Editorial

Our classical music Festival “Chopin Piano Fest Prishtina” started in 2010 as a musical event dedicated to the 200th birthday of one of the greatest composers of piano, Frédéric Chopin, known as the ‘piano poet’! The great success of the first festival edition is surely attributed to the highest artistic level of the concert programs, as well as the enthusiastic dedication to its organization. This attracted distinguished public interest and support which motivated us to turn it into an annual festival, despite plenty of difficulties. The festival became a meaningful part of the cultural calendar and identity of our capital! Being a part of the International Federation of Chopin Societies (IFCS) amongst 40 other countries makes us feel privileged but at the same time responsible for our activities, since through this membership, we are part of the Council of arts by UNESCO. We have been awarded an EFA (European Association of Festivals) Label in 2019 and we are proud to be a partner of a Creative Europe funded project www.synyergyproject.info “#(Sharping) Synergy for Classical Music Industry in Wester Balkans, together with the five most prominent festivals in the region (Ljubljana Festival, Cebef, KotorArt, Dubrovnik Summer Festival, and Vox Baroque Tirana). Together, we are working on developing tools for better programming, financing, managing, creating, performing, promoting, and education programs in our festivals.

During our 12 years of organizational journey, we have managed to deliver values of high esteem to a craving artistic and enthusiastic audience through the soloistic, chamber, and
orchestral concert recitals. The festival has been home to hundreds of solo artists from various parts of the world, and the list of artists who wish to be part of the festival is increasing continuously.

In every edition, our young talented musicians and students of the Faculty of Arts have the opportunity to participate in concerts and masterclasses with outstanding, well-known artists thanks to the continuous support of the Raiffeisen Bank, which has greatly supported this important segment of our festival program. This year, the Ministry of Youth and Culture targeted a special focus on including youth in cultural activities in different forms of engagement, also through their activity in organizing and managing the festival activities beyond the artistic performance only.

Chopin PianoFEST earned recognition across the borders of Kosovo and was offered a special Prize for the successful young pianist in form of the Concert Recital in Germany, thanks to the generous support of Mr. Herbert Groeger and our Kosovo pianist Ardita Statovci. This prize is now the festival tradition, through which young talented artists from Kosovo are promoted, and we are looking for ways to enhance and expand the opportunities for young talents. We have re-launched the Compositional Competition “In Honor of Chopin” (established in 2012) this time at a nationwide level, inviting talented young composers to create new piano works!

We remain hopeful that the lack of an adequate Concert Hall, which was and still is the reality in our capital Prishtina, is going to be very soon resolved and overcome with the great project of building a new Concert Hall!

During this entire journey, it has been shown that persistence, enthusiasm, dedication as well as insisting on true artistic values together with a devoted passion for organizing, made our festival what it is – a success story worth sharing and appreciating. The faithful support of our institutions, partners & friends of the festival was very crucial for us. We were also inspired by our loyal and art-loving audience! The support motivates us and keeps us loyal to our mission to promote genuine, artistic, and musical performances. After a difficult time of pandemic in 2020 all over the world, functioning and working online we were happy we could organize our 11th festival edition in June 2021 “live”! We hope that the worst is behind us.

We thank all our supporters, who continue to believe in us and the values of the festival for the
enrichment of the cultural life in our country.