"Lulu Fest" lights up Korça/ Orchestras unite in the sounds of friendship

2025-10-26 14:58:00, Qyteti im CNA

"Lulu Fest" lights up Korça/ Orchestras unite in the sounds of

Korça experienced another magical evening as part of “Lulu Fest”, the international brass band festival that brought an extraordinary atmosphere to the southeastern city. The second night of the festival brought together the participating orchestras in a joint performance that lit up the stage and the Korça audience. At the center of the stage, powerful rhythms and harmonious sounds were combined in a concert that conveyed energy, professionalism and emotion.

Lirjona Sylejmani, conductor of the Kosovo Security Force Wind Orchestra, said she felt privileged to be in Korça for the first time. She emphasized that the hospitality of the citizens made her feel at home and that for her this festival is an opportunity to unite her love for music with her love for her homeland.

"I feel very good in Korça. It's a pleasure for me even though it's my first time. We were very welcomed by the citizens of Korça and this made me feel even better. We are of course here to make music and to beautify this beautiful city even more, so I believe we achieved our goal yesterday, and we will achieve it today."

Lirjona Sylejman's musical journey is built on two strong pillars, love for the homeland and passion for music. She has united these two important dimensions of her life by being part of the Kosovo Security Force Wind Orchestra, where she conducts with pride, wearing the uniform of her country's army. For her, the profession of conductor carries its own difficulties and challenges, but her love for art makes every obstacle easier to face.

"My musical journey began with the great desire to unite two very important things in my life, the patriotic part and the love for the profession, which I have combined by being part of the KSF Wind Orchestra, as a conductor and wearing the uniform of the Kosovo Army. I believe that all professions have their own difficulties, and conducting also has its own difficulties. However, when you have love for the profession, even those difficulties are easily overcome."

Sylejmani added that the concert contains both pieces of military music and Albanian songs, while the highlight of the performance is the unification of all the orchestras in the interpretation of the song "We love Albania more".

"Today's concert contains two parts in terms of music, we play marches which are military music and we also play Albanian songs. At the end, the brass bands come together and play "We love Albania more". I think it's quite important when you see orchestras of different nationalities playing Albanian songs."

Percussionist Patris Berisha from the KSF also shared special emotions, describing this experience as unforgettable. He said that it was a privilege to perform for the first time in Korça and to share the stage with colleagues from different countries, including Croatia, Italy and Albania. According to him, the most special moment of the festival remains the unification of all the bands in an Albanian work, a symbol of friendship and harmony between peoples.

"For us it is a very special feeling especially at this festival. It is a special experience especially this year because for me it is my first time coming to Korça and it is a privilege to be among many colleagues and different countries like Croatia, the Arbëreshës of Italy, the band of Tirana and us from Kosovo who are together. It is interesting because we also play works from different countries, while today, all together we will play an Albanian work and it is the most special thing about this festival. I hope that this festival will continue for many more years and that we have great successes like today and yesterday when we made a special appearance with the parade in Korça."

Meanwhile, for Croatian musician ?eljko Kertez, participating in “Lulu Fest” has been a new and wonderful experience. He said that their band, with a tradition of over 50 years, usually performs film and world music, but in Korça they will also bring pop songs, while he is enthusiastic about the collaboration with Albanian and Kosovar orchestras in the interpretation of the song “We Love Albania More”.

"We come from Croatia and this is our first time in the city of Korça. In fact, it is our first time visiting Albania. Our band is an ensemble, which has been created and has been working together for more than 50 years. We usually play film music and world music, as well as classical music. I personally feel very good, and I also see that the rest of the band is also looking forward to performing for the citizens of Korça. We will play film songs and some pop songs. We know the song "E duam Shqipërëne" and we will see how we will cooperate with the Albanian orchestra, the Kosovar orchestra and the Korça orchestra. It is a very good opportunity for the four orchestras to play together."

The festival director, Ilir Kodhima, said that after the dress rehearsal with the four bands, the emotions were extraordinary. He emphasized that “Lulu Fest” has awakened Korça with the rhythms of the bands and the festive atmosphere that they convey to the citizens. According to him, this festival is a bridge of cooperation between countries and cities that share a passion for art and spiritual tradition.

"We just finished the dress rehearsal, it was the piece "We love Albania more", played by all four bands together. It was an unprecedented emotion and I am sure that there will be even more emotion at the concert. We have awakened Korça with these strong days, with the rhythms of the bands, with the celebration that they convey to the public, but also with the workshops for the city's youth and meetings between artists. There were five wonderful bands, the one of the Armed Forces of Albania, the KSF Wind Orchestra which is a wonderful, consolidated band, I can say the best in all of Albanian territory. There is also an Arbëresh band which came together with the mayor of their municipality and we tried to create a collaboration between the two cities of Italy and Korça. We also have the wonderful band of Korça which has a tradition of over 100 years and we will give our maximum contribution to raise it to a new level. "superior."

The second evening of “Lulu Fest” ended in the most beautiful way, with emotions, enthusiastic applause and a shared sense of pride conveyed by the music. The sounds of the four orchestras that joined at the end in the interpretation of the song “We love Albania more” created a solemn and magical moment, where the stage and the audience became one. Korça experienced an unforgettable evening, where the art of brass bands was transformed into a common language of peace and cooperation. Artists from Albania, Kosovo, Croatia and Italy brought a strong message of unity through music./ CNA