A decade of the festival “Horizons on the Tisa” has placed Novi Bečej among the rare towns that can proudly claim an event of high cultural importance—one that has steadily won the attention of musicians, composers, musicologists, and audiences alike.
In its eleventh year, with a firmly established concept, the festival could take pride not only in its growing artistic quality, but also in several major achievements: the publication Solo Songs from the Invitational Composition Competition, a CD of Serbian vocal lyricism, and the musicological conference Music at the Crossroads of Two Centuries.
Following its established rhythm, the 11th edition was dedicated to the fourth Invitational Composition Competition for solo song, held from May 28 to 30.
Opera Arias Concert
The opening concert featured five young opera artists who play notable roles in the repertoire of the Chamber Opera Madlenianum in Zemun. Their program included eight arias and one duet from comic operas in which they perform leading roles. By coincidence, three of them are also members of the Novi Sad Opera: tenor Saša Štulić, coloratura soprano Darija Olajoš, and the more experienced baritone Saša Kovačić. Also performing were baritone Vladimir Andrić and mezzo-soprano Tanja Obrenović, both connected to the festival as former competition winners.
Pianist Dragana Anđelić provided precise and expressive accompaniment. The selection—featuring excerpts from Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segreto, and Rossini’s Signor Bruschino—fit neatly within 45 minutes and was warmly received by the well-attended audience.
World Premieres of Competition Works
The central event of the festival—the premiere of twelve new solo songs—opened with a talk on Josif Marinković delivered by Novi Sad composer Miroslav Štatkić. He emphasized beauty as a crucial dimension of musical creation and the importance of nurturing art rooted in tradition and the richness of national culture.
The opening ceremony also featured tenor Vojislav Spasić performing Gradinom zlato hodilo, the song with which he won the 2002 “Josif Marinković Award.”
Inspired by the legacy of Marinković, twelve composers of various generations and stylistic orientations submitted works to this year’s competition. Their compositions were performed in the following order:
Program of Premieres
(Here follows the list of all 12 compositions, translated and formatted clearly.)
- Nikola Petin – Premonition
Text: Desanka Maksimović
Performance: Danijela Jovanović, soprano
Piano: Maja Grujić - Miloš Zatkalik – Carmen Vatis
Text: Marija Bišof
Performance: Sofija Pižurica, soprano
Piano: Jelena Đajić - Aleksandra Stepanović – The Black Bird
Text: Pero Zubac
Performance: Vasa Stajkić, baritone
Piano: Maja Grujić - Vera D. Milanković – Premonition
Text: Desanka Maksimović
Performance: Vesna Opsenica, soprano
Piano: Vera D. Milanković - Božo Banović – Dream
Text: Duška Kisin
Performance: Vesna Opsenica, soprano
Piano: Jelena Đajić - Svetozar Saša Kovačević – A Drop of Rain
Text: Brankica Mladenović
Performance: Danijela Jovanović, soprano
Piano: Maja Grujić - Miroljub Aranđelović Rasinski – My Idler
Text: Laza Kostić
Performance: Živojin Ćirić, baritone
Piano: Tatjana Drobni - Minta Aleksinački – The Imprisoned Maiden
Text: Milan Buca Petrović
Performance: Sofija Pižurica, soprano
Piano: Jelena Đajić - Miroslav Štatkić – The Song of the Brother Counter
Text: Vuk Stefanović Karadžić
Performance: Vasa Stajkić, baritone
Pianos: Zoran Mulić & Ivan Marković - Stanko Šepić – Longing
Text: Stanko Šepić
Performance: Ivana Milašinović, mezzo-soprano
Piano: Stanko Šepić - Aleksandar Simić – Night & Dreams
Text: M. von Collin
Performance: Sofija Pižurica, soprano
Piano: Jelena Đajić - Zoran Mulić – Panglem Kuna / I Rocked the Cradle
Text: Romani folk song
Performance: Danijela Jovanović, soprano
Piano: Zoran Mulić
Musical Impressions
The concert displayed a wide range of styles—from nearly popular-song character and romantic pieces, to jazz influences, folkloric elements, rich rhythms, oriental melismas, and more avant-garde expressions.
Among the highlights were Nikola Petin’s lyrically expansive Premonition and Zoran Mulić’s Panglem Kuna, both performed by soprano Danijela Jovanović. Rasinski’s My Idler stood out for its expressive piano part and exotic color, while Vera Milanković’s Premonition, Kovačević’s delicately nuanced A Drop of Rain, and Šepić’s deeply emotional Longing—performed with exceptional expressiveness by mezzo-soprano Ivana Milašinović—were particularly well received.
Award for Stanko Šepić
The organizers decided to award only the First Prize this year—20,000 dinars.
The jury, consisting of Biserka Cvejić (president), Dejan Despić, and Konstantin Babić, selected Stanko Šepić (1941) as the winner for his song Longing—a profoundly emotional work that faithfully reflects the composer’s poetic and musical language.
Concert of Sacred Music
Alongside the competition premieres, the festival included several additional high-quality performances.
In the Orthodox Church of St. John the Baptist in Vranjevo, the Mixed Choir of the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, conducted by Boris Chernogubov, presented a distinguished program of sacred music by Serbian and Russian composers.
On the final day, the Children’s Chamber Choir of Novi Bečej performed under the direction of music teacher Sofija Jegdić, who demonstrated remarkable skill in working with young singers. Their concert was enriched by guest appearances from renowned interpreter of old urban songs and romances Dubravka Nešović, along with collaborators Tatjana Drobni, Daniel Mesaroš, and Đerđ Kovač.
The festival concluded with a concert by the Academic Chamber Choir and the Novi Sad Chamber Orchestra (concertmaster Florijan Balaž). Conductors Bogdan Đaković and Andrej Bursać led selections from The Angelic Greeting to the Mother of God – Annunciation (Bogorodice djevo – Ave Maria), featuring soprano Valentina Milenković and tenor Saša Petrović. The concept and direction of this joint production were by Hadži Zoran Lazin.
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