Tivat Music Festival
2025

August 20, 8 p.m.
Župa

Partners of the program:

The City Speaks, the Sea Remembers

CREATIVE TEAM:
Nina Perović, composer
Duško Miljanić, visual artist, photographer
Aleksandar Jovanović, director and narrator

PERFORMERS:
Bruna Matijević, flute
Igor Perović, tenor
Nikola Latković, baritone
Romeo Lukšić, baritone
Jadran Men’s Klapa
Bellezza Women’s Klapa
Nina Perović, electronics

PROGRAM
The City Speaks, the Sea Remembers, audio-visual
performance
I. The Procession
II. Progress and Calm
III. The City Speaks, the Sea Remembers
IV. Klapa, Wine, and Fish

The music-theater performance The City Speaks, the Sea Remembers is staged in the atmospheric setting of the former Bizanti family residence, later converted into a military barracks, in the Župa area of Tivat. The aim of the performance is to explore Tivat’s cultural heritage through the lenses of myth, history, tradition, and the contemporary moment – during a time of transition and modernization. Through a synthesis of music, projection, sound, narration, and movement, the performance brings to life the old stories of this Mediterranean town. It draws on the city’s founding legend, its characteristic crafts and skills, and the richness of its language, mentality, customs, and culture. Structured in four phases – the Procession, Progress and Calm, Narrative, and the Final Celebration – the audience is invited into an experience that transcends traditional performance. It becomes a journey through the collective memory and identity of Tivat, posing questions about how the city is changing, what remains, and what is lost under the pressure of progress and modernization. The final gathering, with klapa singing, wine, and fish, is not merely a closing act, but a reaffirmation of community and a reminder of the essence of the Mediterranean spirit – encounter, storytelling, and shared celebration.

Artistis

Nina Perović completed her bachelor’s and specialist studies in Composition at the University of Montenegro Music Academy under Professor Žarko Mirković, and in Piano under Professors Aleksandar Serdar and Vladimir Bochkarev. She obtained her master’s degree in Composition at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, under Professor
Uroš Rojko, before going on to complete her doctoral studies in Composition at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade, under Professor Srđan Hofman. She also pursued advanced training at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz. Perović composes both acoustic and electronic music for solo instruments, symphony orchestra, voice,
and chamber ensembles. Her works have been performed in numerous prestigious concert halls throughout the region and at music festivals across Europe. Nina Perović also writes music for theater and film and is involved in several projects for children. She currently teaches at the Music Academy in Cetinje and is a member of the Music Department of the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts. She has received numerous scholarships and has served as a guest lecturer, including with support from the Goethe Institute and the DAAD scholarship for professional exchange at the University of the Arts in Berlin, where she is currently specializing in the field of Musical Theater.

Duško Miljanić refined his photographic knowledge and skills at the Photo-Cinema Club Podgorica under the mentorship of Vojo Radonjić. He earned both his undergraduate and master’s degrees in Photography at the Europa Prima International University for Film Arts in Skopje, in the Department of Photography, under Professor Robert
Jankuloski. Professionally, he has worked as an official photographer for numerous companies and institutions, with his works published in various publications, magazines, books, and monographs. Since 1998, he has been actively photographing Montenegro, exploring its landscapes, culture, and society. He has participated in over eighty group exhibitions both in the country and abroad, and held his first solo exhibition in 2006 at the Josef Sudek Atelier in Prague. He has taken part in international projects and workshops such as Culture Lobby, Aftermath, Family Album, Imago Mundi Art, and Invisible Lives. Duško Miljanić is the initiator and one of the organizers of the International Photography Salon held in Podgorica (2006, 2007). He serves as the official photographer for the Montenegrin National Theater and other theaters in Montenegro. He is a recipient of the Sterijino Pozorje Award for Theater Photography (FIAP, 2014 and 2017)and several awards from the Montenegrin National Theater.

Aleksandar Jovanović graduated with a degree in Philosophy from the Faculty of Philosophy in Nikšić, and obtained his diploma as a dramatic and audio-visual artist in the field of Theater and Radio Directing from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade, where he is currently pursuing a master’s degree under the mentorship of Professor Kokan Mladenović. As part of a student team, he won the award for the most innovative student concept at the Prague Quadrennial in 2023 with the work Daydreaming. He has directed theatrical productions including Butterfly on the Antenna (FDU, 2019), Vineta by Jura Soyfer (FIST, 2020), the radio drama Voices of the Family by Harold Pinter (Radio Montenegro, 2020), and the documentary-dramatic radio piece Seven Jewish Children, based on the play by Caryl Churchill (2024). He also served as Assistant Director for the film Symphony and Assistant Producer for Death and Staniša by Filip Prelević. Aleksandar Jovanović has been part of the organizing teams for cultural events such as Jazz Appreciation Month in Montenegro, the International Puppet Festival in Podgorica, BITEF in Belgrade, Odakle Zovem, and FIAT in Podgorica. His professional and artistic practice is oriented toward theater and film, the re-examination of cultural heritage, interdisciplinary approaches in the arts, politically engaged theater, and creative work for children and youth, with a particular interest in exploring digital media.

Bruna Matijević began her music education at the primary music school in Tivat, continued her studies in Kotor, and then enrolled at the Music Academy in Cetinje, where she completed her undergraduate, specialist, and master’s studies under Professor Ljubiša Jovanović. Throughout her education, she won numerous awards in solo flute and chamber music categories at various competitions. She further refined her skills by attending seminars led by renowned professors. Bruna Matijević works as a music educator at the Music School in Tivat, where
she teaches Flute and Chamber Music. Her students have achieved remarkable results, winning dozens of first prizes and recognitions at both national and international competitions and festivals. She is a regular jury member at flute and chamber music competitions. She is also a member of the Ars praesentia Boke Kotorske NGO, where she is involved in organizing seminars and concerts. Among these is the New Spark Jazz Orchestra – a highly successful all-female jazz ensemble with guest instructors Jasna Jovićević, Vasil Hadžimanov, and Toni Kitanovski, presented in Tivat, Cetinje, Štip, Novi Sad, and Belgrade. She is also one of the initiators and participants in projects aimed at music education and the preservation of the musical and cultural heritage of the Bay of Kotor.

Igor Perović completed his elementary school and primary music education in his hometown of Tivat, and his secondary music education at the Vida Matjan Music School in Kotor, specializing in Guitar. He graduated and specialized in Audiovisual Production at the Faculty of Visual Arts in Podgorica in 2012. Since 2010, he has worked at the Montenegrin Music Center, serving as Production Secretary of the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra. As a member of the Montenegrin Luča vocal ensemble from Podgorica, under the direction of soprano Zorana Latković, he performed at the KotorArt Festival in 2015, where he discovered a passion for Renaissance and Baroque music. From that point on, his interest in singing within vocal ensembles and choirs has continued to grow. In 2019, he appeared as a member of a vocal sextet in the music-drama piece Slavuj, directed by Varja Đukić. In 2023, he
moved to Rome, where he became a permanent member of the Roma Vocal Ensemble and occasionally performs with the Insieme Vocale Elastico choir. With the support and mentorship of soprano Olivera Tićević, he began to focus more seriously on solo repertoire, which he continues to develop in Rome under the guidance of Professor Riccardo Pisani. Igor Perović is currently studying Renaissance and Baroque singing at the Licinio Refice Conservatory in Frosinone, under Professor Marina Bartoli.

Nikola Latković is a graphic designer based in Podgorica, where he runs the Latelje graphic design studio. He completed his studies in Design at the Department of Graphic Design/Visual Communications at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava (VŠVU/AFAD) in 2007. In addition to nearly two decades of professional artistic work in the fields of publishing, branding, typography, and packaging, he is also engaged in teaching and research in design. He is a full professor at the Faculty of Visual Arts in Podgorica, part of the University of
the Mediterranean. His work if focused particularly on the challenges facing aristic professions, professional associations, authorship, and intellectual property. Vocal music holds a special place in his interests. As a baritone, he has participated in concert and staged performances of major and chamber works from the Renaissance
and Baroque periods, including several studio recordings with various vocal-instrumental ensembles abroad. On the domestic scene, he has performed in the chorus of the opera The Balkan Empress, as well as in ocal works by contemporary Montenegrin composers.

Romeo Lukšić completed his primary music education in Tivat under the guidance of Professor Mirela Mudreša, and his secondary education at the Vida Matjan Primary and Secondary Music School in Kotor, under Professor Bojana Brajović. He earned his degree in Guitar from the Music Academy in Cetinje in 2015, studying with Professor Danijel Cerović. He teaches at both the Vida Matjan Music School in Kotor and the music school in Tivat. His pedagogical success is reflected in the numerous awards his students have won at national and international competitions, as well as in invitations to serve on juries at national contests and the Montenegrin International Guitar Competition. In addition to his work in education, he is a long-standing member of the rhythm section of the Tivat Music and Educational Society. As a choral singer and member of the Music Academy Choir, he has performed at the A Tempo Festival and Don Branko’s Music Days under the direction of conductor Darinka Matić
Marović. As a tenor in the same choir, he also performed in Vienna and Budapest, conducted by Radovan Papović. After completing his studies, Romeo Lukšić joined the Jedinstvo 1839 Choir of Kotor, with which he participated in the 17th International Kolozhski Blagovest Festival of Orthodox Choral Music in Belarus in 2018, and the 37th International Hajnówka Days Festival of Sacred Music in Poland in 2019.

The Jadran Klapa was founded in 1972 by Ivo Buljanović from Pag, then a singer in the Jadran Choir from Tivat. He drew inspiration from a vocal group formed at the Reserve Officers’ School in Bileća, where he sang in 1960 with Milan Grgić – the author of the musical Jalta, Jalta – along with three other singers from Split and the island of Brač. The current members of the Jadran Klapa are: tenor Sanja Đuranović, first tenor Bruno Matijević, second tenors Branko Lasić, Dejan Deković, and Damir Nikolić, baritones Ivo Šindik, Srećko Elkaz, Marjan Milošević, and
Novak Kuzma, and basses Davor Kaštelanović, Ivica Milošević, and Ilija Milošević (who is also the group’s music director).

The Bellezza Klapa was established in 2012. Their repertoire focuses on vocal and vocal-instrumental music, with a special emphasis on songs from Boka Bay and Montenegro. Over the years, the group has performed throughout the country and region, including appearances in Zagreb, Tivat, Kotor, Herceg Novi, Rijeka, Trebižat, and Posušje. The members of the Bellezza Klapa are: Anđela Homen, Nataša Pavlović, Sandra Vukmiroviić, Jasmina Koleb, Marina Bigai i Pina Bubanja.