On Sunday, 22 April, Savremena’s students enjoyed a beautiful musical performance at the Kolarac Endowment, given by the Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra and the Signum Saxophone Quartet led by the British conductor Timothy Redmond. The students were particularly impressed by the exquisite rendition of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue by the special guest at the concert, the famous pianist Matija Dedić.

Together with their music teacher Tamara Rajinac and other fans and connoisseurs of music, the students shared the pleasure of listening to these contemporary artists perform the best-known pieces by Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin.

Celebration of two anniversaries alongside famous compositions

The overture to the two-hour concert was played by the Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra, which performed three dance episodes from the musical On the Town by Leonard Bernstein, under the guidance of conductor Timothy Redmond, regular guest conductor with the London Symphony Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra, which has performed around 100 concerts under the current name since 2011, amazed the audience from the very first bars.

Next to perform on the stage of the Kolarac Endowment was the Signum Saxophone Quartet from Keln, with Rhythm of the Americas. The Belgrade audience brought this extraordinary brass ensemble comprising college-day colleagues Blaž Kemperle, Eric Nestler, Alan Luzar and Guerino Bellarosa back to the stage for two encores. Savremena’s students and the rest of the audience were particularly delighted to hear Alan Luzar thank them for their hospitality and cordiality in fluent Serbian.

In the second part of the concert, the Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra and pianist Matija Dedić conveyed the beauty of the composition Rhapsody in Blue. The famous pianist, who comes from a musical family, started playing piano at the age of 5 and subsequently had many musical achievements and performances in the world’s biggest venues. He caught the eye of music aficionados in 2004 when he released the album Tempera, with twelve songs penned by Gibonni, and in the following year after releasing Second Revision, an album containing the most popular compositions of his father Arsen Dedić.

At the end of this unforgettable concert, Savremena’s students enjoyed the orchestra’s final piece, Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture.

Celebrating music and culture at International School Savremena

Although Savremena’s students had already listened to these tunes in music lessons, they were particularly happy to hear them in such an environment and performed by such musicians.

The students were also pleased to hear that, with this visit, they participated in the celebration of two anniversaries: the 100th anniversary of the birth of Leonard Bernstein and the 120th anniversary of the birth of George Gershwin, two American composers who defined the music scene of the 20th century.

The students left the Kolarac Endowment with great impressions, while the vivacious jazz melodies incited them to attend such events on a regular basis in the future.