Contemporary composer Vladimir Jovanovic and his role in the renewal of church Byzantine music in Serbia from the 1990s until today

Abstract

This work focuses on the role of composer Vladimir (Vlada) Jovanović to the renewal of church Byzantine music in Serbia from the 1990s until today. This multi-talented artist worked and created art in his native Belgrade, with creativity that exceeded local frames. This research emphasizes Jovanović’s pedagogical and compositional work in the field of Byzantine music, which mostly took place through his activity in choir St. John of Damascus in Belgrade. Author analyzes the problems in implementation of modal church Byzantine music, since the first students did not hear it in their surroundings, as well as responses of the listeners. Special attention is paid to students’ narratives, which help us perceive broad cultural and social impact of Jovanović’s creative work.