CHOIR COMPETITION
Novi Sad Chamber Choir, Novi Sad
Conductor: Božidar Crnjanski
Academic Choir of the Student Cultural Centre of the University of Niš
Conductor: Zoran Stanisavljević
Mixed choir KUD Svetozar Marković, Novi Sad
Conductor: Vuk Milanović
Jury:
1. Enrico Miaroma
2. Svetislav Božić
3. Maja Čolović Vasić
Novi Sad Chamber Choir, Novi Sad
Conductor: Božidar Crnjanski
The Novi Sad Chamber Choir (2013) was founded by conductor Božidar Crnjanski with the aim of developing choral music and cultivating a diverse repertoire that deviates from established frameworks. The ensemble pays special attention to works by contemporary authors and a specific style of singing and interpretation that exudes lightness, transparency and high technical standards. It has realized numerous all-night concerts and projects with prominent domestic and foreign artists and ensembles (Belgrade Philharmonic, Sudar Percussion, Aleksandar Dujin Band). It has performed at major European festivals in Nancy, Marktoberdorf, Torrevieja and Bayreuth, and his concert career is also marked by performances of Monteverdi’s Vespers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, D. Lang’s Match Girl Passion, A. Vrebalov’s Antennae and M. Feldman’s Rothko Chapel. Among the most significant awards are two special awards at the Golden Fairy competition in Prijedor and two gold medals in Herceg Novi (2015), a gold medal and second prize in Miltenberg (2016), first place in Varna (2019), victory in the Days of Mokranjac choir competition (2022), first and special awards for the best performance of a work by a Macedonian author at the Ohrid Choir Festival (2023).
Božidar Crnjanski received his master’s degree in choral conducting in the class of Prof. Tatjana Ostojić, at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, where he is currently employed as a full professor. In his rich career, he has participated in numerous international projects (Campus Cantat, Euro Choir), master classes in choral conducting, and collaborated with renowned artists and institutions. He actively collaborates with the Chamber Choir of the SNP, the Mixed Choir of the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, as well as with the St. Seraphim Sarovski men’s choir from Zrenjanin, with whom he has performed a large number of times in the country and abroad since 1997. As the conductor of the KUD Svetozar Marković choir (2002–2013), he won a large number of awards and recognitions at the most prestigious choir competitions. He won the award for best conductor at the International Choir Festival in Sofia (2004), as well as at the International Choir Competition Prof. Georgi Dimitrov in Varna (2019). He is a member of numerous domestic and international juries at choir competitions.
Academic Choir of the Student Cultural Centre of the University of Niš
Conductor: Zoran Stanisavljević
During more than five decades of continuous work, the Academic Choir of the Student Cultural Centre of the University of Niš (1972) has performed throughout Serbia, the former Yugoslavia and Europe, under the leadership of prominent conductors (M. Veljković, S. Dejanović, S. Kostić). Its repertoire encompasses works from all periods and styles of Serbian and international choral literature, with a particular emphasis on contemporary music. More than 4,000 singers have passed through the choir. With their work, they have contributed to building a recognizable artistic identity of the ensemble, which represents a significant value of the cultural life of the city of Niš and the Republic of Serbia, as confirmed by numerous performances at prestigious festivals and competitions in the country and abroad. Among the awards, the one won at the Black Sea Sounds in Bulgaria, at the international festival in Çanakkale in Turkey, at the festivals in Moscow (2004) and Yalta, and at the International Choir Festival in Niš stand out. On the occasion of its 50th anniversary (2022), the Choir was awarded the City of Niš Award for Outstanding Contribution to Culture.
Zoran Stanisavljević M.A. received his master’s degree in 2006 at the FMU in Belgrade, in the classes of prof. J. Šajnović and prof. D. Matić-Marović. In the period 1999–2004, he was an assistant conductor of the Academic Choir of the University of Niš, where he founded the Women’s Choir in 2004, with which he has performed at home and abroad and won significant awards. He has collaborated with numerous ensembles (SO UA Stanislav Binički, Orchestra of the Faculty of Arts in Niš, Chamber Orchestra of the SKC Niš, chamber orchestras Amoroso, Impresija, Imperio, of which he is a co-founder, Chamber Orchestra of Bitola and Polifonija). Since 2012, he has been the conductor and artistic director of the Academic Choir of the SKC University of Niš, with which he has performed throughout Europe, including a concert in the prestigious Musikverein hall in Vienna, as part of the World Peace Choir Festival (2025). Since 2012, he has been engaged as a guest conductor of the Niš Symphony Orchestra, with whom he performs major works of symphonic literature. He is the conceptual creator and artistic director of the University Choirs Festival Horovanje (since 2022) and a full professor at the Faculty of Arts in Niš.
Mixed choir KUD Svetozar Marković, Novi Sad
Conductor: Vuk Milanović
The Mixed Choir of the KUD Svetozar Marković (1945) is one of the longest-standing and most successful choral ensembles in Serbia. It has gained significant international reputation by performing at prestigious choir competitions throughout Europe. Among the most significant successes are the title of World Champion in Llangollen (1976), first prizes and gold medals in Preveza and Sofia (2004), as well as victories in Arezzo (2005), Prijedor (2008), Podgorica (2009), Gorizia (2011) and Torrevieja (2012). An important part of the choir’s activities is also its continuous participation in the Festivals of Music Societies of Vojvodina in Ruma, where it has repeatedly won gold plaques, as well as performances at festivals in Herceg Novi, Tuzla and Bijeljina. The continuity of the high artistic level is also confirmed by the latest awards: Grand Prix in Bijeljina 2025, gold diploma in Herceg Novi and gold plaque at the Melodianum festival in Kikinda. Rich tradition, experience and continuous concert activity make this ensemble an important part of Serbian choral culture.
Vuk Milanović, conductor, composer and arranger, studied General Music Pedagogy at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad. As a singer, he has performed with numerous ensembles in the country and abroad, and as a conductor he has improved his skills at various master classes, including seminars for young conductors in Hungary and the Europa Cantat program in Pécs. As a conductor and arranger, he has collaborated with numerous vocal ensembles, such as Res miranda, Müşket, Novi Sad nonet, Constantine and the Novi Sad Chamber Choir. His compositions and arrangements have been performed and awarded in Serbia and abroad. Since October 2024, he has been conducting the Mixed Choir of the KUD Svetozar Marković, which under his leadership has won awards in Bijeljina and Herceg Novi 2025.
JURY
Enrico Miaroma graduated in piano, choral music and choral conducting, music education and composition at the conservatories in Piacenza, Trento and Bolzano. He studied with Franco Donatoni, Salvatore Sciarini and Ennio Morricone at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, the Romanini Foundation in Brescia and the Festival of Nations in Citta di Castelo. He has given around 900 concerts across Europe, in Ukraine and Taiwan, achieved victories as a choirmaster at national and international choir competitions. Many of his choral compositions have been performed by some of the most important choirs in the world. He is a former member of the Board of Directors of the IFCM – International Federation for Choral Music (2009-2011), artistic director of the international choral competitions Canto Sul Garda and Riva del Garda and the international children’s choir competition Il Garda in Coro, of the Cultural Association Edizioni Corali and member of the Board of Directors of the National Trophy of Italian Choirs for male choirs in Ledro (Trento). Since 2001, he has been the director of the Garda Trentino Children’s Choir, with which he has won all national choir competitions and various competitions abroad. He is a professor at the Trento Conservatory and secretary and coordinator of ANDCI – the National Association of Italian Choir Conductors.
Academician Svetislav Božić (1954) is a composer and music theorist, a full member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the chairman of the committee for culture and art of this institution. He is the author of 14 books in the field of music theory and about 300 compositions of various genres – from solo, chamber, choral, orchestral to vocal-instrumental. Of great significance is his contribution to sacred music. At the Summer Spiritual Academy in the Studenica Monastery alone, 10 choral works were performed from 1992 to 2005: two Liturgies of St. John Chrysostom, the Requiem, the All-Night Vigil, Serbia (M. Crnjanski), the Blue Tomb (M. Bojić), the Door of Salvation (R. P. Nogo), the Holy Simeon Spiritual Braid (Đ. Nikolić), the Festive Vespers and the Spiritual Lyre for male choir (Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović). To this should be added the Hilandar Palimpsest (R. P. Nogo), which commemorates the eight centuries of the Hilandar Monastery, as well as a series of compositions in the Matins from Herzegovinian Gračanica cycle to the verses of our famous poets, winners of the Jovan Dučić Award.
A special place belongs to the piano concertos (The Raška Mosaic, Chants of Metohija, Bagrdan Hymns, Night at Hilandar), the concerto for violin and orchestra Petersburg Mosaic, as well as the opera Melancholic Dreams of Count Sava Vladislavić (National Theatre, Belgrade, 2015), for which the composer also wrote the libretto, selecting sacred and secular-artistic texts by St. John Chrysostom, J. Dučić, M. Nastasijević, M. Crnjanski, D. Medaković.
Svetislav Božić’s compositions have been presented at 15 author’s concerts in Belgrade, over 25 in Serbia and 7 abroad, performed by top domestic and foreign soloists and ensembles, among which the symphony orchestra and mixed choir of the State Academic Chapel of St. Petersburg and conductor Vladislav Chernushenko stand out. His works have been performed in 17 countries, in prestigious concert halls: Tchaikovsky in Moscow, St. Petersburg Chapel, Regent Hall in London, Tchaikovsky National Academy of Music in Kiev, Glinka Concert Hall in Zaporozhye, L’Heure Bleue Hall in Switzerland and Cortot in Paris.
Svetislav Božić’s discography consists of 14 albums, about ten with multiple authors, as well as DVD releases. The piano music cycle Byzantine Mosaic was released by NAXOS.
The Order of the Star of Karađorđe, First Class (2022), the Vidovdan Thanksgiving of the Ravanica Monastery (2022), the Golden Book of the Matica Srpska Library (2018), the Cultural Pattern of the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia (2019), the Vuk Award (2007), the Belovodsk Rosette (2006), the Rača Charter (2004), the Stefan Prvovenčani Charter (2000), the October Award of the City of Belgrade (1995), two Golden Plaques of the Days of Mokranjac (1993 and 1995), the Golden Link Award of Belgrade (1995), the Vuk Foundation Award (1993) are just some of the recognitions for his work.
Maja Čolović Vasić graduated in musicology from the FMU in Belgrade in 1995, with the work Negotin Singers’ Association (1853–1912). She is the music editor of Radio Belgrade 2 and the author of the shows Vreme muzike, Klasiku molim, Autogram, Visine, Klasika plus and Ars sonora. She edits and hosts live broadcasts from the Metropolitan in New York and concert cycle of Radio Belgrade 2 Studio Slavenski, realized with Sokoj. She is the author of reviews, interviews and reports on the musical life in the country and abroad, as well as the drama text Mokranjac – A Man of his Art, on which a radio drama was recorded in 2014, and a theatre play staged at Days of Mokranjac (2015). She was a member of the Committee for the Protection of Musical Heritage of SANU and a contributor to numerous magazines, and as a music editor and expert consultant she participated in radio dramas, documentaries and TV shows. She was the author of program comments for concerts of the ensembles of RTS Music Production and the Belgrade Philharmonic, where she has been conducting pre-concert lectures since 2012. She has been a long-time editor and author of texts in all printed editions of Days of Mokranjac and a member of the Festival’s Program Committee. She is the winner of the May Award of Negotin in 2017.