The Ilija Milosavljević Kolarac Endowment solemnly celebrated its jubilee – 145 years of existence and the feast day of Saint Michael the Archangel in the Concert Hall of this cultural institution.
The ceremony began with the cutting of the feast cake, in the presence of clergymen, after which the Board plaques for outstanding contribution to the programme activity and the Annual Gallery Award of the Kolarac Endowment were presented.
The plaque was awarded to the art music festival BEMUS – Belgrade Music Festival, the oldest and most important festival in Serbia.
On 7 October 1969, 55 years ago, the first BEMUS concert was held at the Kolarac Endowment, where the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra performed with conductor Živojin Zdravković and Soviet violinist Irina Bochkova. From then until the new 55th BEMUS, 562 concerts were held at Kolarac, where many symphony orchestras, choirs, chamber ensembles, and soloists performed. Due to the large attendance, BEMUS has been organized at several locations, but the Kolarac Endowment has been traditionally reserved for the most important events, such as the sold-out concerts of British violinist Nigel Kennedy and Russian pianist Boris Berezovsky in October this year.
Damir Handanović, director of the Belgrade Festivals Centre – CEBEF, which is the organizer and producer of BEMUS, expressed his satisfaction that for 55 years since the foundation of BEMUS, the concerts had mostly been held at Kolarac.
‘The BEMUS festival itself had its ups and downs over the decades, but our concerts at Kolarac were always packed, what is a great success. I hope that we will continue our successful cooperation and I wish the Kolarac Endowment many more birthdays to celebrate,’ said Handanović.
The winners of the plaque are the Belgrade Music Festival (BEMUS) and the Institute of Physics, while the artist Marija Ćalić is the laureate of the Annual Gallery Award for the best solo exhibition in the 2022/2023 season, for the exhibition ‘Black Sun’.
(Belgrade, Tanjug, 21 November)
