"It takes courage to be an artist. But it also takes a lot of courage to work with artists.”
 

With this thought and expressions of gratitude, written in the Seviqc Book of Artists, the ensemble Seconda Pratica said goodbye to the Smodiš Farmstay in Goričko, where they had worked and stayed, and set off back to the Netherlands, full of impressions and new approaches to music. Their 10-day artistic residency was rounded up by two concerts at the castles Grad and Rajhenburg. Besides these, the musicians also prepared an open rehearsal, which was an extraordinary experience for the audience and was nicely recorded on Facebook by the director of the Goričko Regional Park, Stanka Dešnik:
 

“In great concert halls you cannot sit in the immediate vicinity of the young, superb musicians, listen to their music and spark up a conversation with them. But at an open rehearsal you can get to know them, and this is exactly what happened with the wonderful Dutch ensemble Seconda Pratica. Today’s afternoon at the Smodiš Farmstay is another proof of how music can unite opera and music hall goers and people who less frequently visit such venues. Perhaps there was among the visitors also someone who has never before heard the music that was played at the high courts of Renaissance (which is also a time period of Gornja Lendava Castle). The ensemble leader Nuno Atalaia explained the band’s way of exploring early music and its origin. They have chosen an intriguing approach; their joining of ethno music and the music of the elite takes us into fascinating measures and lively musicality. Nuno says that the obsolete early music needs to be brought back to life in some other way and needs to be properly heard. Well, with their interpretation, this isn’t at all hard.”
 

Gallery of the residency ->>
 

At the same time, Leipzig, Paris, and Basel held auditions for young musicians who will, just like Seconda Pratica, benefit from training and work at residencies in Slovenia and countries of other co-organisers of the European project eeemerging.

We are happy to announce that after three rounds and among 82 applications received, 6 winners were selected. These are Barroco Tout, Sollazzo Ensemble, Repicco, Les Contre-sujets, Camerata Bachiensis and Amsterdam Corelli Collective.
 
The three winning ensembles will come and perform for us already this year.

Press release ->>

 
The departure of Seconda Pratica has also ended our Seviqc Brežice 2014 concert season. We have enjoyed in 29 concerts organised at 21 different venues across Slovenia in 18 municipalities. We hosted 14 ensembles, while you, dear visitors, were able to listen to 109 musicians of 32 nationalities.
 
We wish you all the best in 2015! May we in the forthcoming year again journey through the Early Music joys together.
 
Your Seviqc Brežice Team