Dubrovnik - a cultural pearl

A regular performer at the Dubrovnik Summer festival, Sweden’s Romeo & Juliet Choir has witnessed the Croatian city’s return from war torn isolation to thriving cultural center.

Nicknamed the Pearl of the Adriatic, Dubrovnik, with its medieval walls, narrow cobbled alleyways, marble streets and baroque squares, all sitting beside the shimmering ocean, is a thing of wonder.

As well as having good looks, the city is also Croatia’s cultural powerhouse and every year plays host to a wide range of events. The highlight of the cultural calendar is the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, which is now in its 65th year. The festival consists of classical music, theater, ballet and opera with the UNESCO World Heritage listed Old Town serving as a breathtakingly beautiful backdrop.

Sweden’s Romeo & Juliet Choir has been coming here for over a decade. The first visit took place in 1994 when members of the choir performed in actress Bibi Andersson’s cultural project Open Road Sarajevo.

This was just a couple of years after the Siege of Dubrovnik ended. The siege saw a bombardment of the Old Town, which has now been much restored, and was part of the Croatian War of Independence, which came to an end in 1995.

“At first, we were the only international group that dared to go to Dubrovnik,” says the founder and artistic director of the Romeo & Juliet Choir, Benoît Malmberg. “We stayed at the Hotel Excelsior. Today it’s a popular luxury hotel, but back then there were very few guests, and you could still hear the rumble of gunfire in the background.”

With its renaissance clothing and period instruments, the 12-person ensemble choir, has resonated with Dubrovnik’s post-war renaissance. And since its debut in Dubrovnik, the choir has been invited back every summer.

“We have witnessed the development of Dubrovnik,” Malmberg says. “Once we walked barefoot around these old marble streets virtually alone. Now there are times when we can barely get into the historic center because of all the tourists.”

The Romeo & Julia Choir soon became a guest of honor at the summer festival with the organizers and audiences alike loving the way the ensemble performs its romantic songs and madrigals, often to the accompaniment of lute and percussion.

“We have performed in the stunning scenery around the Rector’s Palace,” Malmberg says. “It feels magical to sing and act on the stairs and balconies. It’s been amazing to see just how much music can mean to people who have been through something as terrible as war.”

Back when the choir stayed at the Hotel Excelsior its members used to walk together to the concerts in the old town, singing and playing in their renaissance costumes. People would follow them through the streets.

“The concerts were always sold out,” Malmberg says. “People pushed their way in and sat on rooftops so that they could be part of it. It soon became a tradition for our concerts to end with the crowd throwing flower petals into the air at the curtain call. Dubrovnikers are a very knowledgeable and fun crowd.”