ABOUT
Sombor Music Evenings , the first of its kind in Serbia and older brother of BEMUS, NOMUS and NIMUS, was founded in the fall of 1961 at the iniative of the pianist Dusan Trbojevic ( 1925-2011) and Dragoslav Mitrovic, the principal of the Music School „Petar Konjovic“ in Sombor. Since 1962, always in April, a well-known native artists were present at the Sombor musical scene: pianists Olivera Djurdjevic, Darinka Mihailovic, Andreja Preger, bass Miroslav Cangalovic, soprano Ljiljana Molnar, violinists Aleksandar Pavlovic and Tripo Simonuti. Among many orchestras, the most memorable is the concert of the Belgrade Philharmonic conducted by maestro Zivojin Zdravkovic. Along with native musicians, there were foreign guests performing solo or with chamber orchestras: Lubov Timofeeva (Russia), Vladimir Krainev (Russia), Igor Lazko (Russia), Jerome Lowenthal (USA).
Enlightenment as the guiding idea of Dusan Trbojevic, was extremely advanced for the 60s of the last century, and it is still used today in the greatest world music institutions. Rapproaching classical music to the audience was the purpose of numerous educational manifestations that followed the main festival program: master-classes, artists visits to grammar schools and high-schools, where by presenting the repertoire and the ways of listening to the music, they prepared students for the evening concerts. Diverse approaches to classical music and the authority of Dusan Trbojevic made Sombor, in those years at end of April, a center of musical scene in the three regions: Serbia, Croatia and Hungary. In those days, Sombor had its own philharmonic orchestra that actively participated in the festival’s program.
Unfortunately, as all manifestations that rely too much on the enthusiasm of an individual, Sombor Musical Evenings started to lose its splendor once professor Trbojevic, due to his professional, artistic and pedagogical obligations, handed the organization of the Festival to the Music School and the City of Sombor. The festival shut down in the 80s of the last century.
SOMUS - Sombor Music Festival 2012-2023 Inspired by the enlightening character of the first classical music festival in the former Yugoslavia, I am launching an initiative to establish a new classical music festival, SOMUS - Sombor Music Festival. With five concert nights, the first SOMUS brings together different musical genres and concert practices in the context of contemporary festival trends. From 2012-2023, in its first eleven years, SOMUS moves the boundaries from local to regional and international: on the stages of the National Theater, the City Hall, the County Hall, the hall of the Sokolski dom and the hall of the newly opened Cultural Center, audiences from Sombor, but also from all over Serbia comes and listens to artists such as: Nemanja Radulović, Stefan Milenković, Aleksandar Madžar, Rita Kinka, Mate Bekavac, Irena Grafenauer, William Hagen, David Castro-Balbi, Mairead Hickey, Santiago Canon-Valencia, Ivan Karizna, Simon Trpčeski, Katarina Jovanović, Dejan Sinadinović, Ljubiša Jovanović, Kemal Gekić, Edin Karamazov, Lidija and Sanja Bizjak, Ratimir Martinović, Ognjen Popović, Belgrade Philharmonic Quartet, "Borislav Pašćan" Philharmonic Orchestra, "Camerata Academica" from Novi Sad, Symphony Orchestra of the Academy of Arts from Novi Sad, choirs "Collegium Musicum", "Orfelin", AKUD "Lola", Viva vox or "Dekor" from Ljubljana.
In addition to big names, SOMUS also establishes new cycles that follow the idea of enlightenment by Dušan Trbojević: the cycle for the youngest "Children's corner", "Carte blanche" for our most important living composers and evenings dedicated to artists from the genres of musical creation closest to classical music such as jazz. In those cycles, Sombor hosted artists such as: Isidora Žebeljan, Ivana Stefanović, Dejan Despić, Aleksandra Vrebalov, Bojan Zulfikarpasić, Vasil Hadzimanov, Julien Lourau, Kralj Čačka, an unforgettable evening of sevdah in the "arrangement" of Mate Bekavac... and for children there are, performed and prepared together with them, the works: Carnival of the Animals, Peter and the Wolf, Debussy's Toy Box, Poulenc's Babar with narrators Zijah Sokolović, Marko Marković, Branislav Jerković, Milica Janeski...
In addition to the regular program, SOMUS also organizes piano master classes led by Jokut Mihailović and prominent pedagogue Jacques Rouvier. In addition to including large works of the classical music in the repertoire, SOMUS also deals with the discovery or promotion of newer music to its audience, so during the first ten years the works of: O. Golijov, P. Vasks, V. Silvestrov, M. Arnold, K. Azmeh were performed. , D. Tabakov, J. Taverner, E. Esenvalds, N. Ostojić, I. Jevtić, J.K. Marković, N.J. Živković and others... The festival is regularly covered by the most respected journalists in the field of classical music, both on national radio and television stations, and in print media. For the most popular concerts, additional chairs are brought into the concert halls and on the stage, and the festival also received the award "Festival of Regional Importance" from the most prestigious classical music magazine "Muzika Klasika" in 2017.