BORDERLESS PARTY: MAGNIFICO, ELEVATORS, BIG BAND NOVA

 September 26–27, 2025

 Europe Square, Nova Gorica, Gorizia

Friday, September 26, 2025, 8:00 p.m.

Elevators + Big band RTV Slovenija 

Elevators – Jani Hace, Robi Pikl, Davor Klarić, and Sergej Ranđelović – will join forces with the Big band RTV Slovenija, conducted by Patrik Greblo. The special guest of the evening will be Tina Blazinšek, who will enrich the concert with her flute and vocals and sing the song Na krilih ljubezni (On the Wings of Love), which she performed in the original version. Their collaboration already thrilled audiences in December 2024 at a special edition of the Izštekani show at Kino Šiška, and now the band will present itself in an even more powerful form on stage in Nova Gorica. The arrangements of twelve songs from the Elevators' oeuvre, enriched with big band breadth, will delight with their musical creativity.

Saturday, September 27, 2025, 7:00 p.m.

Magnifico & band + Gong Orchestra

Magnifico is a musician with style, a poet with charm, synonymous with Balkan disco pop.

Magnifico established himself as an unorthodox and versatile composer and musician in the former Yugoslavia with his first albums, Od srca do srca (1993), Gdo je čefur (1996), and Sexy Boy (1999). His music paints a picture of a world without borders, and his performances offer audiences a unique experience every time, which is why Magnifico's fans regularly return to his concerts with enthusiasm.

Magnifico's music is inspired by the former Yugoslav pop scene, spiced up with a unique blend of Latin, reggae, surf, and Balkan elements, creating a unique and recognizable sound that easily enters the listener's ears and heart. With it, he has won over audiences not only at home and in the region, but also more broadly in the international arena, especially with the albums Export/Import (2004) and Magnification (2010).

Magnifico often flirted with the world of film, appearing in Slovenian films such as Stereotip, Pornofilm, Poker, and Kajmak in marmelada, as well as by composing the soundtracks for the films Montevideo, bog te video and Montevideo, vidimo se, directed by Dragan Bjelogrlić.

Magnifico released his latest studio album, Charlatan de Balkan, in 2016, and last year celebrated the 30th anniversary of his musical career with an extraordinary concert in Stanežiče in front of 23,000 fans, which gave him new creative momentum. In June 2025, he announced his new studio album, Alpe Adria, with the single and video Korak po korak, which will be released in the fall. The promotion will culminate at the Stožice Arena, where he will host the Alpe Adria Show with the Veliki Revijski Disko Šlager Orkester on December 25.

© Marko Delbello Ocepek

 Sunday, September 28, 2025, 7:00 p.m.

Big band NOVA with guests

Concert marking the 30th anniversary of the band!

The Big band NOVA has been performing continuously since 1995. Eighteen musicians gathered in the hall of the Nova Gorica Music School: pupils, their teachers, high school and university music students, and a few musicians from Goriška. Over 80 young musicians from Nova Gorica and the surrounding area have performed in the band at approximately 350 concerts. Many of them continued their musical careers by studying jazz at home and abroad (Italy, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands). On the occasion of the 30th anniversary, you will hear them again as soloists in the band, alongside professors from the Nova Gorica Music School and several older founding members. The band is currently led by jazz pianist and composer Blaž Pahor.

Although Big band NOVA has hosted many domestic and foreign stars, such as jazz singers Sherrita Duran (Los Angeles, California) and Gwen Hughes (Atlanta, Georgia), it prefers and most often collaborates with domestic, especially Primorska vocalists, such as Tinkara Kovač, Anika Horvat, Tatjana Mihelj, Rudi Bučar, Lea Sirk, Vlado Kreslin, Kristina Oberžan, Nuša Derenda, and many others.

Old friends will join us at the 30th anniversary concert: Nuša and Matevž Derenda, Lea Sirk, Kristina Oberžan, and local artists Tatjana Mihelj and Tish. In addition, the Big band NOVA will treat us to several instrumental pieces that they have performed many times in the past.

The Borderless Tastes project is part of the official programme of the European Capital of Culture 2025 Nova Gorica - Gorizia and is designed as the second of four mass programme events entitled Stop the City! with great cultural and tourist potential.