgrade Philharmonic will be marked by an unusually mixed and diverse program featuring exclusive artists of different generations. The combination of modern and traditional through the prism of spirituality will be presented in a collage of works ranging from Wagner’s and Schumann’s Faust, Stokowski’s transcriptions of Bach’s keyboard works for orchestra, to Jost’s Trumpet Concerto in memory of Chet Baker, which also happens to be the Serbian premiere of this composition.

The second blend, a mix of youth and experience, is brought by Mario Venzago at the conductor’s desk and trumpet superstar Simon Höfele, in their first ever appearance with the Belgrade Philharmonic. The ideal opportunity for fans of this instrument, jazz and the legendary Chet Baker, will be the composition Pietà by Christian Jost, which will be performed by this trumpet virtuoso, winner of the most prestigious awards, who has established himself internationally as one of the most successful trumpet players of the younger generation. Although not a jazz piece, the composition has a dedication that hints at the basic musical idea, and the trumpet enters the field of jazz with Baker’s diversity and elegance.

Mario Venzago is the principal conductor and artistic director of the Bern Symphony Orchestra and has conducted orchestras from Indianapolis, Gothenburg, San Sebastian, Basel, Graz, and many others. Together with the Belgrade Philharmonic for the first time, he will be conducting an extremely rich program with many gems of classical music that the orchestra has not performed for decades.

After Wagner’s and Schumann’s Faust and the Serbian premiere of Jost’s trumpet concerto, the Belgrade Philharmonic will perform Honegger’s Symphonie Liturgique as well as Stokowski’s famous transcription of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, which was popularized through Disney’s Fantasia, also conducted by Stokowski. Tickets for this concert are on sale at the Belgrade Philharmonic’s box-office and online.