The agency Scholz & Friends Belgrade initiated a major artistic event of historical importance and in it included Aleksandra Vrebalov, a composer who lives and works in New York.
On Saturday, 12 December 2015, at 20h in the Great Hall of Kolarčeva Zadužbina, choir of RTS (public broadcaster in Serbia) will do a premiere performance of the last, unfinished work by Stevan Mokranjac, which, by the idea and at the initiative of the agency Scholz & Friends Belgrade, was finished by the famous Serbian composer Aleksandra Vrebalov. Works of J.S. Bach, Barber, Jejl, Lauridsen and Rheinberg are also on the program of this whole-night event, under the artistic leadership of maestro Bojan Suđić.
One autumn evening in 1914, Stevan Mokranjac began his last work, a choir composition by lyrics of the song Zimnji dani (Winter Days) by Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj. The composition was left unfinished and completely unknown to the public. After 101 years, Aleksandra Vrebalov revived the forgotten notes on the basis of the only preserved transcript of the original composition.
Choir of RTS was formed in 1939 as a chamber ensemble of 18 singers, led by Milan Bajšanski. For more than seven decades of existence under the leadership of eminent conductors, choir of RTS is the most representative choral ensemble in Serbia, which continuously nurtures local choral and vocal-instrumental music, as well as a broad repertoire of works from the world’s musical heritage.
Since 2005, the position of the chief conductor of the choir and a symphony orchestra of RTS is taken by maestro Bojan Suđić, under whose artistic leadership the choir of RTS significantly expanded its repertoire, and was rewarded for their performances with Izvanredni Zlatni Beočug (Golden Ring of Excellence), and the Ensemble of the Year awards.
Bojan Suđić also acts as the executive and artistic director of Music Production of RTS, with the rank of full professor of conducting and orchestra at the Music Academy in Belgrade. He has performed with some of the most renowned international orchestras and soloists, and was the first conductor of the Royal Opera in Stockholm, before returning to Serbia and taking over his present functions.
Scholz & Friends Belgrade is the only German communications group with operations in the region. Through the creation of cultural events, which are becoming a permanent value of the community in which it operates, Scholz & Friends wants to present a unique combination of German efficiency and the best local creativity.
Aleksandra Vrebalov, one of the most famous Serbian composers of contemporary classical music, was born in 1970 in Novi Sad, and currently lives and works in New York.
After finishing her studies in composing at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad and Belgrade Music Academy, she continued her education at the Conservatory of Music in San Francisco and Academy of Music in Prague. She earned her doctorate of music art at the University of Michigan.
Her rich international career was marked by numerous awards and scholarships, including from the Rockefeller Foundation, American Art Academy, New York’s New Dramatists, American Opera Project, Highsmith Composition Competition, Vienna Modern Masters and Douglas Moore Fellowship.
