Recording of the first part of the Contemporary Montenegrin Musical Identity project has been completed

The first part of the Contemporary Montenegrin Musical Identity project, a CD release, commissioned by the KotorArt Don Branko’s Music Days, inspired by important historical dates and heritage of Montenegro and Kotor, supported by the Montenegrin Ministry of Culture, was successfully realized in April. The project participants were members of the KotorArt Chamber Ensemble, led by clarinetist Petar Garić, and the Collegium Musicum Choir, led by conductor Dragana Jovanović, the first winner of the Darinka Matić-Marović Award that was established on the last year’s initiative of the Festival in memory of our legendary conductor.

A considerable number of these compositions was recorded live at concerts and a part of them was published on the YouTube channel of the KotorArt Festival. In addition to the studio recording, the plan is to make the digital edition of the scores that will be available to all those interested ensembles.

During this year's festival, four new commissions to Montenegrin author Slobodanka Dabović Đurić and American author Dariush Derakhshani are expected to be premiered as part of the Cultural Intertwining: Strengthening Montenegrin-American Ties project, implemented by the Don Branko Sbutega Foundation and the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB), with the support of the US Embassy in Montenegro.

So far, the KotorArt Festival has commissioned and performed the following seventeen compositions by contemporary authors, with a total duration of almost four hours:

Ivan Moody: Hymn to Saint Nicholas, for mixed choir, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Saint Nicholas Church in Kotor, premiered on August 11, 2009; Ivo Josipović: Kurosawa’s World Unrest, for chamber orchestra, timpani and bells, on the occasion of the anniversary of the death of Don Branko Sbutega, premiered on July 13, 2016; Žarko Mirković: Taraf Trio, for violin, clarinet and piano, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the KotorArt Festival, premiered on August 5, 2011; Nina Perović: An Evening Prayer, for octet, on the occasion of the anniversary of the death of Blessed Osana, premiered on August 6, 2015.; Reflections, for chamber orchestra, on the occasion of the anniversary of the death of Don Branko Sbutega, premiered on July 13, 2016; Views, for three sopranos, chamber orchestra and electronics, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the inclusion of Kotor on the UNESCO World Heritage List, premiered on July 14, 2019; Čobanine, lijepa đevojko, for wind quintet, premiered on August 6, 2021; Variations on the Theme of the Boka Kolo Dance, for wind quintet, premiered on August 6, 2021; Aleksandar Perunović: I am Dead Now, You Used to be Before, for chamber orchestra, on the occasion of the anniversary of the death of Don Branko Sbutega, premiered on July 13, 2016; Beethoven 2020, on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the birth of L. v. Beethoven, premiered on August 26, 2020; Ivan Marović: The Immortal Ray, for chamber orchestra and narrator, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Petar II Petrović Njegoš, premiered on August 7, 2013; Kotor 1979, for chamber orchestra and voices, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the earthquake in Montenegro, premiered on July 14, 2019; Carnival in the Fog, for wind quintet, premiered on August 6, 2021. Zorna, for wind quintet, premiered on August 6, 2021; Marko Kovač: Mountain Dinara Suite, for oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn and piano, premiered on July 16, 2014; Marijana Janevska, Marko Kovač, Sonja Mutić, Uršula Jašovec, Antonio Babić, Nina Perović: Variations on the Theme of the Boka Navy Kolo Dance, for chamber orchestra, premiered on July 13, 2017; Rambo Amadeus (Antonije Pušić): Stella’s Passion, “Ecological Opera”, for narrator, soprano and chamber orchestra, premiered on July 13, 2018.

For twenty years, the KotorArt Don Branko’s Music Days Festival has been introducing the audience to unknown and less performed authors and works, encouraging contemporary music, establishing and promoting representative local artists and high quality music, but also contributing to the creation of national heritage of art music, valorizing and pointing to the importance of preserving Montenegrin tradition and cultural heritage.