The members of the Montenegrin children's choir "Zvjezdice" returned from North Macedonia, where they recently participated in the "Lake Pearls" festival in Struga and won a prize in the competition where choirs competed.
"We wanted to present ourselves somewhere outside of Montenegro and try it for the first time at a bigger competition. The invitation to participate in the "Lake pearls" festival in Struga came at the right time and we organized the trip in cooperation with the Children's Association. The competition was strong, we won the second prize, more precisely the laureate of the second degree", choir conductor Ana Klepić told "Vijesta".
The stars have a wide repertoire of songs, but according to Klepić, it was not difficult for them to choose the songs with which they will present themselves to the audience at "Ezerski Biseri".
"At such competitions, polyphonic compositions, ethnic or classical, must be performed, and we mainly perform children's music. From the ready repertoire, we had five such compositions, of which we performed two - "Walking next to Ljubović" and a mix of Montenegrin songs", recalls Klepić.
Sara Asanović, who won second place, and Vladana Todorović, who finished the competition in third place, sang with them at the competition in Struga.
Most children's competitions have one choir accompanying the soloists, and there are rare ones where several choirs compete.
That is why the interlocutor of "Vijesti" points out that it is good that there are events like this where choirs can also perform outside their own country.
"These kinds of events are extremely important and it's a shame that there are no events of this kind in our country either. It is an opportunity to meet choirs from other countries, exchange experiences and compare strengths. Another very important thing on trips is socializing and bringing the members of the collective closer together", says Klepić.
Zvjezdice will soon announce a competition for the registration of new members.
"The audition will start in September. Now we already accept children of all ages, a small workshop from three to five years old, a younger choir from six to twelve years old and for the first time, an older choir from 12 to 16 years old. The oldest age is the one we plan for most trips and competitions of this type. We will make sure that the repertoire is attractive and diverse - pop, ethnic and classical", promises Klepić and points out that this experience is very important for the development of hearing, because during singing children learn to listen to themselves, but also to other singers in the choir.
"Choir singing is extremely important, and at the youngest age it is quite enough to acquire a good foundation for further pursuit of music. Solo singing is for those who want to seriously engage in this discipline, but it is very important to go through the experience of polyphonic choral singing, because in this way a stable foundation is built, hearing is strengthened and musicianship is learned, which is not possible to that extent with solo singing. ", concludes Klepić.
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