Concert on an open stage

Hello to all our friends and supporters! Today we have joyful news to share. Our choir “Zima” held a wonderful concert on the Bar waterfront to raise funds for the choir’s festival and competition appearances. We want to tell you everything that happened and thank everyone who was with us.

Atmosphere and performance

Our performance drew the attention of many passers-by near the “Ciao” pizzeria. In the circle that formed around our improvised stage were people from Bar’s musical and community life, many local residents on holiday, and foreign tourists. We sang Russian and Ukrainian popular songs, as well as melodies that pioneers used to sing in the former USSR. That stirred special emotions among older audience members.

We also performed Montenegrin folk songs, arrangements of S. S. Mokranjac’s “Rukoveti”, “Devojko mala” by Darko Kraljić (in the version by Predrag Ivanović’s Quartet from the film “Love and Fashion”), and “Hallelujah” from Leonard Cohen’s repertoire.

Audience reaction and improvisation

The waterfront concert went well. The audience responded wonderfully — they danced with us, sang along, and had fun. The program changed on the fly: people asked for songs from our childhood, so there was plenty of improvisation 🙂

Why we did this

We performed on an open stage today because we are raising money to take part in two important festivals. The first is in Niš in July — the Choir Celebrations — and the second is the famous Mokranjac Days in Negotin in September. The organizers of these festivals appreciated our work and provided accommodation and meals, but we need to raise the money for tickets ourselves.

We are honored by the invitation to the Negotin event, which has been held since 1966 in honor of the renowned Mokranjac, and where the most famous choirs of former Yugoslavia have performed.

Choir ZIMA

Our choir is the choir of Bar. Our members include local residents and people from a dozen other countries, of different nationalities and faiths. We sing in several languages and perform sacred, secular, and popular music.

Thank you to everyone who came to our concert and supported us! We truly hope for your continued support and look forward to new meetings!

Varvara Loyko,

Director of Choir “Zima”