Niš, Serbia
Choral Society “Branko”
- Conductor Sara Cincarević
- First evening 23 June 2013
- Festival Music Edict 2013
The “Branko” Church Choral Society of Niš was founded on 1 September 1887 at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Niš. The choir is named after the famous poet of Serbian Romanticism, Branko Radičević. For a full 125 years it has sung without interruption with the Bishop of Niš and the clergy in the Niš Cathedral. From the long and turbulent history of the choir we single out its tours across the Balkans between the two World Wars, which spread the fame of Serbian choral music. In that period the choir received the Order of St Sava of the third degree, the ducat of King Alexander Karađorđević and the society banner of King Peter II Karađorđević. After the Second World War the “Branko” choir shared the catacomb fate of the Serbian Church and for more than 40 years was outside public life, but it never stopped its basic mission - singing at the services. In the 1990s the ensemble was completely renewed. Over the last 20 years the choir has performed in Germany, Greece, Italy, Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Russia, Slovenia, the Republic of Srpska, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Belgium, Poland, the Czech Republic, the USA, Canada and Israel. It has taken part in many international festivals and won many awards, among them the International Festival of Orthodox Chant in Minsk, Belarus (Grand Prix), the Days of Church Music in Hajnówka, Poland (Grand Prix) and the Mokranjac Days in Negotin (1st place in the competition at the 40th Mokranjac Days), and it has sung at festivals in Rotenburg and Marktoberdorf. The choir was blessed to sing at the enthronement of two Serbian Patriarchs in Peć - Patriarch Pavle and Patriarch Irinej. It holds the Order of St Sava of the second degree, the Order of the Holy Apostle Paul of the Greek Church and the Order of the Holy Emperor Constantine. Since 2009 the “Branko” Church Choral Society has organised the festival of sacred music “Music Edict” in Niš, where 35 ensembles from 9 countries have performed in the past two editions. The “Branko” choir has twice been the guest of the Glinka Choir Capella and its celebrated conductor Vladislav Chernushenko, most recently in April 2012, when it gave a full-length concert at the Glinka Capella.
Conductor
Sara Cincarević
Sara Cincarević was born in Prizren into a family of priests, and received her first musical education in the same town. She finished the “Mokranjac” secondary music school in Belgrade in 1983; her further education was not in music. She conducted the children's choir in Đakovica and the junior choir of the First Belgrade Choral Society. She has conducted the “Branko” Church Choral Society since 1990, performing with it at many festivals and giving concerts in more than 20 countries. After the choir won the Grand Prix in Hajnówka, she became a permanent member of the jury of that festival.
Programme
- Holy Is the Lord Our God - from the All-Night Vigil by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
- Our Father - Nikolai Kedrov Sr (1871-1940)
- To Thy Cross - P. Goncharov
- We Praise Thee - from the Liturgy by Stanislav Binički
- I Think of the Dreadful Day - A. Arkhangelsky
- Prayer of Repentance - Vladimir Milosavljević
- To Thee, the Champion Leader - Stevan St. Mokranjac (1856-1914)
- Paschal Troparia - Grebenshchikov, Vasilyev, soloists: Marijana Radosavljević, soprano; Jovana Miladinović, alto; Mario Petrović, tenor; Marko Milanović, tenor; Archpriest Zoran Filipović, baritone
