One of the first mixed choirs in the Balkans

The Niš Church Choral Society “Branko” was founded on 1 September 1887 at the Cathedral in Niš, less than a decade after the city's liberation from the Turks. Its founders included Bishop Dimitrije Pavlović of Niš, mayor Todor Milovanović, professors Stevan Nikšić Lala, Spira Kalik and Bogoljub Tirić, and army doctor Aleksandar Zajček. The Society took the name of Branko Radičević, whose verse and patriotism were close to its mission: to serve the Church through song, preserve national memory and enrich the cultural life of the city.

Originally founded as a male choir, “Branko” grew over time into a mixed ensemble. It brought together people of different professions and social backgrounds, united by their love of faith and music. Members were expected to be “musical and pious”, to cooperate and respect one another. Besides cultivating sacred and secular song, the Society encouraged musical education, solidarity and companionship, and its early conductors included Stevan Nikšić, Bohumil Svoboda, Vojtěch Šístek, Vićentije Petrik and Milutin Tatić...

The centre of the Society's life was the Cathedral. The choir sang regularly at liturgies, feast-day services, weddings, funerals and memorial services. Its repertoire included works by Kornelije Stanković, Stevan Mokranjac and Russian composers, while at concerts it also performed patriotic songs, rukoveti and arrangements of folk melodies. Works dedicated to the choir itself were also written in this setting: Bohumil Svoboda composed the Society's anthem to Branko's verses “Sing, brother, let the mountain ring, with song heal the Serb's wounds”, and in 1891 Vojtěch Šístek wrote the music for the song “Oj, Srbijo”, which soon became very popular.

From its earliest years, “Branko” was an active participant in the public life of Niš. It performed at charity concerts for poor pupils, supported humanitarian and educational undertakings and worked with the “Sinđelić” Theatre. The Society took part in marking important civic and national events, and it was under its auspices that the initiative to protect the Skull Tower (Ćele Kula) and to erect a monument to Stevan Sinđelić on Čegar was launched.

A special place in the choir's history belongs to the unusual “electric concerts” held in 1894 and 1895 between Belgrade and Niš. Thanks to a telephone line, audiences could listen to music from another city - at a time when the telephone was still an almost unknown invention to most people. “Branko” performed from the “Evropa” in Niš, while musicians gathered at the “Kolarac” in Belgrade. Large horns served as loudspeakers and smaller ones as microphones. For the second concert, tickets and postage stamps bearing the image of Nikola Tesla were printed, and he was sent a formal invitation made on silk.

The Society's reputation was also confirmed by its ties with the Serbian royal court. At the consecration of its flag on 1 January 1900, in the presence of King Aleksandar Obrenović, King Milan stood as godfather. The flag and the Society's diploma were designed by Stevan Nikšić, combining the image of Branko Radičević and poetic and musical symbols with motifs of the Cathedral and the Skull Tower.

Cherishing the memory of those who devoted their efforts to the life of the choir, the Society wished to preserve their names permanently in the church where they had sung. At the session of the Society's Board on 17 September 1913, member Jovan Mitić's proposal was accepted to set a marble plaque into the wall of the Cathedral, on which the names of deceased regular members of “Branko” would be inscribed.

The plaque was unveiled and consecrated in December of the same year, as part of the celebrations marking 1600 years of the Edict of Milan. Handing it over to the Church, the president of the Society said:

“The Niš Church Choral Society ‘Branko’ has, from its foundation (1887) to this day - a full 26 years - glorified the Most High Creator with church song in this holy church every Sunday and feast day without interruption. Its members, who with their sweet chant raised the devout souls of Christians to God, have earned that their names remain engraved after death on the memorial plaque which our Society, with the blessing of Your Grace, has erected in the Cathedral of Niš. On behalf of the Society ‘Branko’, entrusting this memorial plaque to your keeping, we ask Your Grace to be so kind as to consecrate it today. May it be a bright memory of our departed members, and for future generations an incentive and an example of how devotedly one should serve God and one's people.”

The Society's last recorded performance before the Bulgarian occupation of Niš was in June 1915, at the patron saint's day of the 16th Infantry Regiment “Tsar Nicholas” in Medoševac. For the beautifully performed concert, Crown Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević presented the choir with a gold coin - a gold napoléon. The board decided that this gift would be the first contribution towards the planned building of a Branko House in Niš.

Thus, already in the first decades, the foundations were laid of what “Branko” has remained throughout its history: a community gathered around the church and song, devoted to faith, art and its people. Between services and concert performances, charitable undertakings and meetings with other choirs, the Society connected people and preserved the memory of those who built it. Each new generation faced the same pledge - to preserve the song received from their predecessors and pass it on.