Day Is in Love with the Night – Urban and Helena Koder is a unique music-and-literary concert that brings together the evocative sounds of Slovenian composer Urban Koder with the poetic voice of Helena Koder, last year’s Rožanc Award winner for her essay collection The Crown with Unknown Fruits.

In this captivating evening, acclaimed saxophonist Andrej Omejc performs as soloist, accompanied by a chamber ensemble (string quartet with piano), while radio host Igor Velše guides the audience through the literary and musical journey.

The programme shines a spotlight on Koder’s rich and largely unexplored repertoire, which ranges from music for Slovenian films to chansons in the Slovenian language. During the composer’s final year, Omejc had the rare opportunity to work with Koder personally, adapting several pieces that Koder himself felt were ideal for the saxophone. These works, together with carefully arranged collaborations with composers Tilen Slakan and Teja Komar, bring Koder’s music to life for solo saxophone and chamber ensemble. The concert also features theatrical and film music (The Petite Bourgeois Wedding, Dance Suite, Flowers in Autumn) and arrangements of Koder’s chansons first performed by Vita Mavrič.

Koder’s music is unmistakably Slovenian in character, accessible to a wide audience, yet rooted in high-quality classical tradition, enriched with jazz, chanson, and other influences. To place his work in a broader international context, the concert pairs Koder’s compositions with pieces by two composers he admired deeply: Nino Rota, the Italian film composer famed for his collaborations with Federico Fellini, and Kurt Weill, the legendary pioneer of the chanson and collaborator with Bertolt Brecht.

Through this imaginative juxtaposition, the concert celebrates the breadth, artistry, and originality of Koder’s music, giving it the recognition it deserves. Interwoven throughout the evening, selected readings from Helena Koder’s The Crown with Unknown Fruits offer reflections on art and creativity, making the event a truly multi-dimensional experience for the senses.