The first international camp for tamburitza players

“Mostovi prijateljstva” (“Bridges of friendship”) Ravno Selo 2018
The World Tamburitza Association (WTA) in cooperation with Galium – the association for culture, education and tamburitza music – organized the first camp for tamburitza players in Ravno Selo on March 18, 2018.
WTA’s cultural mission, as well as the goals of this project, were to connect young tamburitza players and educate them so that they can achieve the highest quality of vocal and instrumental tamburitza music interpretation, to affirm tamburitza music and foster tradition and our cultural values, and for children to socialize and share their experiences.
This year, the participants of the camp for tamburitza players were the grand children’s tamburitza orchestra from Kaptol, Republic of Croatia, led by Ana and Tihomir Šmitpeter, the grand children’s tamburitza orchestra KIC Mladost from Futog led by professor Emilija Pušić, and their host – the grand children’s tamburitza orchestra Čuperak from Ravno Selo led by Željko Đanković and Slobodan Veljović.
The educators and lecturers speaking at the camp were composer Jovan Adamov, soloist of the Big Tamburitza Orchestra from RTV Vojvodina Danilo Ninković, ethnomusicology professor Bojan Milinković, historian and professor Boro Vojinović, as well as two members of a well-known family of tamburitza players from Ravno Selo, Milenko and Igor Ćosić.
Workshops were held during the day, and in the evening, each orchestra composed of young tamburitza players performed for the audience individually, and finally all together, presenting the three musical numbers that they had been practicing at the previously held workshops.
The applause echoed through the hall of Branko Radičević elementary school in Ravno Selo, which was filled to the brim. The audience was very enthusiastic about this noble initiative and the admirable performances of the young musicians.
This year’s event was graced by the presence of sixty young tamburitza artists. We expect twice as many participants at next year’s three-day educational camp.