ACCORDION ORCHESTRA AKUDUNS “SONJA MARINKOVIĆ“ WINNER OF THE FESTIVAL IN PULA (CROATIA)

At the 42nd international meeting of accordion players, soloists, chamber orchestras and orchestras held in Pula (Croatia), accordion orchestra of Academic cultural and artistic society of the University of Novi Sad Sonja Marinković guided by the conductor Goran Penić, won the first prize for the sixth time and the title of the absolute winner.

Along with the winner's Cup, the orchestra got the Cup of the City of Pula. Also, Duo „Per sempre”, whose members are Marko Basara and Marija Turšijan, was declared absolute winner in the category of chamber music. The members of the ensemble and students of the Music school Isidor Bajić , Dejan Škundrić, Georgina Bognar and Nedeljko Banjanin, won first prizes in the soloist categories of the chamber music and Marija Turšijan won the second place in her category.

The orchestra traditionally presents itself performing in category C (without age limits) compositions of national composers Velika čočečka igra by Petar Konjović and, for the first time, Uvertira by Stevan Divjaković, a composer from Novi Sad. Besides the above-mentioned compositions, the orchestra performed Carmen Suite No1. by George Bizet.

The competition in Pula, organized by OKUD Istra has been active since 1964 and has great importance in the world of accordion. The accordion orchestra from Novi Sad is the only one which competed at its first competition. This year, competitors from 19 countries participated and international expert selection committee has gathered some of the best pedagogues across Europe as its members.

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Accordion Orchestra of Academic cultural and artistic society of the University of Novi Sad Sonja Marinković exists over 65 years. During that period the orchestra participated in numerous international competitions across Europe and won the highest prizes among which is the prize for the best evaluated orchestra in the competition among 210 orchestras in the most difficult and the most demanding category at the 11th World Music Competition in Innsbruck, Austria in 2013, which lists the orchestra among the leading accordion orchestras in the world.

The orchestra consists of students who attend the high school Isidor Bajić and their professors, university students and amateur music lovers.