The Annual General Meeting of the British-Slovene Society will be held at 6.30 for 7.0 pm start on Friday 11 July 2014 at the offices of Howard Kennedy LLP, 19 Cavendish Square, London W1A 2AW.
Sunday 15th June 2014 at 3pm
Edin’s , 15 Carlton Street, Hockley, Nottingham NG1 1NL
Katarina Juvančič and Dejan Lapanja first appeared on the Slovenian music scene in 2009, when their folk rock song Uej, uej – Magdalenca featured in Slovene National Radio’s newcomers contest. Their music is often described as alt-folk, bridging modern trends and ancient folk influences and sensibilities. Their music has twice won awards at the Slovenian songwriting competition Kantfest. Katarina and Dejan’s debut album is Selivke (Migratory Birds) and they are now working on their second. They have performed in Austria, Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia, Ireland, Scotland and Serbia. MORE
Dejan Lapanja is currently Artist in Residence in London through Arts & Culture Residencies Programme run by the Slovenian Ministry of Culture.
Organized by:
Center za Slovenščino kot drugi / tuji jezik, Filozofska fakulteta Univerze v Ljubljani, University of Nottingham, Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in London
Sunday 29 June 2.30 – 5 pm, Union Chapel Bar, Compton Terrace, London N1 2UN
This exciting new duo paves the way to new forms of expression by means of combining the sonority of accordion with lush electronic effects through repertoires ranging from Swedish and Slovenian folk songs to their own unique compositions.
Swedish/Slovenian Vocalist Emilia Martensson, named the ‘New face of British Jazz’ by The Observer in 2012. Emilia is an established Jazz/Folk singer with two albums in her own name, as well as featuring on various projects with the likes of Kairos 4tet (MOBO Award Winners 2011) and the Fringe Magnetic, led by musician/composer Rory Simmons.
Janez Dovč is a highly celebrated accordionist, multi-instrumentalist and composer from Ljubljana, Slovenia. His music can be heard on more than 40 albums, working with various different projects, one of which won the 2006 BBC World Music Award.
The Sunday Sessions is a fortnightly event featuring some of London’s finest acoustic musicians.
We warmly invite you to join us from 12 noon till 4.30 p.m. on Saturday 28th June for the Annual Picnic in the Oxford University Arboretum at Nuneham Courtenay. We will meet again by the kozolec (Slovene hay rack).
Bring your own picnic and drinks, deckchairs, picnic blankets, your kids, grandchildren and friends. As is usual among Slovenes, we encourage you to bring plenty to eat and drink and share it with everyone!
This splendid Arboretum is close to Nuneham Courtenay House, where Lewis Carroll would row the young Alice Liddell (Alice in Wonderland) and her sisters on the River Thames on a summer afternoon.
It is situated just south of the village of Nuneham Courtenay on the A4074 road from Reading, eight miles south of Oxford. The postal code is OX44 9PX. From London it can be reached by the M40, exit 8, A40 to Oxford, then southwards round the Ring Road (A4142) on to the A4074 towards Reading.
If you intend to come to Oxford by train and need transport to the Arboretum, please mail to evelina@ferrar.org.uk or call 07584 199 177 and we will do what we can to help.
The Arboretum has kindly agreed to mow the area around the hayrack, which has recently suffered some damage and we are not allowed to climb on it. Adults attending the British-Slovene picnic pay the entry fee i.e. £3 instead of the regular price £4. Children and Members of Oxford University (bring your card) enter for free.
More information on the Arboretum can be found at https://www.harcourt-arboretum.ox.ac.uk/.
We hope we can welcome many of you as we celebrate and enjoy an afternoon around the kozolec – one of the most traditional symbols of Slovenia and its culture.
London Gallus Consort will sing renaissance choir music at the Church of St. Andrew by the Wardrobe (nearest tube station: Blackfriars) on 29 May at 8 pm.
We are well acquainted with this excellent choir: in the same church it has been performing at the British-Slovene Society’s Christmas Carol services for the last few years. This time they will perform masterpieces by Tomas Luis da Victoria, Christopher Tye, Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, Peter Philips and Jacobus Gallus, who came from present-day Slovenia.
All welcome.
Matej Klemen, lecturer in Slavonic studies at the University of Nottingham, brought visiting Slovene poet Katja Perat to a reading in Oxford. The audience mostly consisted of the Slovene students in Oxford who recently established The Oxford Slovene Society. We enjoyed the interesting discussion about art and the matters of the world.
This is Matej’s report:
V petek, 28. februarja, sva s Katjo odpotovala v Oxford na literarni večer. Prostor sta prijazno odstopila Evelina in Marus Ferrar. Večera se je udeležilo 15 obiskovalcev, med njimi so bili večinoma slovenski študentje, člani pred nedavnim ustanovljene The Oxford Slovene Society. Če je literarni večer čas za lepo besedo, pametna vprašanja publike in odgovore na mestu, potem smo imeli pravi literarni večer. Klepet se je nadaljeval ob obloženi mizi, večer pa je zaokrožila Chopinova Balada št. 1, ki nam jo je na klavir zaigral doktorski študent fizike Sašo Grozdanov.
Simona Bennett, a Trustee of the British-Slovene Society is opening the door of her home to celebrate the International Women’s Day with other women. Bring a dish from your country and feel free to bring friends.
More information and RSVP: simona.bennett@btinternet.com.
The British-Slovene Society co-organises a literary evening with the Slovene poet Katja Perat on Friday 28th February 2014 at 7 p.m. at Evelina and Marcus Ferrar’s House, 7 Capel Close, Summertown, Oxford OX2 7LA
The evening will be in Slovene and English. Free entry.
RSVP: matej.klemen@nottingham.ac.uk
Katja Perat, photo by Tihomir Pintar
Katja Perat, born 1988, is a Slovene poet and literary critic. Her first collection of poetry, Najboljši so padli (The Best Have Fallen) was warmly received by readers and critically acclaimed, receiving several awards including for the best debut of 2011. Perat’s poems are sharp, ironic and to the point.
Come and celebrate a pust in Camden Centre in London on 8th March – the traditional Slovene carnival chasing the winter away. Five kurents (masked figures) and a devil will come over to join the chase. With live music by Zoran Predin, No Name Blues Band and DJ Spook with international repertoire of music, best costume awards, Slovenian food and drink. Everybody gets a proper Slovene doughnut!
Come wearing a costume – at midnight the best mask/costume will be awarded with a weekend package for two in Spa and Hotel Primus in Ptuj – price provided by the Slovenian Tourist Board and Sava Hotel.
Members of the British-Slovene Society will receive a free coupon for a drink.
Tickets available from the following websites:
https://www.seetickets.com/Event/first-slovenian-carnival-pust-in-london/camden-centre/767653
or
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/carnival-pust-fasching-slovenian-way-tickets-10506365823
The British-Slovene Society’s annual Prešeren dinner in London on 8 February was livelier than ever. Over 110 people participated, many of them students and young professionals. Shirlie Roden and Zoran Predin created a lovely atmosphere with their singing, and Prešeren’s poems were recited with great passion and drama.
The Slovene actress Barbara Predin, who flew in specially for the occasion, gave a magical recitation of Prešeren’s The Water Man.
With the sale of raffle tickets, we collected £343 for the Barka charity we support. The first prize, a washing machine donated by Gorenje, went to Lisa (left, below). She was very happy. For more pictures see Gallery.
