On the 100th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding composer Simon Gjoni, the symphony orchestra of the Albanian Radio Television, under the direction of the Master and “Honour of the Nation” Eno Koço, will play a jubilee concert on October 26.

Gjoni is the outstanding composer of Shkodër traditional songs, such as “Lulebore” /Snowflower/, “Sy larushes” /For the blue eyed/, “Syte e tu si drita” /Your eyes like the light/ , “Fyelli i çobanit” /The Shepherd’s Flute/, “Nena dhe chika” /Mother and Daughter/, etc.

The conducting master Koço said in an interview for Radio Tirana 1 on the show “Seize the day” that he has been a student of Gjoni too.

“Simon was my teacher more than 50 years ago. Then I started working as a violinist at the Opera. I was his first and last student. He unveiled to me what I had acquired (in music) for 16 years,” said the master.

Friday’s concert will feature folk artists.

“This whole concert was built by his son, Andis Gjoni, almost selflessly. He thought of it as a concert for the general public. Simoni was a composer of symphonic dances and poems, but this concert is based on songs. I myself didn’t know he had written so many beautiful songs. The first part of the concert will be with lyrical songs with performers like Inva Mula, Eva Golemi, Armando Likaj etc. While during the the second part, with the drums, there are going to be performers like Frederik Ndoci and present day folk artists,” says the renowned conductor.

/a.p./