Skopje, 30 July 2025 (MIA) — The National Jazz Orchestra will give a concert featuring Portuguese fado singer Maria Mendes at Split Summer Festival in Split, Croatia, at 9 pm. 

Conducted by Vladimir Nikolov, the concert will be a mix of contemporary jazz and traditional fado music. 

The orchestra's collaboration with Mendes began this March, when they gave a charity concert in Skopje.

Maria Mendes (b. 1985, Porto) is a vocalist and composer acclaimed for blending jazz with Portuguese fado music. Hailed by DownBeat magazine as “a jazz singer of the highest order”, she is a four-time Grammy and Latin Grammy-nominated artist with four critically acclaimed albums.

Vladimir Nikolov (b. 1979, Skopje) is an internationally acclaimed conductor, composer and arranger. He has worked with renowned orchestras such as the Metropole Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Brussels Philharmonic, Heritage Orchestra and the BBC Concert Orchestra.

Established in 2024, the National Jazz Orchestra has performed with renowned artists such as Don Menza, Luis Bonilla, Adedeji, Francesco Bearzatti, Darko Rundek and Rambo Amadeus. In the upcoming season, it will collaborate with Donny McCaslin, Kurt Rosenwinkel and the Yellowjackets. 

The Split Summer Festival is one of Croatia's oldest cultural events, first held in 1954. Organized by the Croatian National Theater in Split, the festival runs from mid-July through mid-August each year, offering theater, dance and music performances often taking place in open-air public spaces. 

The National Jazz Orchestra's concert wil be held at the Peristyle, the central courtyard of Diocletian's Palace in Split, Croatia, a UNESCO World Heritage site. mr/