The Statehood Day was celebrated with the bells of the Cathedral and the 22nd KotorArt Don Branko’s Music Days were opened

A night to remember – a standing ovation for Nemanja Radulović and Double Sens

Traditionally, on the National Day of Montenegro, the 22nd KotorArt Don Branko’s Music Days are open with a gala concert on the crowded Square of the St. Tryphon Cathedral in Kotor. Nemanja Radulović, a truly world-class violinist with a career, an artist of a unique energy, performed at the concert with his “musical family” – the Double Sens Ensemble at a concert called Journey around the World.

Moments of the big world, like last night’s concert, which KotorArt has been offering to the audience for more than two decades, are proof of the essential need to belong to something valuable, that is,  the civilizational system of organized states that we strive for. We share these values with our friends who experience modern and civil Montenegro in a similar way, where culture, in the broadest sense, forms the fundamentals of interpersonal and social relations – pointed out from the PR team of the Festival.

The journey around the world began in Kotor with the singing of the national anthem, and after traveling around the world – from Balkan folklore, through the melodies of European countries, all the way to sounds from the faraway regions of China and India – the artists returned to Kotor and ended their journey performing an arrangement of the traditional melody of the Boka people – Kolo of the Boka Navy.

The concert was part of the concert tour and promotion of the new album Roots (Korijeni), recorded for the Warner Classics label in 2022. Along with Nemanja Radulović, most of the arrangements were made by Aleksandar Sedlar, who himself, as a guitarist and percussionist, was on stage. An artist with a unique emotion and incredible technical skill, Nemanja Radulović pointed out that the project was created during the first “closing” of borders, not only national, but interpersonal ones as well. As a result of that separation, the music from the Roots album was created, as a desire to return to the people and their original music.

The gala opening was attended by the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Dritan Abazović PhD, who opened the XXII KotorArt Don Branko’s Music Days, the Ambassador of the European Union in Montenegro, Cristina Oana Popa, and the Mayor of Kotor, Vladimir Jokić. In addition to officials and representatives of patrons, the opening ceremony was attended by members of the diplomatic corps, representatives of sponsors, partners and friends of the Festival, as well as a numerous audience and art lovers.

In his address to the audience, the Mayor of Kotor, Vladimir Jokić, spoke about the artist and art, concluding with the thought that “art is freedom, art is beauty. Art will save the world, if it saves us first. Let us surrender to art and KotorArt, which has been saving us year after year.”

The Ambassador of the European Union in Montenegro, Cristina Oana Popa, thanked “KotorArt for its dedicated promotion of the EU values, as well as European music and culture”, and emphasized that “we are pleased to witness an increasingly strong partnership” and added that “the Festival is firmly positioned on the European festival scene.” 

The Prime Minister of Montenegro, Dritan Abazović, inspired by Kotor, Boka, the ideas and messages conveyed by the Festival and the concert, pointed out that “there is no better place than from this square to call for the bells to ring and to spread the message of peace, love and art from our beautiful Montenegro.”

The organizing team of KotorArt thanked its loyal audience, as well as the media, for the great interest in the Festival’s programs.

The KotorArt International Festival is held with the patronage of UNESCO, the Ministry of Culture and Media and the Municipality of Kotor, the support of the European Union, as well as the support of eminent sponsors and a wide network of partners from the country and abroad. Additional information about the planned festival programs can be found on the Festival’s website www.kotor.art.

Foto: Duško Miljanić