At a press conference held at the Ljubljana Town Hall on 9 April, the Ljubljana Festival presented the events of the 2009 Summer Festival, along with the accompanying programme and the principal sponsors. The 2009 Summer Festival will commence on 6 July 2009 with the Pink Floyd Ballet, a performance conceived and choreographed by Roland Petit and performed by the world renowned La Scala Theatre. The festival will last until 27 August 2009, when the closing performance will be given by the celebrated State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, who will present a new staging of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugene Onegin. The central performances of the festival will be accompanied by the familiar regular events, such as Cinema Beneath the Stars at the Ljubljana Castle and the 12th International Fine Arts Colony. Prior to the beginning of the festival, the Ljubljana Festival will offer a public screening of a documentary film about the Music Workshop for Children that took place within the framework of this year’s Slovenian Music Days. The public screening will take place on 25 May at Kinodvor in Ljubljana. On 22 June, we will celebrate the 75th birthday of composer Vinko Globokar with his Instrumental Theatre. As the introduction of the 2009 Summer Festival we offer you the concert of Gilberto Gil of popular music from Brasil on 29 May. In total, the festival will stage more than 80 events, hosting over 2500 performers from more than 20 countries. These events will take place under the honorary patronage of the Mayor of Ljubljana, Mr Zoran Janković. The principal sponsors of the festival are Telekom Slovenia and Mobitel. On Monday 22 June 2009, there will be the final event within the framework of the 24th Slovenian Music Days. The concert of Vinko Globokar’s Instrumental theatre, with which we will celebrate the 75th birthday of world renowned Slovenian composer Vinko Globokar, will be held in the Linhart Hall of Cankarjev Dom. On 6 July, the festival will open with a presentation of the Pink Floyd Ballet performed by La Scala Theatre. The festival will continue with numerous excellent concerts, opera performances and musicals. From the vast array of music events on offer, Mr Darko Brlek, Artistic and General Director of the Ljubljana Festival and President of the European Festivals Association, has singled out some of the more significant events, ensembles and artists who will leave a special mark on this year’s summer festival: the outstanding State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Russia with a new staging of the opera Eugene Onegin, a concert of opera arias at which the world renowned tenor Ramón Vargas will appear with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra with Valerij Gergijev, the Prague Symphony Orchestra and cellist Gautier Capuçon, a combined performance of the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre de Picardie with clarinettist Mate Bekavac, the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival Orchestra and Choir in a performance of Händel’s ode Alexander’s Feast, the Slovenian Philharmonic String Chamber Orchestra with cellist Aleksander Rudin, the opera La Traviata staged by the Maribor Opera House, the premiere of Haydn’s opera The Apothecary in a co-production by the Slovenian National Theatre Opera and Ballet Ljubljana and the Ljubljana Festival, the first-rate Kamer Chamber Choir from Latvia, the musical The Full Monty performed by the Zagreb Comedy Theatre, the Russian Cossacks, an evening of flamenco, and the traditional concert by Vlado Kreslin. The programme also includes numerous chamber concerts, music workshops for children, a round table, and more. A Mahler Evening will highlight the rich musical heritage of our capital city, which takes a special place on the distinguished musical map of Mahler’s cities as it is where the world renowned composer began his creative career. Within the framework of the festival, between 30 July and 20 August the Ljubljana Castle will be the venue for Cinema Beneath the Stars, summer open-air cinema. From 26 to 31 July, the 12th International Fine Arts Colony with be held at Križanke, with selector Tom Vran and numerous local and foreign artists. It is estimated that the diverse events of the 57th Summer Festival will cost the Ljubljana Festival some two million euros. The programme has the financial support of the Ljubljana City Council, as well as the festival’s valued sponsors and donators. More information about the events of the festival can be found on the upgraded website www.ljubljanafestival.si, which in addition to Internet ticket purchase this year also enables the viewing of video content for the first time. This video content will enable the viewing of certain events of the Ljubljana Festival 2009, with extracts from individual performances being available after the events. This year, for the first time visitors of the festival can also become members of the SMS Club, which will enable members to take advantage of special benefits. Advance sales of tickets commenced on 14 April and will continue until 30 May 2009. During this period, it will be possible to purchase tickets with a 10% discount. All information concerning the festival will be available in the daily newspaper, in festival publications, on the festival’s website and at the Križanke box office (01 241 60 26). The principal sponsors of this year’s festival are Telekom Slovenia and Mobitel. The sponsors are: Tridana, Spar Slovenia, Kranjska Investicijska Družba, Petrol, Zavarovalnica Tilia, Hypo Group Alpe Adria, SKB Bank, Holding Slovenske Elektrarne, Pivovarna Union, Fructal, Zavarovalnica Triglav, Pošta Slovenia. The media sponsors are: Siol, Planet, Europlakat, Infonet, Radio 1, Dnevnik, Delo, RTV Slovenia, Radio Center, Pristop, Finance, WPN, Aerodrom Ljubljana, RTS, Radio Europa. The official carriers of the festival are Volkswagen and Adria Airways.