Ponta Lopud Jazz Festival, taking place from August 27 to 29, returns for its fourth edition with three open-air concert evenings featuring some of the most exciting names on today’s international jazz scene. Each festival evening will be dedicated to one of the leading artists in contemporary jazz and their current project. Across the programme, contemporary jazz meets electronica, folklore, rock and improvisation.

The first evening will be marked by the performance of Chilean guitarist and vocalist Camila Meza and her project Portal. As a singer, guitarist and composer, Meza has established a distinctive presence on the New York and international scenes, and as a leader has released five albums. She has also been a regular presence in the critics’ polls of DownBeat magazine for a number of years. Her reputation among fellow musicians is further reflected in the fact that jazz icon Pat Metheny selected her as music director for the ceremony marking his induction as an NEA Jazz Master at the Kennedy Center in Washington. Portal, her project released by GroundUP Music, is a cinematic musical story of motherhood and transformation, bringing together contemporary jazz, Latin American folklore and rich electronic textures. On Lopud, she will be joined by Gabriel Chakarji on piano, Alejandra Sofia on backing vocals and keyboards, and Elé Howell on drums.

The second evening will see pianist and vocalist Rachel Eckroth and drummer John Hadfield take the stage with their joint project Speaking in Tongues. Eckroth is a Grammy-nominated musician of remarkable stylistic range, a long-time keyboardist and arranger for rock star St. Vincent, and is also known for her collaborations with Chris Botti and KT Tunstall. Hadfield is a composer, drummer and percussionist who has appeared on more than one hundred recordings with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma and Lenny Pickett of Tower of Power. He has also performed percussion for music in major Hollywood films, including the Oscar-winning score for Joker and music for Gemini Man (2019) and Drive-Away Dolls (2024). Their joint project Speaking in Tongues, created in 2023, is deeply rooted in improvisation, with compositions shaped to leave space for a free, unpredictable and unrestrained musical flow.

The festival will close with a performance by saxophonist Donny McCaslin, known for his contribution to David Bowie’s final album, Blackstar (2016), who will present his new album Lullaby for the Lost on Lopud. It is a bold jazz-rock project, marked by a powerful guitar-driven sound, that absorbs the energy of Neil Young, Rage Against the Machine and Nine Inch Nails, transforming it into progressive, energetic compositions. McCaslin will be joined on stage by his long-time collaborators: Jason Lindner on keyboards, Jonathan Maron, co-founder of the band Groove Collective, on bass, and Antonio Sánchez on drums, a four-time Grammy Award winner and one of the most sought-after drummers on the international jazz scene.

Each festival evening will conclude with a jam session, a space in which festival participants join their mentors and masters, diving into the unknown through improvisation. On the first evening, the jam session led by vocalist and festival Artistic Director Thana Alexa will be dedicated to electronic sound and improvisation, meaning playing without sheet music or a predetermined structure, with an emphasis on the use of electronics, loops and real-time composition. On the second evening, festival participants will perform music composed by this year’s mentors and masters, while the final jam session will also mark the ceremonial closing of the festival, followed by a closing festival party.

The Ponta Lopud Creative Platform presents three summer cultural programmes in 2026 and warmly welcomes all lovers of the arts, primarily film, music and literature. Ponta Lopud Film Festival was the first of the three events, held from June 25 to 28 and dedicated to the art of film. The second event, the popular Ponta Lopud Jazz Festival, will bring music lovers to the island from August 27 to 29, while Ponta Lopud Book Bridge will transform the island into a literary haven from September 17 to 19, rounding off the summer season of events.

All information about the programme, tickets and accompanying events will be available at pontalopud.hr and on the social media channels of the Ponta Lopud Creative Platform.