ABOUT US
Background
In 1912 the Serbian Singing Association was founded in Sombor (then Austro-Hungarian Empire) and in only two years it managed to organize a massive choral event and choral competition performance in 1914 with 1,500 singers.
In the 1920s it was renamed into South-Slavic Singing Association and had a highly important role in music life between the two World Wars. The WWII interrupted and ended its activity.
At the beginning of the 21st century there were several attempts to register and unite Serbian choirs but without significant results. In May 2017 the First Assembly of the SCA was held in Sombor – the historical chair of choral association – with the presence of 60 conductors from Serbia and abroad. Foundations were set for future work and choirs in the country registered.
Serbian Choral Association today has membership of around 120 choirs.
Activities and projects
- Seminars for Conductors, often within the framework of choral festivals in Serbia (Days of Mokranjac in Negotin);
- Youth Choral Festival since 2018, first in Sombor, then in Novi Sad (European Capital of Culture in 2022);
- National Youth Choir of Serbia founded in 2021
- Choir of Conductors
- Digital Choral Treasury
International activities
- SCA became a member of the European Choral Association-Europa Cantat in 2017.
- It organized auditions for World Youth Choir and Eurochor and helped participation of young singers from Serbia in these international projects.
National Youth Choir of Serbia
In summer 2021 a great wish and need of the Serbian Choral Association was fulfilled: the National Youth Choir was formed.
The mission of this choir is to assemble the most perspective young singers in a large choir, organize work-stays and concert performances, continuous training of its members and research work in the new and less represented choral repertoire, as well as to travel in the country and abroad.
For young singers this is also an opportunity to acquire new knowledge and experience, to meet new people and socialize with youth from different towns and areas.
Leaders of the choir are renowned experts in choral music. The main work form of the ensemble is a multi-day work stay that result in concerts in several towns. There are plans to participate in festivals abroad and do the exchange with youth choirs from other countries.
Membership in this choir is obtained through audition.
You may become a member if: you are born in Serbia, live or study there, or if you are of Serbian origin, but do not live there; if you are 16 to 25 years old, have a good voice, a wish to become a member of NOHS and are able to read music.
Conductors' Choir
The Conductors’ Choir was formed under the auspices of the SCA for two reasons:
- A need to form a specific medium-choir for training of choral conductors at seminars and other conductors’ events, where the members could both sing and conduct and in that way have an insight in all the problems and all aimed and achieved results from two angles;
- A need of conductors to sing in a good professional (skilled) choir, get to know, rehearse and perform demanding choral programmes, that are not possible to perform (at least not often) in amateur choirs.
The choir aims to step out of the mainstream repertoire, to explore practically one-to-one the possibilities of reaching some new repertoire contents applicable on the choral practice of every conductor-singer.
The Conductors’ Choir had its first performance during spontaneous sight-reading at the First General Assembly in May, 2017 in Sombor. It continued its work during Conductors’ Seminars in the framework of the most prominent choral festivals in Serbia: Days of Mokranjac in Negotin and International Choral Festival in Niš.
The artistic director of the Conductors’ Choir is Miloje Nikolić.
