The largest opera festival in the country, “Ramë Lahaj International Opera Festival”, has started its third edition in a row. The festival, which bears the name of the well-known Kosovar tenor, Ramë Lahaj, thanks to his experience and reputation in the world opera community, brings to the Albanian public well-known names of operatic music such as Alessandro Safina, Yulia Suleimanova and Massimo Cavalletti, continuing its mission in enriching the cultural life and promoting Kosovo on the international stage.

The tenor Ramë Lahaj, in a press conference, stated that the idea of the festival is to promote everything related to culture, as he pointed out that he has seen many beautiful works in Kosovo, but according to him, the opportunity to be exposed is not so great.

Lahaj indicated that through this festival, singing students have been helped to go to masterclasses and auditions.

In this conference organized by RLIOF, the mayor of Prishtina, Përparim Rama, was also present, who expressed that they are lucky to have their friend Ramë Lahaj, who according to him not only honors us in all the countries of the world, he is also bringing that honor here in the capital, creating and transforming the capital into a place of art and culture.

The manager from the Kosovo Philharmonic, Dardan Selimaj, has expressed that it is an honor and a privilege for the Philharmonic to have joined such an important project for the stage of Prishtina.

Also present at this conference were conductor Pier Giorgio Morandi, tenor Alessandro Safina, baritone Massimo Cavallei, soprano Yulia Suleimanova, curator Ovul O. Durmusoglu, and vocal master Francisco Araiza. The latter said that he is very happy to be in Kosovo to support Lahaj. Araiza said he was planning to go on summer vacation when tenor Lahaj contacted him and invited him to participate in the third RLIOF festival.

The Evening Gala “Ramë Lahaj & Friends”, held tonight, starts the journey of RLIOF under the direction of Pier Giorgio Morandi, accompanied by the Kosovo Philharmonic.

With the theme around which this year’s edition of Opera for Freedom was conceived, RLIOF aims to elaborate the idea of involving the opera artist as a mediator to promote and protect freedom, human and social rights.