Festival of Contemporary Art

The idea to establish a festival in Košice, which would introduce contemporary music to visitors within one comprehensive series of concerts, was born in 2000. The initiators of this event were professors of music-theoretical department and former students of composition of Košice conservatory. It took one year to implement the idea, when, under the auspices of the Music company Hemerkovcov the prime year of the Festival of Contemporary European music took place, which was, during its two years, always planned for the beginning of autumn.

The attendance at concerts during the past two years showed that the interest in music of the 20th century is great in Košice, which relates to the strong background of musical tradition in the city and a variety of music education.

While similar festivals like "Week of the New Slovak Music“(since 1975) and" Melos Ethos "(since 1991) are events that have written their several-year history and have a fixed structure; Košice festival after two years tried to look for new solutions that would be interesting not only due to the dramaturgy of concerts, interesting artists, but also due to the diversity of coverage which, in comparison to similar events, offers a number of options.

So, the music company Hemerkovcov welcomed the initiative of the Director of the State Philharmonic Orchestra in Košice Mgr. art. Július Klein. He offered that the State Philharmonic Orchestra in Košice will cooperate by the completion of dramaturgical plan of the festival. From this cooperation this year's Festival of Contemporary Art emerged- its first year, which includes two chamber and one symphony concert, exhibition of students of the Faculty of Arts - Department of Design of the Technical University in Košice and a publication Košice Quartet (Košické kvarteto), which in the years 1973 to 1985 was a group attached to the State Philharmonic Orchestra in Košice (authors: PhDr. Júlia Bukovinská and PhDr. Igor Podracký).

According to the stated programme structure (which should not be become the rule in the future, but rather an open system able to accept new stimuli), the festival will be characterised by basic aspects, which should determine upcoming years of the festivals, including:

- the dramaturgy of concerts will prefer works of composers from several national, European and non-European cultures,

- Košice concert stages will provide space for young, talented and capable artist, who could get into the database of Slovak concert art also through this festival (and through CDs issued by the State Philharmonic Orchestra in Košice including recordings of live concerts).

The fact, that the festival will be enriched by new activities, is already suggested by preparing its 2nd year. With this 2nd year the organisers would like to create a tradition (or develop the 20-year-old one) in organising musicological conferences whose topics will be closely linked to the musical life of the Košice region.

The organisers believe that the Festival of Contemporary Art will become an integral part of the city's musical life and that it will be a worthy counterpart of two major festivals of Košice - Košice Musical Spring and the International Organ Festival. They also believe that this year's 1st year will make the visitors trust in the future.