Harmonia concertans

Harmonia concertans – Old Music at New Square is an early music concert series that has been taking place at no. 2, Novi trg (New Square in English) since 2011. It is organised by the Harmonia Antiqua Labacensis and the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Institute of Musicology. The idea grew out of an earlier fruitful collaboration between Slovenian musicologists and musicians specializing in early music performance. Harmonia concertans – Old Music at New Square is the first early music concert series in Slovenia to run throughout the calendar year. It is supported financially by the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (thus indirectly also by ARIS, the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency), the Slovenian Ministry of Culture and the City of Ljubljana.

All concerts are thematic and carefully designed. A number of them have brought to life music pieces that are rarely performed, or have never been performed previously, in modern times. A number of such pieces have been suggested by a team attached to the Institute of Musicology researching into the early music heritage of the present-day Republic of Slovenia, within the Research Programme Researches into the History of Music in Slovenia (ARIS P6-0004; 2022–2027). In this way the series brings to life the results of scientific research in musicology in a form that is accessible and comprehensible to everyone. 

The concerts are given mostly by the early music ensemble musica cubicularis. This is a small group of leading Slovenian musicians specializing in early music performance that collaborates with guests from all over the world. The Atrium of the Research Centre has excellent acoustics and a suitable architectural setting to create a unique atmosphere as an early music venue. The prices of concert tickets are nominal and affordable to everyone, thereby facilitating the widest possible outreach to all audiences. Some of the concerts also offer pre-concert talks, post-concert discussions and related events, providing in an accessible way even more information on the music performed. The concerts have wide appeal and attract many visitors of all ages. All the concerts are recorded by Radio Slovenia.

On behalf of the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts the series is organized by Dr Klemen Grabnar, Dr Metoda Kokole and Dr Katarina Šter, who are all researchers at the Institute of Musicology specializing in early music.

More information about the concert series and its programme during the current season is available on the website of the series.