This year’s activities of the European project Sounds of Change and the International Orchestral Academy were held in Novi Sad, Serbia, as part of the European Capital of Culture Novi Sad 2022. The Novi Sad Opera House was the venue for all the preparations of the programme, with workshops and rehearsals of the individual orchestral groups under the guidance of renowned international mentors, as well as the joint rehearsals of the orchestra. The Orchestral Academy ended with a symphonic concert performed in public. The musicians have been intensively working, refining and learning how to create a collective symphonic sound, and have been introduced to different approaches to working and creating sonic details, providing the participants with a better insight into the issues and professional growth.

The second part of the activity and the concert was held at the Križanke Summer Theatre in Ljubljana, as part of the 70th Ljubljana Festival.

89 participants from five partner countries (Portugal, Spain, Germany, Slovenia and Serbia) and Ukraine were involved by direct invitation of the partners, as well as by invitation of musicians who were visiting Slovenia due to the situation in their home country.

The programme included Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No 5, with the orchestra conducted by Portuguese conductor Osvaldo Ferreira.