Darko Brlek Slovenia ← Back to list
Darko Brlek is the General Director and the Artistic Director of the Ljubljana Festival. He became the youngest ever director of the Slovenian National Theatre Opera and Ballet in Ljubljana in 1991. A year later he also became the youngest ever artistic director of the Ljubljana Festival, eventually taking over as executive director of the country's most important cultural festival in 1995. In addition to his long-running stewardship of the Ljubljana Festival, he has also held positions at other Slovenian cultural institutions. He was among the founders of the Cultural Chamber of Slovenia and has served as chairman of the Council for Culture of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia.
He is currently the President of the Expert Council of the Slovene National Theatre Maribor. Despite his extensive commitments to the promotion of culture in Slovenia, he is also active in various international bodies. In 1995 he became a member of the EFA Board at the General Assembly in Ljubljana. After becoming the Vice President of the European Festivals Association (EFA) in 1997, he served as its President from 2005 to 2017 and is now the Honorary member of the Association. He is also the President of the Festival Academy, an initiative of the European Festivals Association (EFA) for young festival managers. Art and culture are more than just a profession for Darko Brlek, who in 2016 was one of the two recipients of the annual management award for outstanding economic achievements given by the Finance newspaper and the Faculty of Economics in Ljubljana. He has also been the recipient of numerous other awards, including the Betteth Award for artistic achievements and the Župančič Award, which is the highest prize granted by the City of Ljubljana for outstanding creation in the field of art and culture. On the 4th of July 2018 Darko Brlek received the prestigious state award of the President of the Republic of Slovenia – Order for merits, for his contribution to Slovenian culture and merit for program excellence and international acclaim of cultural and artistic events.
In 2020 Darko Brlek was also nominated for the honorary title of Delo’s Personality of the Year. In November 2021, he received the honorary title of0 Congress Ambassador of Slovenia in the field of scientific and professional events. He performs as a concert clarinettist.In his musical carier he performed with artists like Uto Ughi,Yuri Bashmet,Aleksander Rudin,Lyubov Timofeyeva,Kyril Rodin,Elena Bayeva, Bruno Canino, Debussy Quartett, Quartetto di Venezia, Bartok Quartett, Kodaly Quartett, I Solisti Veneti, I Virtuozi Italiani, Musica Viva, Solisti Aquilani, Kammer Orchester Manheim, Moscow Soloists, Capella Glinka Sankt Peterburg, Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Slovenian RTV Symphony Orchestra, Cameristi della Scala, Deutsches Kammer Orchester Frankfurt, Sinfonia Toronto, Kazakhstan Symphony Orchestra, Chingtao Symphony Orchestra, Shen Zen Symphony Orchestra, Huangzow Symphony Orchestra, Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, Teatro Vincenzo Bellini Orchestra (Catania), Chengdu Symphony Orchestra, Beijing State Opera Symphony Orchestra, Uzbekistan State Symphony Orchestra, Ankara State Symphony Orchestra, Wallonie Chamber Orchestra, Mexico State Symphony Orchestra, Chile State Opera Symphony Orchestra and many others.