Tivat Music Festival
2025

July 24, 2025, 9 p.m.
Grand Hall of the Tivat Cultural Center

Partners of the program:

Distant Encounters

Viktor Huter, violin
Milutin Radulović, violin
Montenegro festival orchestra
Mladen Tarbuk, conductor
Guests: Perper band

PROGRAM
Astor Piazzola (1921–1992)
The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires
Summer (soloist: V. Huter)
Autmn (soloist: V. Huter)
Winter (soloist: M. Radulović)
Spring (soloist: M. Radulović)
Selected songs by the Perper band
Love
Montenegro Jazz
Perpers and Gold
My Mountaian
Flags
On St. Nicholas Day
With a Soul of Stone

The Montenegro Festival Orchestra is an initiative that brings together young Montenegrin musicians – mostly students or graduates who have received their education and professional experience abroad. By offering young artists the opportunity to connect, exchange experiences, and contribute to the development of musical creativity in Montenegro, the orchestra first came together in this formation during the summer of 2024 as the KotorArt Festival Orchestra. They delivered notable performances at KotorArt and the Tivat Music Festival, under the baton of acclaimed conductors both from the region and internationally – Mladen Tarbuk and Nir Kabaretti. 66
The orchestra has performed with distinguished soloists including Gilles Apap, Petra Radulović, Sava Vemić, Benjamin Bliss, Nina van Essen, Sara Lakičević, and Simo Šišević. Members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Santa Barbara Symphony Orchestra have also shared the stage with these young performers. The orchestra has achieved great success in performing both symphonic and operatic repertoire and continues its mission of connecting musicians from diverse traditions while presenting high-level artistry to audiences in Montenegro and beyond. The orchestra is currently led by its chief conductor, Mladen Tarbuk.

Viktor Huter completed his primary music education under Professor Tanja Bogdanović. At the age of thirteen, he enrolled in the Vasa Pavić Secondary School for Music and Ballet in Podgorica, studying first with Professor Vili Ferdinandi and later continuing under Professor Marko Simović. At sixteen, he was admitted to the Music Academy in Cetinje, where he studied under Professor Vujadin Krivokapić, and went on to pursue his master’s studies with Professor Mikhail Bereznitsky. Throughout his education, he refined his skills under the guidance of prominent musicians and educators. He has won numerous awards at competitions, becoming the laureate of the National Competition in Montenegro in the Solo Piano category (2018) and Chamber Music category (2019). In 2019, he also won the Polyhymnia Competition and took third place at the Whitgift International Music Competition in London. As a soloist, Viktor Huter has performed with the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, the Montenegrin Youth Orchestra, the Allegro Vivo Festival Orchestra, and the student orchestra of the Music Academy in Cetinje. He regularly performs with the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, the Montenegrin Youth Orchestra, and the regional chamber orchestra Camerata Balcanica. He is a member of the Aeternum piano trio and the Gosl string quartet. Since 2024, Viktor Huter has also been a member of Mensa Montenegro

Milutin Radulović completed his secondary education at the Vasa Pavić School for Music and Ballet in Podgorica. During his studies, he won numerous competition awards, was a finalist at the Whitgift International Music Competition in London, and received first prize at the Polyhymnia Competition in Skopje for three consecutive years. He has participated in masterclasses with renowned musicians such as Roman Simović, Arkady Vinokurov, Sreten Krstić, Robert Lakatoš, Stefan Milenkovich, and Dmitry Prokofiev, among others. He is a member of the Sarajevo City Orchestra, where he has frequently served as Concertmaster. As a soloist, he has performed with the Orchestra of Montenegrin Music Schools in the Muzički Krug (Musical Circle) project, as well as with the Academic Orchestra in Sarajevo. Milutin Radulović has given recitals at the Budo Tomović Cultural Information Center as part of the Young Talents concert series and at the Music Center of Montenegro. He was also a member of a string quartet performing at KotorArt within the Cultural Intertwinings program. In the 2022/23 season, he performed regularly with the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, the Sarajevo Philharmonic, and the Mostar Symphony Orchestra. Milutin Radulović is currently pursuing studies at the Hochschule für Musik in Saarbrücken under Professor Gordan Nikolić and at the Music Academy in Sarajevo under Professor Marko Simović.

Mladen Tarbuk, a prominent Croatian composer and conductor, completed his studies in Composition and Conducting in Graz, Zagreb, and Vienna. He has appeared in almost all European countries, Canada, the United States, and Mexico, often performing his own works. He has regularly collaborated with the German Oper am Rhein (Düsseldorf), the Wiener Concert-Verein, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, and the Hungarian State Opera. Mladen Tarbuk is a holder of numerous Croatian and international awards and recognitions – Slavenski, Papandopulo, HAZU, Janáček, E. Vogel, Risuonanze Trieste, and Tolosa. His compositions have been performed at major world festivals such as the Enescu Festival, World Music Days, and Wien Modern. He served as the Director of the Croatian National Theater in Zagreb (2002–2005), then as its Music Director (2013–2017), as well as the Director of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival (2015–2017). During the term 2020–2024, he served as the chairman of the Croatian Society of Composers. In the 2021/2022 season, Mladen Tarbuk conducted the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra. He is a Full Professor of Composition, Conducting, Music Theory, and Orchestra at the Academy of Music in Zagreb.

Perper traces its beginnings to 1991, marked by the recording of its first anti-war song in response to the outbreak of conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Just a few months later, the band released its debut album Sa Gomile Velikih Oblaka, followed by a series of successful releases including Bludni Snovi, Perper Uživo iz CNP-a, the first live acoustic album recorded in Montenegro, the studio album Iz Dana u Dan, Tragovi, and two compilations – 20 Brzih Perpera and 20 Sporih Perpera – as well as several singles. The group has participated in numerous music festivals, including Jugovizija, Mesam, Pjesma Mediterana, and Sunčane Skale, performed at charity concerts, and collaborated with renowned artists such as Kornelije Kovač, Arsen Dedić, Indexi, Đule Van Gogh, Zoran Predin, Maja Perfiljeva, and others. Perper has received numerous awards, including the Montefon, the Oscar of Popularity, and the 13th November Award from the city of Cetinje. Their songs have been widely covered by various performers, symphony orchestras, choirs, and vocal ensembles. The band members – lead singer Dr. Nikola Radunović, guitarist Assoc. Prof. M.A. Aleksandar Radunović Popaj, bassist Momčilo Zeković, keyboardist Mihailo Ražnatović, and drummer Ivan Vujović – are also accomplished in other fields of art, science, and culture, making Perper one of the most academically distinguished bands in Montenegro.