MONTENEGRO - August 2012
Mosaic Choir: Tour of Montenegro by Margaret Haig
At the end of August the members of the Mosaic Choir, the youth choir of the Orthodox Fellowship of St John the Baptist, answered an invitation to sing in concerts in Montenegro. Based in Nikšić, we would perform in three of our own concerts and contribute to a fourth, all in a period of just one week. Eleven choir members made the journey to Montenegro, travelling in from all over Europe to be there, from the UK, Romania, Russia and Greece.
We were hosted by the most wonderful people in Nikšić, arranged by the indefatigable Deacon Vladimir, who arranged the whole schedule and has longstanding links with Vlado Vučetić (husband of our choir director Rebecca). Everyone showed us kindness, hospitality and generosity, giving up their time and resources for the choir. The temperature was in the high thirties for most of our stay – not great for me as a lover of the mild temperatures of northern Europe, but beloved of many other participants! It did give us an opportunity to sample the various swimming facilities of this beautiful countries, in a fjord/ria (it depends who you believe!), in the sea and twice in a lake. Being at Krupac Lake at sunset was really awe-inspiring; although the wildfires that were burning all through our stay were destructive and dangerous, the sunset with the smoke was beautiful.
We visited six different monasteries during our stay: the famous Ostrog monastery, with the miraculous relics of Saint Basil, perched high on the mountainside; the restored women’s monastery at Župa dedicated to St Luke with many different workshops; Dajbabe, where the recently canonised St Simeon dug out the monastery by hand and covered them in frescoes; Morača monastery, dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God and celebrating its 760th anniversary; Cetinje, the former capital of Montenegro and its magnificent collection of artefacts including vestments worn by saints; and Podmajna near the coast, where we sang our final concert. The monastic life in Montenegro was so vibrant and inspiring.
Our first concert was in the capital, Podgorica, on a Sunday which reached 44°C, our hottest day. In the morning, we sang at the outdoor Liturgy at the Church of St Demetrius, before the day was too hot. We were shown inside the incomplete cathedral in Podgorica, dedicated to the Holy Resurrection, and we were invited back to see the completed project. The concert in the evening was well attended and our songs were well received. As we have done before, we sang a mixture of liturgical pieces and folksongs with as much geographical spread as possible. One of our new additions was a song by the very talented Emma Hetherington using an English poem for the lyrics, leading straight into an instrumental Irish reel section and then into a hearty rendition of the sea shanty What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor. It went down a storm! Our folksongs hailed from Armenia, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Russia and we finished with the famous song in Serbian Cije Je to rousing applause.
The next concert was in our base of Nikšić, where there was literally standing room only in the parish hall; we were treated to a wonderful after-party at the restaurant, where singers from the local choir treated us to a rendition of some Serbian songs, and we sang some of our favourite songs in return. On Old Calendar Dormition, we sang a few pieces during the Liturgy and then four songs during the celebratory concert after the Liturgy at the monastery at Morača. Bishop Jovan of the Patriarchate of Pec was present and spoke to us in English, inviting us to Kosovo on our next trip. The final concert was at Podmajna monastery, near Budva on the coast.
There are so many memories of such a short visit to Montenegro: the people, the singing, the heat, the swimming, lots of sladoled (ice cream, my favourite word in Serbian), the scary mountain roads, the stray cat from the Church, the perseverance in the face of adversity and viruses, the storytelling, the car sing-alongs… We had a wonderful time and hope to repeat it on our future tours, gradually adding pins in the Mosaic map!
At the end of August the members of the Mosaic Choir, the youth choir of the Orthodox Fellowship of St John the Baptist, answered an invitation to sing in concerts in Montenegro. Based in Nikšić, we would perform in three of our own concerts and contribute to a fourth, all in a period of just one week. Eleven choir members made the journey to Montenegro, travelling in from all over Europe to be there, from the UK, Romania, Russia and Greece.
We were hosted by the most wonderful people in Nikšić, arranged by the indefatigable Deacon Vladimir, who arranged the whole schedule and has longstanding links with Vlado Vučetić (husband of our choir director Rebecca). Everyone showed us kindness, hospitality and generosity, giving up their time and resources for the choir. The temperature was in the high thirties for most of our stay – not great for me as a lover of the mild temperatures of northern Europe, but beloved of many other participants! It did give us an opportunity to sample the various swimming facilities of this beautiful countries, in a fjord/ria (it depends who you believe!), in the sea and twice in a lake. Being at Krupac Lake at sunset was really awe-inspiring; although the wildfires that were burning all through our stay were destructive and dangerous, the sunset with the smoke was beautiful.
We visited six different monasteries during our stay: the famous Ostrog monastery, with the miraculous relics of Saint Basil, perched high on the mountainside; the restored women’s monastery at Župa dedicated to St Luke with many different workshops; Dajbabe, where the recently canonised St Simeon dug out the monastery by hand and covered them in frescoes; Morača monastery, dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God and celebrating its 760th anniversary; Cetinje, the former capital of Montenegro and its magnificent collection of artefacts including vestments worn by saints; and Podmajna near the coast, where we sang our final concert. The monastic life in Montenegro was so vibrant and inspiring.
Our first concert was in the capital, Podgorica, on a Sunday which reached 44°C, our hottest day. In the morning, we sang at the outdoor Liturgy at the Church of St Demetrius, before the day was too hot. We were shown inside the incomplete cathedral in Podgorica, dedicated to the Holy Resurrection, and we were invited back to see the completed project. The concert in the evening was well attended and our songs were well received. As we have done before, we sang a mixture of liturgical pieces and folksongs with as much geographical spread as possible. One of our new additions was a song by the very talented Emma Hetherington using an English poem for the lyrics, leading straight into an instrumental Irish reel section and then into a hearty rendition of the sea shanty What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor. It went down a storm! Our folksongs hailed from Armenia, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Russia and we finished with the famous song in Serbian Cije Je to rousing applause.
The next concert was in our base of Nikšić, where there was literally standing room only in the parish hall; we were treated to a wonderful after-party at the restaurant, where singers from the local choir treated us to a rendition of some Serbian songs, and we sang some of our favourite songs in return. On Old Calendar Dormition, we sang a few pieces during the Liturgy and then four songs during the celebratory concert after the Liturgy at the monastery at Morača. Bishop Jovan of the Patriarchate of Pec was present and spoke to us in English, inviting us to Kosovo on our next trip. The final concert was at Podmajna monastery, near Budva on the coast.
There are so many memories of such a short visit to Montenegro: the people, the singing, the heat, the swimming, lots of sladoled (ice cream, my favourite word in Serbian), the scary mountain roads, the stray cat from the Church, the perseverance in the face of adversity and viruses, the storytelling, the car sing-alongs… We had a wonderful time and hope to repeat it on our future tours, gradually adding pins in the Mosaic map!
Press Releases
Below are some links to the local Montenegran online press releases (in the local language), click to access:
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