When 40 years ago Marko Klepić founded the children's choir "Zvjezdice" could not have imagined that it would become an important cultural resource of Podgorica. Forty years of music, numerous hits and dedicated work will be celebrated with a concert on December 20th at the KIC. Over the years, more than a thousand children have passed through the choir, and hundreds of performed and recorded songs have remained as a lasting testimony to their decades-long journey.
Today, the concert is led by its member and soloist Ana Klepić who reveals in the interview that the anniversary concert was conceived as a meeting of different generations, an opportunity to celebrate continuity, togetherness, and love of music through song.
Ana, the Zvjezdice choir is celebrating four decades this year. It has long been a recognizable brand of the Capital City. You will also celebrate the anniversary with a big concert on December 20.12th at the KIC. Considering that many projects have been completed in these 40 years, as well as the Naša radost festival, how is the program for the anniversary celebration planned?
This time the focus is on the current members of the choir, because in previous anniversaries we have included a large number of adult singers and former members. That is why the first part of the concert will be performed by our current “Stars”, while in the second part some older members will join us. I wouldn't reveal too much, but at some point there will be quite a number of us on stage.
A special charm will be brought by the musicians who will accompany us in certain compositions, this will be Simply the Band, while the songs with piano accompaniment will be in charge of Bojana Milacic, better known as Djukanovic.
Many generations have passed through Zvjezdice, and Stefan Filipović, Miloš Karadaglić, Milena Lainović, Sara Vujošević, Tina Džankić, Danijel Alibabić, Nemanja Petrović, Milan Bukilić, Biljana Mitrović, Tamara Vujačić, Željko Vukčević and many others have sung in Zvjezdice. Do you think that Zvjezdice somehow shaped their musical taste and supported them in pursuing music?
Of course, their talent was crucial, but I believe the choir played an important role in encouraging, guiding, and awakening their love for music.
The choir has always been a place where children can express themselves, gain support, self-confidence and a sense of belonging. Through work, discipline and stage performance, they develop a taste for music and a sense of quality. Many of them later said that “Zvjezdice” was their first serious music school and that it was the choir that gave them the wind in their backs to continue on the path of art.
That's why I'm proud that the choir has been a home for children who have been growing, forming, and discovering their talents for forty years, and even prouder when I see some of them return, as audience members or collaborators, and say that this period of their lives was special and important.
Singing in a choir is not only good for hearing, where children learn to sing, but also listen to other voices. Also, singing in a choir brings companionship, friendships... As someone who grew up with that choir and sang yourself, both you and your sister, and today you are its conductor, how do you look at Zvjezdice and the jubilee they are celebrating, and what do you remember about Zvjezdice from the period when you were a member of the choir yourself?
Singing in a choir is much more than music. Children learn to listen to each other, to adapt, to breathe together and to be part of a whole that is stronger than each individual. And that camaraderie, that shared energy and that sense of belonging are what shape them the most. I grew up with Zvjezdice. Both my sisters and I sang in the choir, and it was one of the most beautiful experiences of my childhood. I remember the trips, the rehearsals, the long, too-long recordings, the laughter behind the scenes, but also the feeling of pride when we sing together and everything sounds just right. It is something that, once you experience it, you carry with you for the rest of your life.
Today, as a conductor, I look at the Stars from two perspectives: as someone who grew up in them, and as someone who leads them. And I can say that the feeling is the same. It's still that magical little world in which children open up, grow, find themselves.
The choir has always been a safe place for me, a space where talents are discovered spontaneously, without pressure, with support and joy. That's why I feel the 40th anniversary personally. It's not just the anniversary of a choir, it's a celebration of generations, friendships, music, children's joy and everything we created together.
And that's why it's especially important to me that Zvjezdice remains what it has always been: a place where children can freely sing, dream, and grow. It was very important to me to justify the trust I received, because my father Marko is the founder of the choir and it wasn't easy to continue working at the same pace and quality, I hope that we've been able to do that in recent years.
Although, as I said, Zvjezdice has long been a recognizable brand of the Capital City, you still operate as an NGO. Do you think you deserve greater institutional support considering that numerous generations have passed through the choir?
Although Zvjezdice has been a recognizable brand of the Capital City for decades and a choir that has been through many generations of children, we currently operate as an NGO. I believe that with our continuity, quality of work and contribution to the culture of Podgorica, we have long deserved more stable institutional support. For years, we have been investing enormous effort to maintain the quality of work, concerts, festivals, education and regular activities with children, and all of this requires much more than enthusiasm - systemic support is needed. I hope that, after several conversations and announcements, an official decision will soon be made that would regulate the status of the choir. This would allow us more stable working conditions, long-term planning and investment in the development of new generations of children who grow, learn and create friendships through music.
The stars have become part of the identity of this city, proof that culture has the power to last. That's why I think it's time for us to be institutionally recognized as what we already are - an important cultural resource of Podgorica.
Many generations have passed through the choir. To what extent has the parents' love for the choir been passed on to their children? Do you have children in the choir today whose parents sang in the choir 20, 30, 40 years ago?
After so much time, today it is quite common to have children whose parents sang in Zvjezdice 20, 30, even 40 years ago. This is the greatest compliment a choir can receive when the love of music and the experience of belonging are passed down from parents to children. This shows us that Zvjezdice is not just a place where people sing, but a community that remains a part of life. At the same time, it is a great obligation and motivation to continue building that spirit and that tradition.
Over the four decades of Zvjezdica's work, children's music has changed a lot. There is a big difference between the songs that children used to sing and today's hits that children listen to and sing at children's festivals. Given that other genres simply have to follow current trends, have they influenced children's music and how much? How difficult is it to resist trends?
Children's music has changed, it used to have a clearer pedagogical and artistic direction, while today children grow up surrounded by fast trends, viral melodies and modern sound that often has nothing to do with children's sensibilities. Of course, we cannot ignore contemporary trends, but at Zvjezdice we try to maintain a balance: that the songs are modern and close to children, but also musically and lyrically high-quality. The most important thing is that children sing what is beautiful, healthy and worth remembering. Trends come and go, and what remains are melodies that carry emotion and value. As in all areas, there has been a lack of creativity lately, we need to involve younger people, creators, songwriters, composers, and especially arrangers. I think we can sound even better and more modern, while maintaining a beautiful children's song with a clear and important message for children.
We know that children today, in addition to children's music, also listen to the music that their parents most often listen to. Do you try to shape the taste of the children in the choir by not only playing children's music but also their hits, or do you stick exclusively to children's songs?
Of course, in addition to the children's repertoire, we always have a song from our folk heritage, and from time to time we sing some covers of famous songs for adults, in our language or in English. Sometimes we also perform something from the classical music repertoire, although we very rarely have time for such serious pieces. I hope that from next year we will have an older choir group, so we will devote ourselves to such things as well.
Children up to 12 years old can sing at Zvjezdice. You say you plan to expand the story and even offer teenagers, who are perhaps the most sought-after, a place to gather and socialize? What are your plans for the next 40 years?
Yes, we are currently trying to keep the children who have already spent several years in the choir, to continue doing some other things. Of course, it is not easy, because during that period they have many more obligations with school and other activities. I hope that we will create a base and start, even if with a smaller number. We have been planning something like this for a long time and I hope that now is the right time. Our goal is to grow in every sense. To expand the choir, to raise standards, to nurture the quality of children's music and to remain a place where small voices are built into great people. We want "Zvjezdice" to be even more visible, even more present, to get closer to the audience through new projects, new concerts, new collaborations, but also to preserve the identity that has accompanied us for four decades.
We place special focus on the institutional organization of the choir, because we believe that a 40-year tradition and thousands of children who have passed through our work deserve a stable and recognized status. This would allow us to work even more systematically, to expand the team, develop additional programs and give children even more space to grow through music. And most importantly - our plan is to continue to be a place where children come with joy in the coming decades, where friendships, memories and a love for music that lasts a lifetime are created. If we have managed to be a part of the childhood of many generations for four decades, I believe that we can do just as much and even more.
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