On Saturday, December 3, in the large hall of the Kolarac endowment from 8 p.m., as part of the project of the Swiss organization “Forgerons du Rêve”, the string orchestra of the School for Musical Talents from Ćuprija and the soprano Coline Infante from France will perform. In addition to a rich repertoire with works by Mendelssohn, Bologne, Gounod, Bartók and Tchaikovsky, the young artists will premiere in French the new works of the composer and creator of this project, Maya Le Roux Obradović – Proverbs and Superstitions and Bazaar of the Four Winds, for which the artist wrote the music and lyrics, and Ave Maria, whose lyrics were written by Frans Magois Leloux.
Versatile and dedicated to works of art, the author Maya Le Roux Obradović describes her idea for establishing and organizing this project as a musical meeting of young artists with the words: “As a composer living in Belgrade, the desire to create an artistic symbiosis between young artists awoke, and it turned into a project that means as much to me as working with young people on musical works”. The artist studied guitar with Alberto Ponce in Paris and Dagobert Linares in Lausanne, for many years she has been intensively engaged in composing, trying to make the musical expression tonal, romantic, often under the influence of the Balkan musical heritage. Among her highly noted works, two concerts for guitar and string orchestra stand out, of which the Concerto Sud-Atlantique, premiered at the Geneva event “Festival de guitar de Versoix”, where the young guitarist Vojin Kocić performed as a soloist. In September of this year in Novi Sad, her work for mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, cello, flute and piano – Dositej Obradović, commissioned by the Foundation “Novi Sad – Capital of Culture 2022” was especially noted. In addition to pieces of classical music, she is also the author of music for two films, and based on her piece Little Suite for a Prince for solo guitar, inspired by Saint Exupéry’s novella The Little Prince, a play was made that was performed in four languages in five countries. On that occasion, in 2012, the Ministry of Culture of France awarded Maya Le Roux Obradović with the Order of Knight of Arts and Letters.
The audience will have the opportunity to hear the works of this artist performed by soprano Coline Infante, as well as by the string orchestra of the School for Musical Talents from Ćuprija, led by Dragan Mirčić. Those who follow art music know that this educational institution, whose artistic director is the cellist Srđan Sretenović, a professor at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade, has a status of special national importance. Gathering the most talented students from Serbia, the lecturers are trying to nurture quality generations who will be able to continue the tradition and top performance skills. Therefore, this concert evening promises a high-quality performance, filled with the spirit of youth, especially as soprano Coline Infante will be presented together with the students. She regularly participates as a performer and organizer of concerts in famous Parisian concert halls, including the halls of Radio France, Cortot, Champs-Élysées Theater, Châtelet Theater and other. This young artist has been noticed in various projects throughout France, with large orchestras and smaller ensembles, which aim to popularize and promote classical music. It is interesting to note that she began her musical education by studying piano and cello, but because of her great love for opera, she eventually decided to sing solo. The award for young talents at the “Alain Fondary” competition allowed her to study for a master’s degree at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London, in the class of Kathleen Livingston and Iain Ledingham. So far, she has performed the role of Norina in Gaetano Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s operas: Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Despina in Thus Do They All. Special attention is also drawn to her interest in contemporary music, thanks to which she collaborated with composers Bruno Coulais, Benoît Menut, Omar Yagoubi, Philippe Hersant.
This concert evening will be filled with the spirit of youthful energy, pure, new inspiration interwoven with innovative musical works. If you would like to attend this concert evening – admission is free, and you can pick up your tickets at the box office of the Kolarac Foundation, which is located at Studentski trg 5, in Belgrade.
Author: Katarina Georgijević