Sound Disobedience 2026

“We’re here again, without knowing exactly where we’re going. But we know why. Because sound moves us, provokes us, and brings us together. Sound (Dis)obedience is a festival of listening. And of what happens when you listen to something you did not expect. Music that resists a single meaning and resonates at the edges of the oceans (as Primož Čučnik writes in one of his poems). Sound (Dis)obedience brings questions, vibrations, movements, tension, and space for surprise, discovery, and gathering. Come. Listen. Or don’t.”
— Tomaž Grom, Artistic Director of the festival

Well, actually, let’s put it this way: Sound (Dis)obedience is the best festival in the world. As every year, we expect: the most virtuosic and thrilling performers, global stars who appear in the world’s most prestigious venues, currently among the very best musicians alive, and also some – or perhaps all – of the greatest living composers (we can probably count some of the deceased ones as well). They regularly fill the biggest stages and are, generally speaking, completely victorious. Oh yes – and they are also the most respected, top-tier, cutting-edge, legendary, masterful, magnificent, and extraordinary. In short, Sound (Dis)obedience will take you on an unforgettable musical journey that you absolutely must not miss, hehehe.

Sound (Dis)obedience is dedicated to the presentation, development, reflection, and dissemination of exploratory practices in music and sound. A diverse programme of events – meetings, presentations of publishing activities, international networking, and discussions at the bar – engages with this vibrant creative field from many angles.

Sound (Dis)obedience brings together visiting musicians, interested local creators, audiences, and the professional community. As such, it is not merely a festival of a particular kind of music, but above all an enactment of openness, collaboration, and flexibility. Sound (Dis)obedience is a space of exchange, where concerts, workshops, lectures, and other formats intersect with a wide range of boundary-pushing musical practices.

Programme

Thursday, 26 March

20:00 — Floating Machine (concept by Jošt Drašler)
Jošt Drašler, Tena Novak, Szilárd Mezei, Domen Gnezda, Eduardo Raon, Tilen Lebar, Luka Zabric, Nikola Vuković
21:00 — Mazen Kerbaj
22:00 — JD Zazie, Grgur Savić

Friday, 27 March

19:00 — Gaza In My Phone
Mazen Kerbaj presents his book
20:00 — Jérôme Noetinger, Angelica Castello
21:00 — Gašper Piano, Quentin Stokart, Sofia Borges
22:00 — !Trumpet + Trumpet! (Birgit Ulher, Nicolas Collins)

Saturday, 28 March

20:00 — Concert by participants of the music workshop
21:00 — Shabnam Parvaresh, Korhan Erel
22:00 — Pierre Borel

Music Workshop

Mentored by Mazen Kerbaj. The workshop is free of charge, but registration is required: brigita.gracner@gmail.com

Schedule: 26–28 March, 14:00–17:00

• concert as part of the festival programme on 28 March at 20:00

Talk: Dominant Discourses and Intersectional Music Criticism

28 March, 18:00

Conversation with Nina Dragičević
Moderator: Vid Salmič
Organised by: Centralala Association

The main aim of the discussion is to address the thesis that traditional music criticism often reproduces dominant narratives that privilege the music of the Western classical tradition or popular culture of the Global North. At the same time, the concept of intersectional criticism is introduced as a way of encouraging the deconstruction of these hegemonies and the inclusion of musical practices of marginalized groups — for example through the analysis of categories such as race, gender, class, and sexuality. How can music reshape or challenge these norms?