CONTEMPORARY REFLECTIONS

Friday, July 19
Church of Our Lady, Prčanj, 9 p.m.
CONTEMPORARY REFLECTIONS

Festival Orchestra
Simo Šišević, piano
Sara Lakičević, trumpet
Mladen Tarbuk, conductor

PROGRAM

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975)
Concerto for Piano, Trumpet, and String Orchestra in C minor,  Op. 35
Allegro moderato
Lento
Moderato
Allegro con brio

Mladen Tarbuk (1962)
Tombeau de Penderecki

Benjamin Britten (1913–1976)
Varijacije za gudače na temu Frenka Bridža, op. 10
Introduction and Theme
Variation 1: Adagio
Variation 2: March
Variation 3: Romance
Variation 4: Aria Italiana
Variation 5: Bourrée classique
Variation 6: Wiener Waltzer
Variation 7: Moto perpetuo
Variation 8: Funeral March
Variation 9: Chant    
Variation 10: Fugue and Finale

Partner of the program:

The Festival Orchestra consists of young artists—professional musicians from Montenegro. Many of the members were KotorArt talents. During the Festival, musicians prepare and perform programs at various venues – from churches to squares. Nurturing the idea of unity, this seasonal orchestra has shown an outstanding and keen sense of music from a variety of musical periods, styles, and genres. In selecting the orchestra repertoire, special emphasis has been placed on the contemporary music of those countries from which guest conductors hail, as well as on premiere performances of pieces by national and foreign authors. All these activities enable young orchestral musicians to regularly scale the concert podium, gain new experiences in working with different conductors and soloists, expand their repertoire, and develop a sense of confidence and comfort on stage. In this way, the orchestra embodies the message—the celebration of tolerance, unity, and cultural diversity through music.

Simo Šišević, piano, completed his undergraduate studies in Piano at the Royal College of Music in London, under Professors Gordon Fergus-Thompson and John Byrne, and his master’s studies at the Accademia del Ridotto in Italy, under Professor Boris Berman. In 2016, he represented Montenegrin cultural at the Monténégro au coeur de l'Europe concert at the Festival Weekend de Clavier Contemporain at the Frederic Chopin Conservatoire in Paris. Simo Šišević is the winner of numerous national and international competitions and received the Absolute Prize at the International Competition in Rome, the Silver Medal at the Orbetello International Competition in Italy, and the Special Prize at the Windsor International Piano Competition in Great Britain. He has performed in France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Russia, Poland, and Albania, as well as in Montenegro at festivals such as the Theatre City Budva, KotorArt, and the Summer Chamber Music Camp at Ivanova Korita. Simo Šišević is the founder and a member of the Birziminium Piano Trio. He has held numerous charity concerts for UNICEF, for the orgarnization Save the Children, and for hospital and orphanage reconstruction for disadvantaged children in Montenegro and the region, as well as fundraising evenings for the Royal Karađorđević Family and the Njegoš Foundation. He is now in the process of inititating further studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, under Professor Tatiana Sarkissova.

Sara Lakičević, trumpet, began her music education at the Vida Matjan Music School in Kotor, where she completed three departments in secondary music school – Piano, Trumpet, and Theory. She graduated in Trumpet from the Faculty of Music in Belgrade, under Professor Mladen Đorđević, and received her master’s degree at the Liceu Conservatory in Barcelona, under the tutelage of Professor Luis González Martí. Sara Lakičević has performed with the academic orchestras of Novi Sad, Belgrade, and Barcelona, the RTS Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the National Theater in Belgrade, the Banja Luka, Belgrade, and Sarajevo Philharmonics, the Novi Sad Big Band, the Operosa Orchestra, and with her ensemble Brass Quintet. She was a member of the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra and served as a Professor of Trumpet in secondary music schools in Kotor and Podgorica. Sara Lakičević has been collaborating with the KotorArt International Festival since 2006, and since 2017 she has been working as the Festival’s PR Associate. She is a member of the Kotor City Music Orchestra and the Rotary Club of Podgorica. Sara Lakičević is currently a PhD student in Communication and Media within the Humanities at the University of Donja Gorica in Podgorica. She is the author of the textbook Trumpet – My Instrument for primary music schools.

Mladen Tarbuk, a prominent Croatian composer and conductor, completed his studies in Composition and Conducting in Graz, Zagreb, and Vienna. He has appeared in almost all European countries, as well as in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, often performing his own works. He has regularly collaborated with the German Oper am Rhein (Düsseldorf), the Wiener Concert-Verein, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, and the Hungarian State Opera. Mladen Tarbuk is a holder of numerous Croatian and international awards and recognitions, including from Slavenski, Papandopulo, HAZU, Janáček, E. Vogel, Risuonanze Trieste, and Tolosa. His compositions have been performed at major world festivals such as the Enescu Festival, World Music Days, and Wien Modern. He served as the Director of the Croatian National Theater in Zagreb (2002–2005) and then as its Music Director (2013–2017), as well as the Director of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival (2015–2017). During the term 2020–2024, he served as the Chairman of the Croatian Society of Composers. In the 2021/2022 season, Mladen Tarbuk conducted the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra. He is a Full Professor of Composition, Conducting, Music Theory, and Orchestra at the Academy of Music in Zagreb.