Seventh edition of Rossi Fest
January 27 - February 1, 2023. Belgrade
At the end of January, the Belgrade audience will be expecting the seventh edition of the international Rossi Fest, in which, from January 27 to February 1, 2024, various programs with excellent foreign and domestic artists will be held in the Jewish Cultural Center, Dorćol Platz and the Jewish Hall municipality of Belgrade.
Rossi Fest - winner of the "Classical Music" award in the festival of the year category!
21. 03. 2023. Belgrade
On Tuesday, March 21, at the Museum of the National Theater in Belgrade, the annual awards of the "Classical Music" revue were held for the eleventh time. Rossi Fest was declared the best festival in 2022.
The "Classical Music" award was established in 2010 when the first "Classical Music" magazine issue was published. It was designed to recognize domestic artists, festivals, publishers, critics, music institutions, and media, who have left the most significant mark on the domestic music scene within the calendar year.
The sixth edition of Rossi Fest
January 27th - February 6th 2023
European premiere of the lost oratorio Ester,
works by young composers and lectures by musicologists
ROSSI FEST
Rossi Fest is an international music festival, named by the famous Jewish-Italian composer Salomone Rossi (ca.1570-1630). Rossi was a transitional figure between the late Italian Renaissance and early Baroque. His musical style was compound between a classical Renaissance and Jewish traditional texts, written in Hebrew. This combination makes him unique among Baroque composers. One of the most well-known is a famous collection of Jewish liturgical music, Hashirim asher leShlomo (The Songs of Solomon), published in 1623.
Having in mind the nature of Rossi’s work and his contribution to music history, the main objective of the festival is to focus on an intercultural dialog by promoting the respect for diversity and embraces a unique heritage of Jewish, European and Serbian repertoire of the highest musical, artistic and poetic quality. Allowing musicians to evolve through joint musical performances, workshops, advisory sessions and the choice of venues. In these terms, Rossi fest is committed to music education for all ages, young to adult.
One of many advantages of this concept is the possibility for all singers to perform in excellent choral ensembles appropriate to their interest and abilities. Meanwhile, music professionals can benefit from resources that help them increase their musical and leadership skills toward their own pursuit of excellence. Rossi Fest, conceived as an innovative and dynamic multicultural musical event, has inspiring passion for learning in its core, and provides a necessary foundation for achievement and success.
Intended to be among future leaders of Belgrade’s cultural events and committed to musical education and implementation of quality in performance, this Festival will also be involved in the life of a wider community, both local and international. Festival will raise awareness through partnerships with various ensembles, music organizations and individuals. This in order for all people to have same, equally designed opportunities in musical learning and education.
This project among other things, offers to prepare artists and other participants for new opportunities and contemporary challenges. Hopefully, sharing together our experience and enthusiasm, Rossi Fest has a chance to become a significant contributor for all groups and individuals to meet the artistic challenges of the future.
FESTIVAL DIRECTOR
Stefan Zekić
CONDUCTOR
Founder and director of Rossi Fest. Graduated from the University of Arts, Faculty of Music in Belgrade, in two departments: conducting and solo singing. Additional education includes trainings and workshops with the most prominent european conductors, such as: Uros Lajovic (AU), Michael Sheck (BE), Andrew Parrott (UK), and Max Frey (GE). Currently, he's pursuing Phd at the University of Arts in Belgrade in the field of opera conducting. He began conducting at the age of 17 and since 2006 he’s the chief conductor of the Baruch Brothers Choir. He’s a founder and artistic director of the ensemble for early music Canticum Novum, and is the conductor of the Jewish chamber orchestra. Since the season 2009/10 he’s engaged at the National Theatre of Belgrade where his first performance was Le nozze di Figaro (W. A. Mozart). In 2014. he became the chief conductor of the Opera studio of the National Theatre and successfully performed two premieres - Die Zauberflote and Bastien und Bastienne. He also performed a notable concerts in cooperation with many different ensembles such as Madrigal Choir and Symphony Orchestra of University of Arts in Belgrade, Vocal Ensemble Oktoih, Musica (Slovenia), Vocal Ensemble Marienhain (Germany), St. George Royal Strings, Jewish Chamber Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra Stanislav Binički, Montenegro Symphony orchestra, etc. Stefan Zekic won numerous national and international rewards at the prestige festivals and competition, as well as special reward of the state of Israel for a remarkable contribution to strengthening Israel-Serbia relations. Among the prominent artists he has collaborated with are Oscar-winner Jiří Menzel, John Ramster, Martin Evans, Olga Makarina, István Székely, Eraldo Salmieri, Claudia Eder and others.
ARTISTIC COMMITTE
Zoran Erić
COMPOSER, PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BELGRADE
Full-time professor of Composition at the University of Arts, Faculty of Music in Belgrade, rector of the University of Arts in Belgrade. He earned his BA and MA degrees in Composing (professor Stanojlo Rajičić) at the Faculty of Music, Belgrade, and specialized at the Orf University in Salzburg, as well as on V. Lutoslavski`s masterclass in Grožnjan. His opus includes works of different genres, ensembles and soloists, such as: balets Banović Strahinja and Jelisaveta, Slovo Siluana for baritone, women’s choir and tape, then Off, Cartoon, Talea Konzertstück, The Great Red Spot of Jupiter, Abnormalni udarci Dogona (Abnormal punches of Dogon), Helium u maloj kutiji (Helium in a small box), Nisam govorio (I didn’t speak), Oberon, Six scenes-comments, Ko je ubio galeba (Who killed seagull), Sedam pogleda u nebo (Seven looks into the sky) and more. Special place in his opus takes theater and film music that he created in collaboration with notable theater and film makers. He’s the winner of numerous rewards and recognitions. Additionally he was the artistic director and selektor of various music festivals (BEMUS and others), and currently is the president of the Executive Board of Serbian music copyright agency SOKOJ.
Ana Stefanović
MUSICOLOGIST, PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BELGRADE
Full-time professor at the University of Arts, Faculty of Music in Belgrade and associate Researcher at IreMus, Paris. She earned her MA degree at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade and her PhD in musicology at the Paris-Sorbonne University (Université Paris-Sorbonne, Paris IV). Main areas of her research are: baroque opera, solo song, relation between music and text, as well as questions of musical style and stylistic analysis.
She is also the author of six volumes of The Anthology of Serbian Art Song (Belgrade, UKS, 2008-2014), books La musique comme métaphore, La relation de la musique et du texte dans l’opéra baroque français: de Lully à Rameau, (Paris, L’Harmattan, 2006), Temporality and Narrativity in Music Drama (Belgrade, FMU, 2017), along with a large number of studies and articles published in reviews for musicology and music theory. Prof. Stefanović organized various international conferences in the field of music theory and is the author of various collections of papers in the field of music theory.
Branka Cvejić-Mezei
DIRECTOR OF THE BARUH BROTHERS CHOIR, DIRECTOR OF BELGRADE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA IN RETIREMENT
Most of her career her held the leading positions in cultural institutions in Serbia. She graduated Flute and Piano at the Faculty of Music, Belgrade, where she also earned her MA degree. Her specialization she did in Paris at the École Normale de Musique, where she receives a diploma Licence de concertes. Since 1971 she was a full-time member of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, firstly as a soloist (first flute), and in 1988 she’s becoming the direct where she’ll stay for 12 years. Later she’ll become a deputy director at the National Theater in Belgrade (2000-2001), and then filled the role of coordinator and counselor on cultural and humanitarian matters within Karic Foundation (2001-2006).
Ladislav Mezei
VIOLONCELLIST, PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BELGRADE
Full-time professor at the Chamber Music Department of the Faculty of Music in Belgrade, where he earned his BA and MA degrees. Specialization he did at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. His extensive artistic biography includes two seasons playing as a solo cellist of Sarajevo Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra, full-time membership in Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra and lead cellist position (1975–2004), then solo performances with Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra, Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra, RTS Symphony Orchestra, Military Orchestra of Yugoslavia and more. He was a soloist and member of baroque ensemble Muzika Florida and academic chamber ensemble Ensemble Jeunesse Musicale. Among his performances stands out the Millenium Gala Concert in NY Lincoln Center in 1999. He is a permanent associate at the orchestra Camerata Serbica, as well as the member of Pancevo string quartet (today: Arco String Quartet). He’s the founder of Jewish Chamber Orchestra, with which he has made a large number of performances. The string quartet TAJJ, whose member mr. Mezei is, became in 2005 the first quartet that earned an MA degree at the Faculty of Music, Belgrade.
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