IMPORTANT NOTICE – THE DEADLINE FOR THE APPLICATIONS OF CHOIRS IS EXTENDED TO MARCH 31st 2023
Since there were problems with the English version of our website, the Festival Organizing Board has decided to extend the deadline
for the applications to the 15th International Festival of Chamber Choirs and Vocal Ensembles to March 31st.
WELCOME OF THE FESTIVAL FOUNDER AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, PROFESSOR DR. MILOJE NIKOLIC
Dear visitors of this website, beloved friends,
In the current sea of negative and upsetting information, I am glad to reveal good news:
The Fifteenth International Festival of Chamber Choirs and Vocal Ensembles Concepts (the bearer of the quality stamp for remarkable arts festivals European Festivals Association – EFFE label) will be held in the regular term in Kragujevac, starting on August 20 and ending on August 25, the next year 2023..
This is, I remind you, firstly a festival of new program ideas in designing (dramaturgy) and in the absolutely good realization of the whole-evening concerts (events, happenings, choral-theatrical shows, etc.) of chamber choirs and vocal ensembles.
Clearly this “new concert outfit” can be made equally well from new as well as old musical material (even from their well-thought-out combination), while its presentation can (but not necessarily!)
contain various types and forms of syntheses of different arts and media.
Apart from this main program, there will be other joint work – ateliers (studios), forums, seminars, round tables, etc.), as well as pleasures of socializing and tours of cultural, historical, and natural sights.
The host city is, as always, Kragujevac, the fourth largest city in Serbia, the old Serbian capital, and the economic and cultural center of the central Serbian region of Sumadija.
Some concerts will be held in several nearby towns and spas – negotiations are ongoing.
Detailed rules of the Festival are given on the page of this website – Festival Propositions.
On the festival website, you can also see part of the material from previous festival sessions, just to get an impression of what it is about and how it looked.
Needless to say, it can always be better – and this depends on you!
Festival Propositions
The conditions for today’s circumstances are quite favorable:
There is no participation fee, and the organizer provides (and pays) for accommodation and breakfast – lunches and dinners here will not cost you much.
The application deadline is March 31, 2023!
The final selection of choirs or ensembles will be made and delivered to applicants by April 30, 2023.
Call, write, ask, suggest!
Best regards,
Miloje Nikolic
BASIC CONCEPT OF THE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF CHAMBER CHOIRS AND VOCAL ENSEMBLES IN KRAGUJEVAC
The International Festival of Chamber Choirs and Vocal Ensembles was founded in 1995, on the initiative of the City Assembly of Kragujevac and the Academic Chamber Choir Liceum from Kragujevac.
The author of the basic concept of the Festival is Acad. Prof. Dr. Miloje Nikolic, founder and longtime artistic director and conductor of the choir Liceum, full-time professor at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade.
The main program direction of the Festival is the presentation of rounded program concepts of all-night concerts of chamber choirs and vocal ensembles – presentation of the results of sound and theoretical-musicological research in the field of program dramaturgy, for small choral and vocal ensembles (with or without instrumental accompaniment). A research that goes beyond the traditional framework of a choir concert and makes a step towards a conceptual syncretic (multimedia) artistic event is also possible. However, it should be designed in a way that group singing is still in the foreground.
Besides, since its establishment, the following important goals of the Festival were determined:
– Nurturing the noble sound of ensembles in different singing styles;
– Stimulating the founding, work, and development of chamber choirs and vocal ensembles;
– Presenting the results of chamber choirs and vocal ensembles in front of the home and foreign audiences, as well as exchanging experiences in direct artistic contacts with reputable chamber choirs and vocal ensembles and experts in their organization and artistic leadership, from the country and abroad;
– Giving incentives to composers to write new works for chamber choirs and vocal ensembles, as well as to establish stronger direct cooperation between composers and chamber choirs and vocal ensembles;
– Enriching the musical life of the country, especially of the city of Kragujevac and central Serbia.
The festival is organized biennially, in odd years.