THE UPBEAT 1

Friday, July 5
Synchro, Porto Montenegro, 9 p.m.
THE UPBEAT 1

LENA KOVAČEVIĆ, vocals (Serbia)
RTS BIG BEND (Serbia)

Lena Kovačević, singer and songwriter, graduated from the prestigious Music Conservatory of Amsterdam. Her career was launched in 2004 with one of the leading orchestras in the Netherlands, followed by performances at numerous festivals in Europe. She has collaborated with Belgian DJ Dirk Swartenbroekx Buscemi, double bassist John Clayton, and as a brand ambassador with companies such as ASUS, Frey Wille Jewellery, XYZ Premium Fashion Store, MasterCard, and Lancome. Lena has released three albums for national labels – Dobar dan za pevanje (A Good Day for Singing), 2009, by PGP RTS, thanks to which she found herself in the jury of one of the Serbia’s most popular TV shows – Prvi glas Srbije (The First Voice of Serbia), followed by San (Dream), which was recognized as the best-selling album in the entire region, and finally Džezeri (Jazzers), dedicated to the songs of Momčilo Bajagić Bajaga. In February 2017, Lena was a special guest at the BRIT Awards 2017 as the only participant from the region. She is the singer-songwriter of the single Pick Up (2016), which premiered on Sirius XM Radio in New York. She has recently released the singles Zauvek (Forever), Café, and Dubine (Depths), for Magic Records. The style of her songs reflects a unique combination of pop and jazz music.

The RTS Big Band was was founded in 1948 under the name Radio Belgrade Entertainment Orchestra in the style of the show orchestra. In 1954, by singling out a string ensemble, it also started operating as a large jazz orchestra, referred to from then on as the RTS Big Band. The Orchestra has been led by many eminent conductors, composers, and arrangers, including: Mladen Bobi Guteša, Vojislav – Bubiša Simić, Zvonimir Skerl, Milivoje – Mića Marković, Duško Gojković, and Stjepko Gut, among others. The ensemble has received numerous awards and recognitions of distinction, most notably the First Prize at the Jazz Festival in Juan-les-Pins (France) in 1960. The Orchestra has performed at famous world festivals and at UNICEF concerts, receiving acclaim from critics and audiences the world round. Over the years, the orchestra has performed with many of the world’s greatest names in jazz, such as: C. Terry, B. Golson, J. Griffin, M. Ferguson, T. Scott, E. Henderson, H. Mobley, J. Hendrix, R. Hargrove, D. Shuur, and R. Cuber, among others, as well as with stars of global  show business including the likes of R. Charles, D. Kaye, J. Baker, M. Mathieu, E. Macias, and F. Lyngstad (ABBA). Among studio albums from their discography, standouts include: Jazz Orchestra of Radio Belgrade 1948-1978, Music of My Youth, Stjepko Gut & The RTS Big Band, Afro Balkan Sketches, Willy Johanns and the Radio Belgrade Big Band, The Radio Belgrade Big Band – 75 Years of Radio Belgrade, and Latin Haze by Duško Gojković & The RTS Big Band.