Baroque Jukebox is much more than a traditional concert. It is an invitation to step into a living, breathing gallery of sounds from the 17th and 18th centuries, where each piece carries a world of stories, moods, and colours. The programme is designed with flexibility, curiosity, and the audience’s active role in mind. Rather than following a fixed, pre-planned order, you – the listeners – are invited to help shape the course of the evening by choosing the pieces you would like to hear next from the selection offered in your programme. In this way, every performance of Baroque Jukebox is unique – an event created together, in real time, between musicians and audience.

We guide you through diverse musical landscapes: from the lively dance rhythms of Marco Uccellini’s Bergamasca, to the tender and familiar tones of Greensleeves, the vibrant awakening of Vivaldi’s Spring, and the powerful energy of Handel’s Hallelujah. These pieces are interwoven with moments of serene contemplation, such as Pachelbel’s Canon in D, and the celebratory brilliance of Charpentier’s Prelude from the Te Deum, recognised by many as the Eurovision fanfare. Special attention is given to early Baroque masters such as Girolamo Frescobaldi and Henry Purcell, whose works form the foundation of the rich tapestry later expanded by high Baroque composers.

But the evening is not only about listening. At various moments, we invite you into the background of the music through short, engaging commentaries. We explain what makes early music special: how instruments of the time differed from today’s, how dances shaped compositions, and why certain melodies or rhythms were so beloved.

For example, when we introduce a ciaccona, we might tell the story of how this repeating bass pattern was often likened to the cycles of everyday life – just as your morning coffee, your commute, and your evening routine repeat, yet feel different each day, so too does the music spin endless variety over a stable foundation. When we play a lively galliard or bergamasca, we draw parallels to how people still dance in circles at weddings or village festivals – traditions centuries old, yet still alive today.

We believe that music truly comes alive when it connects to something tangible. Imagine a craftsman in a 17th-century Italian workshop, quietly humming as he carves a violin – perhaps a melody not unlike the one you hear tonight. Or picture a group of children in an English village centuries ago, playing in a field and singing the folk song that would later become known as Greensleeves. When we perform these works, we bring a fragment of those lives into this very space.

To add a touch of wonder and imagination, at one point in the programme you will encounter something unexpected: a kamishibai scene. Kamishibai, a form of Japanese paper-theatre storytelling, may seem far removed from Baroque Europe, yet in our programme it becomes a surprising and fitting companion to the music. We won’t reveal too much in advance – its magic lies in the moment of discovery. Suffice it to say that as the pages turn and the images unfold, the music will respond, transform, and illuminate what appears before your eyes. It is a moment where past and present, East and West, music, story, and image meet – in a dialogue that words alone cannot fully capture.

Our goal with Baroque Jukebox is not merely to perform beautiful music, but to create an experience in which the audience feels part of the story. That’s why we have embraced the concept of a “jukebox”: you are not passive listeners, but active participants, helping shape the journey we take together. Do you wish to sink into the meditative Canon in D, or leap into the joyful dance of a ciaccona? The choice is yours – and your decision shapes the atmosphere of the evening. For us as performers, this brings an electrifying sense of connection and spontaneity – we never know exactly which path we’ll take, and that’s what keeps the music alive and present.

Alongside our concert work as Messa di Voce, we also bring Baroque music to young audiences across Slovenia through our collaboration with Glasbena mladina Slovenije (Jeunesses Musicales). Many children we meet in schools hear this music for the very first time. In these settings, we explain, demonstrate, and invite them to listen actively – just as we do tonight. We might play a simple dance rhythm and ask, “Can you feel how your feet want to move?” Or show them how the wooden body of a recorder shapes its warm tone compared to the brighter sound of a modern flute.

We often see their eyes light up when they realise that music written hundreds of years ago can still speak directly to them. That very spark of discovery is what we also hope to share with you tonight.

Baroque Jukebox is therefore more than just a programme – it is our artistic mission in action. We want to demystify early music, to remove the impression that it belongs only in grand concert halls or to experts, and to present it as it truly is: vibrant, human, and deeply relatable. Through storytelling, everyday comparisons, the inclusion of unexpected artistic elements like kamishibai, and by giving the audience a meaningful role in shaping the evening, we strive to create an event that feels alive and inclusive.

Tonight’s concert is an invitation – step into this world with us. Choose the pieces that speak to you, listen for echoes of history in the melodies, watch as image and sound intertwine in the kamishibai moment, and allow your own memories and associations to surface. In this shared space, centuries dissolve, and music once played in distant courts, churches, and village squares lives again – here and now, among us all.

We wish you an inspiring journey through this Baroque Jukebox.