Music Biennale Zagreb is an international festival of contemporary music and was first held in 1961. This year’s 30th Music Biennale Zagreb took place in the period from 6th until 13th April 2019 at 18 locations across the city of Zagreb. The program focus and theme was Music.Space.City.Sound.

This Festival is fully dedicated to New Music – from the “classics” of contemporary music to new generations of composers from around the world – so that the programs of the Music Biennale comprise of the most diverse projects, ranging from symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles, experimental music theater, contemporary dance, jazz, electronic music to alternative music scene.

Music Biennale Zagreb is tied not only to its music program, but also to other forms of art and related disciplines, which is why it has won an exceptional and distinctive place on the Croatian and regional cultural scene. This is further accentuated by numerous guest performers, most of whom are first-rate music professionals.

This year around 550 people were accredited, from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Great Britain, Portugal, Greece, USA, Norway, Germany, Belgium, Taiwan, Poland, Spain, Israel, Slovenia, Slovakia, Sweden, France, Turkey.

Euro-Unit and Yamaha Music Europe were the music partners of the festival, while Yamaha and Bösendorfer grand pianos were used for the festival’s projects: 6. April, Lauba, Brandt Bauer Frick Ensemble, 8th to 10th of April, Workshop of Heloisa Amaral + Karin Hellquist, 8. April, Lauba, Ivan Fedele Concert Portrait (Cantus & Icarus Ensemble), and 10. April, ZKM, Vinko Globokar: Exil 3 (Slovene Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra)

From February 3rd, 2019, until the end of the festival, there was also a Children’s MBZ festival called “Music, Space, I”, where 6 educational concerts were held for children of 10 years (Cultural center Maksimir, Susedgrad Cultural Center, Trešnjevka Culture Center, Pešćenica Cultural Center, 2 concerts at the French Institute), 20 workshops for 6 year old children (elementary school Zagreb and Zagreb Ring), 2 body percussion workshops for children from 6 to 14 years (Zagreb Puppet Theater), 4 performances of the music-puppet show of Sara Glojnarić – Rene Medvešek (Zagreb Puppet Theater). The partner of the children’s MBZ festival was Euro-Unit and Lion Style.