From Music for Plants to Songs from South America:
Viva Musica! festival Reveals More Big Names
Bratislava, May 14, 2026
For more than two decades, the Viva Musica! festival has been offering Slovak audiences a different take on classical music. And the 22nd edition will be no exception. Visitors can look forward not only to the Slovak premiere of Philip Glass’s legendary opera Einstein on the Beach starring Suzanne Vega, or to Anouar Brahem’s first concert appearance in Slovakia, but also to the projects Plantasia and Gracias a la vida.
The cult album Mother Earth’s Plantasia by Canadian composer and electronic music pioneer Mort Garson is now considered a legendary recording. Garson composed this music specifically for plants to “listen to,” using only the Moog synthesizer in the process. When it was released in 1976, the album had extremely limited distribution – it could only be obtained by purchasing houseplants at a small flower shop in Los Angeles or mattresses at a Sears store. Over time, however, it became a cult classic and a milestone in electronic music history. In 2019, the album was even reissued by the American independent label Sacred Bones Records.
Pianists and composers Kristína Smetanová and Haimoni Balgavá transcribed the entire album into a score for four synthesizer players and expanded the original material with new compositions. In addition to Kristína and Haimoni, the project also features Peter Kunzo and Martin Štefánik. “Plantasia brought us together and inspired us to create original music thematically connected to Mort Garson’s iconic recording. At Viva Musica!, audiences will also hear the premiere of several pieces from the upcoming debut album by the Plantasia Project,” said Kristína Smetanová, also known as Kriss Krimm. The concert will take place on Thursday, July 16, 2026, at 8:00 PM at the Eurovea Square. Admission will be free.
The Gracias a la vida Trio
A musical journey across South America, France, and Spain will be presented in the project Gracias a la vida, performed by the trio of Ana-Carmen Balestra (soprano), Hadewych van Gent (cello and vocals), and Vitor Noah (guitar). The program was created in collaboration among four international summer festivals – besides Viva Musica!, these include the Wonderfeel festival in the Netherlands, the Istanbul Music Festival in Turkey, and Valley of Arts in Hungary – and forms part of the EFFEA (European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists) residency under the umbrella of the European Festivals Association.
The trio combines the temperament of South American music with the intimacy of chamber music, offering a fresh perspective on well-known songs and classical repertoire in the unusual combination of voice, cello, and guitar. The arrangements were created by Brazilian guitarist Victor Santana. “Gaining experience at such special music festivals with an engaging program that reflects our lives and passions means a great deal to us. Ana and Vitor are both dear friends, whom I know from very different contexts. In this program, we present our most personal musical expression, and it is therefore a great honour for us to perform at these fantastic festivals,” said Hadewych van Gent, who has collaborated with British saxophone superstar Jess Gillam and has also performed at Coldplay concerts and with Grammy-winning singer Laufey.
Ana-Carmen Balestra and Hadewych van Gent studied at the prestigious Guildhall School in London. Both are versatile musicians equally at home in the worlds of classical music and beyond. They are finalists of the Dutch Classical Talent competition and were also nominated for one of the Netherlands’ most important music awards, the Grachtenfestival Prize. Completing the trio is Brazilian guitarist based in Berlin, Vitor Noah, who in addition to classical guitar also focuses on traditional Brazilian music and the study of performance practice in both historical and contemporary contexts. He is also the recipient of several important awards. The Gracias a la vida concert will take place on Saturday, July 25, 2026, at 8:00 PM in the garden of the Albrecht House on Kapitulská Street in Bratislava.