{"id":9665,"date":"2023-01-27T17:02:23","date_gmt":"2023-01-27T17:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rossifest.estrela.io\/?page_id=9665"},"modified":"2026-11-02T23:57:35","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T23:57:35","slug":"en-koncert-portreti-i-secanja-2023","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/rossifest.estrela.io\/en\/rossi-fest\/en-2023\/en-koncert-portreti-i-secanja-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Portraits and remembrance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Rossi Fest 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concert: Portraits and Remembrance<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

The Letters of Hilda Daj\u010d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday, 27 January 2023, 8 PM \u00b7 Atrium of the National Museum<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Composers<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gavin Sol Goodrich<\/strong>, Lazar Mari\u0107, Zach Gulaboff Davis, Lazar \u0110or\u0111evi\u0107<\/a>, Bracha Bdil<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Director<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ana Grigorovi\u0107<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"Portraits<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Date<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday, 27 January 2023<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Time<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8 PM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Venue<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Atrium of the National Museum<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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About the concert<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On Friday, 27 January, the sixth edition of the festival opened with what is now a traditional Rossi Fest concert \u2013 Portraits and Remembrance \u2013 marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the acoustic setting of the Atrium of the National Museum, filled to capacity, the fantastic Aratos Trio<\/a> performed works by the five finalists of the competition of the same name \u2013 Gavin Sol Goodrich<\/strong> (USA), Lazar Mari\u0107<\/strong> (Serbia), Zach Gulaboff Davis<\/strong> (USA, Macedonia), Lazar \u0110or\u0111evi\u0107<\/a><\/strong> (Serbia) and Bracha Bdil<\/a><\/strong> (Israel).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The works from this year’s edition of the competition brought different musical interpretations of the life story of Hilda Daj\u010d, which we learn about from the letters she sent to friends before and during her time in the Staro Sajmi\u0161te camp. She was a young Jewish woman from Belgrade who volunteered to work as a nurse in the Staro Sajmi\u0161te camp, where she perished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The artistic director of the event, stage director Ana Grigorovi\u0107<\/a><\/strong>, conceived the concert with actress Jelena Puzi\u0107<\/a><\/strong> as Hilda Daj\u010d \u2013 present on stage throughout, in authentic costume and the setting of an old-fashioned room \u2013 reading selected letters before and between the pieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concert was held in cooperation with the Staro Sajmi\u0161te Memorial Centre, with the support of the Sabataj Buki Finci Jewish Cultural and Humanitarian Fund, the Jewish Community of Belgrade, the Ministry of Culture and Information, the Vlatacom Institute, Teri Engineering, the Italian Cultural Centre and the National Theatre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Portraits and Remembrance is one of the core programme segments of Rossi Fest. The concert, held on 27 January to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, is the result of the composers’ competition of the same name, founded with the festival’s first edition. Over the years we have been glad to follow applications from young composers all over the world, who have approached this theme in many different ways.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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From the open call<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Countries<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Selected works<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Programme<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Gavin Sol Goodrich<\/strong> USA<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hilda and Mirjana\u2019s Last Encounter<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aratos Trio<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Lazar Mari\u0107<\/strong> Serbia<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cry of Hilda Daj\u010d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aratos Trio<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Zach Gulaboff Davis<\/strong> USA, Macedonia<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfurl<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aratos Trio<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Lazar \u0110or\u0111evi\u0107<\/a><\/strong> Serbia<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Letters from Semlin<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

for violin, clarinet and piano<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aratos Trio<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Bracha Bdil<\/a><\/strong> Israel<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Metamorphosis on the Theme of Hava Nagila<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aratos Trio<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Composers and works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\"Gavin.jpeg\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Gavin Sol Goodrich<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Gavin Sol Goodrich<\/strong> is a composer and concert pianist. Hailing from Washington State, his works have been performed by Ekmeles, International Contemporary Ensemble, and Vibraphone Project Inc. He graduated from Columbia University with honors with degrees in mathematics and music. Under the advisement of Georg Friedrich Haas, his senior thesis focused on writing 15th-century polyphony in microtonal systems. He is currently working in Spain on a Fulbright grant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hilda and Mirjana\u2019s Last Encounter<\/p><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

I wrote this work when my mom was dying, after she lost her ability to speak, and all I could do was hold her hand in silence. This trio is my attempt at understanding Mirjana\u2019s thoughts as she met Hilda for the last time, knowing she was meeting a dying loved one and doing her best to comfort her without words. This piece is me trying to glimpse into one of the saddest moments of a stranger\u2019s life and attempting to see through my own grief by connecting with Mirjana\u2019s wordless goodbye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"\u041b\u0430\u0437\u0430\u0440-\u041c\u0430\u0440\u0438\u045b_edited.jpg\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Lazar Mari\u0107<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Lazar Mari\u0107<\/strong> (2001) is a composition student at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade. He received his primary musical education at the “Stevan Hristi\u0107” music school in Kru\u0161evac. After that, he enrolled in the “Stevan Mokranjac” high school of music in Kraljevo in the instrumental department – majoring in piano. He graduates high school as the best student of his generation and he enrolls in composition studies at the Faculty of Music in the class of professor Dragan Latin\u010di\u0107. His pieces were performed at concerts and festivals, such as KoMA’17, KoMA’18, and FESTUM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cry of Hilda Daj\u010d<\/p><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The cry of Hilde Daj\u010d is an instrumental piece inspired by Hilda Daj\u010d letters in which she described the suffering of innocent civilians in a Nazi concentration camp. Through the sound of the clarinet, violin, and piano, as well as in complex compositional and technical procedures, all the suffering, perseverance, and personal struggle of a young Jewish woman are depicted. The description of the struggle of a young Jewish woman is reflected, both in terms of form, as well as on the harmonic-melodic level, which is the result of deep research into the sound possibilities of instruments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Zach_edited.jpg\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Zach Gulaboff Davis<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Described as \u201cbeautiful, lyrical\u201d and brimming with \u201cunexpected harmonic shifts,\u201d the music of Macedonian-American composer Zach Gulaboff Davis<\/strong> centers on the expressive and dramatic possibilities of compositional narrative. A 2023 MacDowell Fellow, Zach maintains an active schedule as a composer and collaborator across the globe. Zach has partnered with a plethora of organizations and performers ranging from NASA\u2019s Space Science Telescope Institute, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, to NYC\u2019s Apotheosis Opera, and has completed residencies at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Atlantic Center, Brevard Institute, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and Canada\u2019s Arcady Ensemble, most recently serving as the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Creative Fellow for Composition at Millay Arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfurl<\/p><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

This work was penned as a homage, honoring the remembrance of World War II while providing a ray of hope and optimism for a brighter future. It is my dream that this work serves not only as a marker of the past but inspires some small spark of hope for a trajectory toward peace. As the work unfolds, listen for changes in texture and character, eventually returning to a climax reminiscent of the opening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Lazar-DJordjevic-photo.jpg\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Lazar \u0110or\u0111evi\u0107<\/a><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Lazar Djordjevic<\/strong> was born in 1992 in Kragujevac. The compositions by Lazar Djordjevic were performed several times in the country and abroad. He was a participant in many festivals such as the International Review of Composers in Belgrade, Rossi fest, KOMA festival (for young authors), Festum, etc. For the composition Jednom sam negde \u010duo<\/em>… for clarinet, accordion, and string quartet (2016) he received an international award for the best composition at the contest New Serbian Music for the Accordion<\/em> at the International Festival of Accordions Eufonija. He is a prize-winner from the Stevan Hristic Foundation in 2015 and Josip Slavenski Foundation in 2017. He is the author of the first Serbian concerto for accordion and orchestra, which premiered in 2017. Lazar \u0110or\u0111evi\u0107<\/strong> is currently employed as an assistant at the Department of Music Theory at the Faculty of Music Arts in Belgrade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Letters from Semlin<\/p><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

for violin, clarinet and piano<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The piece Letters from Semlin<\/em> for violin, clarinet, and piano was composed at the end of 2022 and is dedicated to the Aratos Trio<\/a> and Rossi Fest. The main inspiration for the creation of the work was four letters written by Hilda Deich in December 1941. Letters assigned to friends Nada Novak and Mirjana Petrovi\u0107 are written evidence of the last months of the life of 20-year-old Hilda, who volunteered to work as a nurse in the camp at the Belgrade Sajmi\u0161te. The musical narrative follows the content of the letters, therefore four larger units can be discerned when it comes to the musical form. The idea of \u200b\u200bthe piece is to present the courage and humanity of young Hilda Deich through musical means and to once again revive the memory of the innocent victims of the Holocaust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Bracha.jpg\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Bracha Bdil<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Composer, conductor, and pianist has a Master’s degree in Music Education and Composition from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bracha was awarded the 2019-2020 ACUM Award, in Israel, won the first prize in the Wolf Durmashkin Composition Award, Germany (2018), and the first prize in the Yardena Alotin Composition Competition, Bar-Ilan University, Israel (2016). Her repertoire includes orchestral music, chamber, vocal and electronic music, as well as music for dance and theater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Metamorphosis of “Hava Nagila” (Let’s Rejoice)<\/p><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The work seems to follow the caricature of the writings of Hilda Daj\u010d, a Jewish girl, born in Belgrade, who perished in the Holocaust. Her first letter to her friend was optimistic as it was written the day before her exile to Sajmi\u0161te camp, as well as the presentation of the melody “Hava Nagila” in a dance klezmer style. The following letters, which are addressed to various friends, contain impressions of the difficult camp life, and in accordance with their content – the music also becomes more expressive and dramatic and sometimes sounds like a kind of prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the war, Hilda Daj\u010d volunteered for nursing services on her own initiative, served as a nurse in the Jewish hospital in Belgrade, and despite the despair and anxiety – continued her activities in the camp as well. Metamorphosis of “Hava Nagila” – as a tribute to Daj\u010d – strives to paint a portrait of memory interwoven with the hope, to perpetuate the Jewish-Hebrew heritage in an optimistic tone. Through the expressive variations, the dance melody alternately floats and rises and even signs the composition. Despite the many attempts at “final solutions” to the destruction of the Jewish nation \u2013 it is still alive, exists, and continues to draw its historical portrait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Performers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Instrumentalists<\/h3>\n\n\n\n