„Prolećna“ Wins First Prize and Laureate Title at Obzorja na Tisi

On 27 May 2021, the concert of competition works of the 29th Obzorja na Tisi - Days of Josif Marinković was held at the Cultural Centre in Novi Bečej, featuring the world premiere of my art song for soprano and piano Prolećna (Spring).

At the end of the evening, Prolećna received First Prize and the Laureate title of the Invitational Composition Competition. The result came as a complete surprise and represents one of the most significant recognitions of my work as a composer so far.

This was my first time taking part in the competition, and it was a particular honour to have my music performed alongside works by eleven other composers. Among them were colleagues and teaching assistants from the Academy, the mentor who prepared me for my composition entrance examination back in 2014, as well as composers whose music I had previously performed and through whose works I first began to discover different compositional techniques.

Simply seeing my own work presented alongside theirs already made the occasion very special to me.

A Piece That Waited Seven Years

Prolećna is a setting of Desanka Maksimović’s poem “Najednom sam prolećem opijena,” but the story of the piece actually began much earlier.

I first started composing it in 2014, while preparing for my entrance examination in composition at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad. I never completed it at the time, and seven years later, the invitation to take part in Obzorja na Tisi finally gave me a reason to return to it.

There is a beautiful personal symbolism in that journey. Having completed my master’s degree and closed an important chapter of my formal education, I found myself returning to a work connected to the very beginning of my path as a composer.

For that reason, receiving First Prize means much more to me than the competition result itself. It arrived as a tremendous encouragement to continue composing with honesty and intuition, and above all to keep creating from the heart, in the way I have always wanted to.

The Premiere of Prolećna

At its world premiere, Prolećna was performed by soprano Radoslava Vorgić Žuržovan, accompanied by pianist Aleksandra Rakić.

There is something extraordinary about hearing a work for the first time after it has previously existed only on the page and in your own imagination of how it should sound. Performers bring their own sensibility to the music and give it a new life, and Radoslava and Aleksandra’s interpretation was so moving that at one point it unexpectedly brought me to tears.

I am deeply grateful to them for giving Prolećna its first life in front of an audience.

Obzorja na Tisi and Twelve New Art Songs

Obzorja na Tisi - Days of Josif Marinković is dedicated to the art song and to the legacy of Josif Marinković, one of the most important figures in Serbian vocal music. One of its central programmes is the Invitational Composition Competition, through which new works for voice and piano are created and premiered.

For that reason, I am particularly happy that this year’s competition has enriched our musical repertoire with twelve new art songs, each carrying its own compositional language, style and artistic sensibility.

I am grateful to the members of the jury, Svetozar Saša Kovačević, Milica Stojadinović and Dimitrije Golemović, for recognising the value of my work, as well as to Nemanja Nešić for inviting me to take part in this year’s competition.

Congratulations also to Svetozar Nešić on receiving Second Prize, Svetlana Savić on receiving Third Prize, Miroljub Aranđelović Rasinski on receiving the Audience Award, and to all of the composers whose works were performed during the evening.

For me, Prolećna has now gained another meaning: a piece that began as one of the first steps in my composition studies has, seven years later and just after completing my master’s degree, become a symbol of a new beginning.

Watch the world premiere of Prolećna: