PHILOSOPHERS’ SQUARE - THE NEW NORMAL ReView

Friday, July 16
Cinema Square, 8 p.m.
PHILOSOPHERS’ SQUARE - THE NEW NORMAL
ReView

Darija Andovska, composer, University professor, artistic director of the Days of Macedonian Music Festival
Vladimir Maraš, composer, director of the Made in New York Jazz Festival Montenegro
Aida Vežić, Secretary General of the Balkan Museum Network
Ana Vukotić, theatre director, FIAT Festival director

Darija Andovska graduated in Composition from the Faculty of Music in Skopje, under Professor Goce Kolarovski. She holds a master’s degree from the Zurich University of the Arts and a PhD from the Harvard Institute. Darija Andovska is the author of chamber, solo, orchestral, symphonic, and choral music, as well as music for film, theater, dance, and multimedia projects. Her works have been performed at festivals and concerts throughout Europe, China, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Mexico, Canada, USA, and others. She is a multiple laureate of international and national competitions for composition, film, and theater, and films she has worked on have been nominated and awarded at the Sarajevo Film Fest, the Berlinale, and the Bridge Festival, among others. Darija Andovska is the winner of the Virtuoso Award for the best composer in Northern Macedonia, the award for the Prominent Artist of the City of Zurich – composer, and the Panče Pešev Award of the Association of Composers of Macedonia. Darija Andovska has served as the Artistic Director of the Days of Macedonian Music Festival. She is a Full Professor at the Faculty of Music and at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts of the St. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje.

Vladimir Maraš completed his undergraduate studies in Music Pedagogy and specialist studies (in Music Harmony) at the Music Academy in Cetinje. He has done arrangements for numerous popular music projects (for Maja Odžaklijevska, Bisera Veletanlić, K2, Knez, and others) and was a member of the band accompanying Rambo Amadeus. For the last fifteen years, Vladimir Maraš has performed with his band, promoting his original music and modern arrangements of Montenegrin folk songs on many stages in the region, Europe, and worldwide. He is the author of short musical forms, opening credits music, jingles, commercials, as well as music for children; he also composes for the theater. He has served as the editor of the music program on the IN Television in Podgorica, for which he composed music for a complete audio branding. Vladimir Maraš is a columnist for the weekly Objektiv. He also served as the editor and host of the Antena Klasika radio show, which was broadcast on the Antena M Radio. He currently serves at the Radio Television of Montenegro as the editor of the Radio Montenegro music program. Since 2015, his Rabbit Records Company has been a partner of the Made in New York Jazz Competition New York Company. In cooperation with that company, Vladimir Maraš has founded the Montenegro Made in New York Jazz Festival.

Aida Vežić is the Secretary General of the Balkan Museum Network (MBN) and a member of the Network of European Museum Organizations (NEMO) Executive Board. She completed master’s studies in the field of Cultural Projects and Development organized by the International Labor Organization and the Polytechnic University of Turin, as well as bachelor’s studies in Economics from the University of Sarajevo. Her fields of work are cross-border cooperation for the promotion and protection of culture and cultural heritage for peace building, increased intercultural dialogue, and respect for human rights. Aida Vežić is currently working as external consultant to organizations, helping them in their strategic development and resources mobilization.

Ana Vukotić, theater director, graduated from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Cetinje, under Professors Egon Savin and Radmila Vojvodić. She gained her first theatrical experience at the FJAT and FIAT festivals. Ana Vukotić has directed several plays at the Montenegrin National Theater (Smrtni Grijesi, Don Žuan, Vjera, Ljubav, Nada, Ribarske Svađe, Šćeri Moja), as well as the first staging of Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the history of the theater. Her plays have been performed and awarded at Montenegrin, regional, and international festivals: the Rijeka Festival of Small Stages, the Užice Yugoslav Theater Festival, the Belgrade Slavija Fest International Festival, the Martin McDonagh Festival in Perm (Russia), the Montenegrin Theater Festival, and the Montenegrin Theater Biennale, among others; Ana Vukotić is a holder of the Cetinje National Theater Annual Award. In 2013, she was also engaged on the renewal of the FIAT Festival for the third time. During her management of the Festival, despite operating with limited financial resources, it has endured with the longest continuity in realizing their programs. Since 2004, Ana Vukotić has been employed as a director at the Montenegrin National Theater. She is a member of the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and of the Arts Board for the Film and Theater Arts.