Trpčeski at home, with a chamber programme

Simon Trpčeski plays the Macedonian Philharmonic on November 2 at 8 pm with "Chamber Music Dessert": Chopin, Grieg, Connesson, Shakhov and Shostakovich. The pianist who has played with the New York Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra, and who in 2011 became Macedonia's first national artist, is choosing a small line-up this time, with the audience a few metres from the piano.

Rundek and the last "Bolero"

Three nights later, on November 5 at 8:30 pm, Darko Rundek takes the Philharmonic stage with "Darko Rundek & Haustor & Ekipa". The organisers bill it as Haustor's last "Bolero", 41 years after the 1985 album, and it is the first time Rundek brings his Ekipa to Skopje. "Ena", "Šejn" and "Moja prva ljubav" in a seated concert hall? That will test the audience. The organisers warn that Rundek tickets usually sell out fast.

Vesna Zmijanac moves to the Arena

Vesna Zmijanac brings her jubilee tour "Golden Tour - I da imam sto života" to the Boris Trajkovski Arena on November 28 at 8 pm. The concert was not originally announced there - it was moved because of the huge demand. After three concerts at the Belgrade Arena in May, which marked fifty years on stage, the "Queen of Sorrow" arrives with the ballads that run from "Nevera moja" to "Malo po malo".

Laibach, to close out the winter

Laibach come to the Youth Cultural Centre on February 26, 2027 at 8 pm, touring "Musick", their first album of original material since "Spectre" in 2014. The band that has played both Pyongyang and South Korea, forty-six years after forming in Trbovlje, still won't say whether it imitates totalitarian symbols or mocks them. It keeps leaving that answer to the audience.

24 more new dates in Skopje

These four nights are part of 28 new events in Skopje that went into the events calendar on October 4. Among the other 24 are "Turandot" and "Nabucco" at the National Opera and Ballet, Tribute Fest at the Youth Cultural Centre and a run of club gigs at Public Room. Skopje's autumn is busier than it looks - you just need to know where to go.