Dear Friends!
While riding on the post-inauguration winds of energy in the U.S. and feeling happy that cultural compasses are indeed getting reexamined and repurposed, I am excited to let you know about some of my past and current season's music endeavors. My outstanding collaborators kept creating and inspiring me notwithstanding all the challenges in the last year – here's to more music in 2021! Thank you for doing your part in supporting the arts!
Tonight - Alone/Together at the NJ Dance Fest
Tonight, Carolyn Dorfman Dance presents Alone/Together created from the homes of artists of Carolyn Dorfman Dance, the Ballet of National Theater Sarajevo, and myself.

A fine example of the unifying power of dance across continents in times of social distancing and cancelled rehearsals, the piece inspired me to lend to it a synth fantasy of mine which has its origins in Sarajevo in the nineties. It is now finding its new purpose in connecting cities in dance (e)motion during a pandemic.

We are part of Program B on Friday, January 22nd at 8pm. For tickets, please go here.
The Met Museum NYC
In August 2020 The Metropolitan Museum of Art broadcast an evening of my music set to brand new videos as part of Balcony Bar From Home/Met Live Arts hosted by ETHEL.
The Met reprised parts of this program in the MetLiveArts’ best-of-season showcase on October 14 of the same year, garnering 20K+ views worldwide. With art direction and animation by MixUpNYC and video shot by Desmond Kinney and Philip Hamilton, City Freaky and Graves were part of the new mix. You can see the October show here.
Recent Press
Dutch Progressive Rock Page showed me some love in this new review of my March 2020 release EXTENSION.
“stunning opera with electronic synth eruptions... a unique 'no-genre' appeal… vague impressions of Björk enrapturing bass lines… gorgeous violin parts… mysterious movements, elevated by sparkling harp”
You can read the review here.

Classical Discoveries radio program and Apple Music Classical have featured selections from this recording in November and December of 2020. Grateful!
The American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers [Concert Music] awarded me the 2020 ASCAP PLUS Award.

Given to "writer members... whose works were performed in unsurveyed media as well as writer members whose catalogs have prestige value”, these monetary awards help artists in ways big and small! Thank you!

Here is a recent article in the Oslobodjenje (Liberation) paper about the award.
Music in Society Symposium
On December 12 2020, I took part in the 12th edition of the Biennial International Musicological Symposium “Music in Society” organized by the Musicological Society of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Academy of Music of the University of Sarajevo.

Along with my dear colleagues Maja Baralić Materne, Mladen Milićević, Ankica Petrović, Ubavka Prusina-Prašo, and Aleksandra Wagner, I participated in the Special Session 2: In Memoriam: ddr. Zija Kučukalić (1929-2020) moderated by Ivan Čavlović. You can access the program here and view the conference here.
Westminster Conservatory Workshop
October 2020 brought me to Westminster Conservatory - College of the Arts - in Princeton, NJ. Heartfelt thanks go to my excellent friends and colleagues for having invited me to be a guest artist in the college's Honors Music Program!

I had a terrific time presenting my music and also working with young instrumentalists, vocalists, and composers. No shortage of fresh ideas there and examples of resilience in music and life. Way to go!

For more information, please go here. You can watch the program here.
As always, thank you for reading and for staying in touch.

Onward and forward,

Svjetlana

Banner Photo by Mick Gochanour
The Hat Factory, Peekskill NY