Women’s Vocal Ensemble ZIMA: A Love of Choral Singing and a Diversity of Musical Styles

The Women’s Vocal Ensemble ZIMA from Bar was formed as an extension of the long-standing work of a choral studio that has been active for eleven years. The ensemble currently brings together seven singers and is led by conductor Varvara Loyko.

The ensemble’s distinctive feature is the diversity of its repertoire, which includes contemporary music, sacred works, and classical compositions from different periods. As Varvara Loyko explains, working with a variety of musical styles contributes to shaping and developing the ensemble’s collective sound. Every period and musical tradition has its own distinctive sound. It is not enough simply to enjoy and listen to this music — one must learn how to reproduce its stylistic characteristics. Achieving this can sometimes require painstaking work on one’s own performance habits. The repertoire is selected with consideration for the singers’ own musical preferences and the works that inspire them.

Choral experience is an important part of the ensemble’s collaborative work. Singing in a choir over many years develops the ability to listen to other voices and blend with them into a unified sound — a quality that this seven-member ensemble continues to cultivate.

In a television interview ahead of the concert at the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts, Varvara Loyko spoke about the formation of the ensemble, its repertoire, the singers’ experience, and plans for future projects. Among the ensemble’s upcoming plans is participation in the international festival Darovi Božića, organised in Bar by the ZIMA Choral Studio for the fourth time. In December, the ensemble will perform together with Norwegian organist Andrey Mirgorodski.