STEFAN MILENKOVIĆ, VIOLINIST I want Serbia to become a violin “super power” In Serbia we already have everything we need: talented students, experienced professors, successful, world-class artists. We just need to work actively
What are your profession- al plans? Although there is now a relative vacuum as a result of the pandemic, it is even more important for us to remain productive and creative. For the past two years I‘ve been a crea- tive ambassador of the Serbia Cre- ates national platform, and we have major plans for the next year, pri- marily in the context of empowering and networking the talented young- sters that Serbia has in abundance. Apart from this, the next steps in- clude taking on the role of artistic director of the new concert hall in Novi Sad. Then there‘s dedication to developing and strengthening the violin school in Serbia, harmonis- ing the most effective strategy for achieving that goal with our fan- tastic violin teachers. What needs to be done in Serbia when it comes to classical music and its de- velopment? I think we already have everything we need in Serbia: tal- ented students, experienced pro- fessors, successful, world-class art- ists. We just need to work actively to unify and maximise what we al- ready have, but first and foremost to work on the presentation of art- ists and the popularisation of clas- sical music, but also on the perfor- mance of musicians themselves and the creation of opportunities for our musicians to perform. In the end, what is very important is marketing and networking at the global level and promoting our national brand. Some countries do this in an organ- ised manner and thereby position themselves as a nursery of talent- ed musicians. In Serbia we have the preconditions to do something sim- ilar, and to achieve that which has always been my dream: Serbia as a little-big “superpower” of the violin!
to unify and maximise that O ne of the world‘s most successful violinists, the youngest gradu- ate of the University of Belgrade, a former lecturer at the prestigious Juilliard School, an artist of world renown with an enduring international ca- reer - Stefan Milenković decided to return to Serbia with his family and, as he says, realise his dream. How did you reach such an important – and certain- ly not easy – decision to re- turn to live in Serbia with your family? “When we asked ourselves some of the most important questions, all the conclusions led us to the same place: returning home. That‘s the re- sult of both a personal and profes- sional evolution, the realisation of a vision that I‘ve practically always had, but which simply had to reach maturity and critical mass. Howev- er, when we finally entered that dy- namic phase of decision-making it was an unstoppable torrent... The birth of our son, Nikola, certainly contributed to an even greater feel- ing that there‘s nothing more impor- tant than family, and that we simply have to provide him with an environ- ment in which he will to be able to grow up in the family system. That‘s how we grew up, and we consider it more natural for Nikola to also grow up in that way.
Serbia creates » Srbija stvara | 23
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