Boskovice = Music Fusions, Theatre, Films, Workshops, Discussions and more

American rapper Ceschi, singer-songwriter Katarzia, band Zrní balanced between folk, electronic, alternative music and rock, dance demon Ventolin, Slovak rising star Sisa Fehér with her project Bardo or Kalle with their special extended line-up - all new names from this year’s program of the multi-genre Festival for the Jewish Quarter Boskovice. From July 4th to 7th, it attracts visitors not only by the rich music, theater and film program but also with readings, discussions, exhibitions, workshops for children and adults, guided tours around the Jewish Quarter or cycling trips.

He uses old samplers, analog synthesizers and archaic drum machines for his live shows. An admirer of the primitive sound of Detroit techno, Italian and Indian disco of the 1980s and a cultural anthropologist, Ventolin, will introduce his alternative disco and the current album, Vítajte (i.e. Welcome).

Katarzia will be playing with her band in Boskovice shortly after her performance as the first Slovak artist at the renowned Sônar festival in Barcelona.

Among other things, Ceschi Ramos, the discoverer of the much better known Astronautalis, has already performed in the Czech Republic as a solo project and has impressed everyone by how quickly he was able to jump from hip hop to fragile folk songs. This time, he’s coming with an accompanying band, Anonymous Inc and will perform a vigorously packed set, vaulting between hip hop, rock and pop, especially from his new April album, Sad Fat Luck, about which Louder Than War wrote that it “reaches Ceschi’s top”.

Kalle will perform as an exceptional six-piece with acoustic instruments featuring guests from other bands; Zrní is coming back to Boskovice after six years with a more mature and electronic sound and unusual arrangements; Choroš was born from the ruins of the band Neočekávaný dýchánek. The poetics of peculiar and serious texts, genre play and wit are the dominant features of Hm…

“Hm… has been invited several times in the last few years, but it never worked out because they had decided to focus on their family creation at that time. It is a band that is fundamentally linked to the club Kaštan – Unijazz scene, where nearly three hundred people came to their last open-air concert. And if it is true for a lot of bands that the easiest way to the program of Boskovice is through a successful concert at Kaštan, than it is definitely good that it worked out this time,” says the festival dramaturgist, Antonín Kocábek.

Alternative rockers mixing experimental music and post-rock, Timbertwig; with their charismatic frontman Nick Avery are coming from the UK, and the wild girl duo Meconio from Spain. The captivating melancholy coming from the synth pop singer-songwriter Never Sol; a broad concept of jazz, fascination with rhythmic sequences and experimenting is one of the features of the Czech-Belarussian duo Zabelov Group; five-piece from Prague, Market are definitely now rocking the boat of the Czech scene with their album Art Star.

Every year, the festival dramaturgists focus on the domestic and German jazz scene. It will be represented by formations such as Lut Quintet, I Want Poetry and Hom; the jazz avant-garde NTS will celebrate its ten year anniversary; the award-winning cellist Dorota Barová will bring her trio and will also perform with the band Tellemarkk. And last but not least, the festival will also present a project of the young pianist, Daniel Bulatkin, Soundscapes.

The theater scenes and various corners of Boskovice will be dominated by performances for both young and old by Divadla Continuo, Divadla Naboso, 100 opic, Tereza Causidu, Buranteatr, tYhle, Divadlo Líšeň or vi.TVOR.

Art lovers can visit an exhibition of the famous Czech sculptor, draftsman and graphic designer Karel Nepraš, of the artist Vít Ondráček, the exhibition of Jewish communities in Czechoslovakia in the 1970s and 1980s, photographs from the breakthrough years 69/89 and more.

The film blocks are dedicated to the profile of Hynek Bočan, to the children's film from the 1970s, the crimes of Czech communism, Slovak filmmaking, Czech documentary and student films at FAMU, FAMO and the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava.

The whole program is available at www.boskovice-festival.cz. You can buy the tickets at GoOut and Smsticket.