MUSIC PROGRAM
Selector: Bojan Djordjevic

The concept of BELEF's music program this year is the continuation of last year's selection, which proved to be very good, but it will refresh and introduce certain new elements.

Last year's program "discovered" several new concert locations and we will continue with this trend this year.

BELEF's music program, as well as, other festival programs should perserve their exclusivity, should be open and appealing to all generations and pursue high standards. BELEF does not need to compete with EXIT and the Trumpeters' Festival in Guca, or the long awaited baskestball game between Serbia-Montenegro and the US, but rather these manifestations should be used to inform the audience at these events about BELEF's program, while the dream basketball match can be used for the additional promotion of the Belgrade Summer Festival.

Program trends at city summer festivals throughout Europe reveal the domination of "world music," accounting for somewhere between 50% to 80% of their overal programs. This genre was present at last year's BELEF, and again this year, we will also try to present this kind of popular music in a different manner. Other music genres are also included in the program along with domestic music and domestic authors, but in this domain we are somewhat stretched between the BELEF's need for exclusivity and premiers and the fact that domestic artists need to earn their living throughout the year and it is difficult for them to save premiers for BELEF. However, the interesting part of BELEF could be the establishment of cooperation between domestic and foreign authors, and also with the domestic authors who have lived abroad for a long time.

Although having the festival feeling, BELEF lasts for two months, therefore concerts need to be classified under certain thematic groups. One of this year's topics are the women's music pieces and several concerts will be held within this subtheme.

BELEF will also present a number of starts like Mariza, The Klezmatics, The Magic Band and Bauchklang to name a few.

This year's BELEF should also prove that the City, through the Summer Festival, can enjoy good cooperation with foreign cultural centers and embassies.