The stars of classical and contemporary art music from Serbia and abroad will be presented at the 55th Belgrade Music Festival, once again traditionally taking place in October.

The festival opens with a gala concert dedicated to the hundredth anniversary of the birth of the famous opera diva Maria Callas, in cooperation with the National Theatre in Belgrade. The most beautiful opera arias and duets will be interpreted by the Greek coloratura soprano Vassiliki Karagianni and the Italian tenor Andrea Carè, under the direction of the conductor Dian Tchobanov.    

Among the highlights of this year's BEMUS are certainly two concerts by the famous violinist Nigel Kennedy, whom the Belgrade audience has the opportunity to listen to again after five years. This time he will perform a programme entirely dedicated to the concert music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Two consecutive evenings at Kolarac guarantee an unforgettable experience!  

Favorite Russian pianist Boris Berezovsky will give a recital to mark, among other things, the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Sergei Rachmaninoff, while the members of the Blues Doctors band will make a guest appearance.   

Renowned violinist Roman Simović will perform as a soloist with the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra in a concert dedicated to the music of Dmitri Shostakovich. The artistic director of BEMUS, Bojan Suđić, will conduct this concert, as well as the concert by the RTS Symphony Orchestra and Choir, at which Verdi's Requiem will be performed. Soprano Sonja Šarić, mezzo-soprano Deniz Uzun, tenor Mario Bahg and bass Goran Jurić will perform as soloists in this masterpiece of Romanticism. The second concert of the RTS Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of conductor Premil Petrović, is also dedicated to Romantic music, with the participation of violinist Stanko Madić as a soloist in the Brahms Concerto in D Major.  

The programme of the 55th BEMUS will be complemented by concerts of chamber and traditional music, as well as the author’s night of composer Ivan Jevtić.

Ticket sales for all programmes of the 55th BEMUS begin on Friday, 15 September. Tickets for all concerts at the Ilija M. Kolarac Endowment can be purchased via the website tickets.rs and at Ticket Vision outlets. For concerts at the National Theatre and the Belgrade Philharmonic Concert Hall, tickets are sold at the ticket offices of those halls and through their online sales.