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Looking from Congress Square towards the Ljubljana Castle, it is impossible to overlook the famous year of 1701 etched on the façade of the Slovenian Philharmonic building. It marks the creation of the Academie Philharmonicorum, a society that brought together musicians and music lovers. In order to clarify the purpose of such a society, the founders wrote a set of statutes, one of which reads: “The purpose of the Academy of the Ljubljana Philharmonics, which was founded by mutual agreement a few years ago, towards the end of the first year after the year 1700, is not only to provide dignified entertainment from time to time, but also to occasionally devoutly bring to mind that heavenly music that shall endure for eternity.”

Years, even centuries, have passed since that time. Every time the society has been extinguished a new one has emerged, and so on until today, when musicians and music lovers still gather in the building of the Slovenian Philharmonic and the Cankarjev Dom Cultural Centre. Just like three centuries ago, we come together to listen to and experience that elusive artform that embodies a profound contradiction: it is materially transient, yet spiritually eternal. It is unrepeatable, but perhaps that is precisely why it is listened to over and over again: performed many times and, with the help of modern technology, recorded and played often. It is as if this very contradiction enables music’s eternal existence.

Music theorists, musicologists, conductors and performers are unstoppable in our search for the original messages that this heavenly music brings. In this way, we make spiritual connections with the past. At the same time, with the help of the past, we build and co-create the present. On hearing the word “present”, however, we are overwhelmed by feelings of unease, insecurity and fear, just as our predecessors have been many times since 1701. History repeats itself, art remains.

The Slovenian Philharmonic is committed to presenting the highest musical art. It creates the safe environment of a sound world in which harmony, beauty, compassion, serenity and courage complement each other. Fortunately, there is no room for selfishness, violence and suffering in such a sound world. However, concerts should not be equated with an escape from reality. The art of music is not only a paradise, but also a mirror and a moral corrective of a society that goes astray again and again. Even in such cases, art stands by our side. It enables self-examination and reflection, and helps us make decisions that lead to the triumph of good over evil. This requires faith in the good, which the art of music strengthens in us.

Valued audience, the schedule of the 2022/23 concert season has been created in the hope that all those present at our concerts will receive the gifts of boundless human creativity. That is why we, the Slovenian Philharmonic team, have chosen the very best compositions that, in all of their diversity and variety, will reach those most hidden corners of our inner selves and fill them with the power to cope with the present times. We will be greatly helped in our endeavours by a series of outstanding conductors, such as we have never before hosted in just one concert season.

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