Published · 3 June 2024
„Tvoje ruke“ Receives Second Prize and the Audience Award at Obzorja na Tisi
My art song „Tvoje ruke“, for which I wrote both the music and lyrics, received Second Prize and the Audience Award at the 32nd Obzorja na Tisi Invitational Composition Competition in Novi Bečej.
On 30 May 2024, my art song Tvoje ruke (Your Hands) received its world premiere at the Invitational Composition Competition of the 32nd Obzorja na Tisi - Days of Josif Marinković in Novi Bečej. At the end of the evening, the piece received Second Prize from the jury and the Audience Award.
Three years after my art song Prolećna received First Prize and the Laureate title at the same competition, returning to Obzorja na Tisi with a new composition felt particularly meaningful. This time, I presented a work that is, in many ways, even more personal to me.
Music and Words from the Same Story
Tvoje ruke is an art song for voice and piano for which I wrote both the music and the text.
The words were written several years before the music and are dedicated to one of the most important people in my life, my mother, who has been a constant source of inspiration, support and strength throughout my journey.
Presenting such a personal work to an audience therefore carried a particular kind of vulnerability. When music grows from your own words and experiences, there is very little distance between the composer and the work itself. That made it even more meaningful to discover how strongly the song connected with other people.
The First Performance
At its premiere, Tvoje ruke was performed by soprano Mirjana Nedeljković and pianist Milivoje Veljić.
There is always something special about hearing performers transform music that has previously existed only on paper into sound that closely reflects what you imagined while writing it. Mirjana and Milivoje went even further, bringing their own musicianship and sensitivity to the piece while preserving everything that mattered to me within it.
I am deeply grateful to them for the care, commitment and beautiful interpretation they brought to my music.
The Audience Award
Receiving Second Prize from the jury was a wonderful recognition, but I have to admit that the Audience Award carried a very special meaning for me that evening.
After the performance, I received so many warm comments from audience members, fellow composers and performers. Knowing that such a personal work had resonated with people who did not know the story from which it originated was perhaps the most rewarding part of the entire experience.
That is something I continually hope for as a composer: that an idea born from a deeply personal emotion can, through music, stop belonging only to me and find an entirely new meaning for someone else.
I am grateful to the jury and the audience for recognising the value of my work, as well as to the organisers for inviting me to return to the Obzorja na Tisi Invitational Composition Competition.
Three years after Prolećna, Tvoje ruke has given me a completely different experience, but the same important reminder: that it is always worth continuing to create music that is honest, personal and close to what I genuinely want to express.
Watch the world premiere of Tvoje ruke: