Belgrade-based chamber ensemble Metamorphosis was formed in 2005 at the initiative of the violist and artistic director Saša Mirković. Since their inception, the ensemble has been performing cutting-edge art music such as new music and world music, along with renowned pieces of the Western European music tradition. Bringing fresh takes on music arrangements and stage setting, they represent a unique musical response to the contemporary time, audience’s taste and world trends in performing practice.
The recently established cooperation between Metamorphosis and the Saša Marčeta Foundation resulted in their live performances and music recording intended for future projects. Saša Mirković, artistic director of the ensemble, told us about their plans for the coming period.
We are currently at one of the Metamorphosis’ live recording sessions in the Balkan Cinema. Could you tell us more about your plans regarding this year’s concerts?
This year we are marking our 15th anniversary and we wanted to make a series of concerts in partnership with people we have been collaborating with for a while now, and also in a space where we feel good. Since performing in front of an audience is not an option, we decided to record the concerts for all classical and art music lovers. We are going to make five concerts and stream them on various media including our Facebook page and YouTube channels; they will also be televised or streamed on the channels of certain festivals and organizations in Slovakia, Italy and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Each concert bears a unique title, and the whole season is called „Pillars”. The central theme is elements, everything that surrounds us. We have “Water”, “Fire”, “Air”, we will play the program titled “Summon Stars“ so it will be quite diverse. A large part of the repertoire is what we have been doing for a long time: Serbian music and premiere performances, but also contemporary works by foreign composers along with an innovative approach to works by old maestros.
How would you describe your collaboration with the Saša Marčeta Foundation so far?
Our collaboration started a year or two ago when we had our first concert here, which was truly fantastic; we played to the full house. It came as a result of mutual satisfaction, respect and aspiration to make something together. The foundation’s support is of great value to us and so is the fact that Saša (Marčeta) himself regularly comes to see our concerts, enjoys what we do and supports us. Ksenija Samarždija is a fantastic person to cooperate with, and same goes for her whole team. They have made many things happen for us. Each of our performances is visually and conceptually different and to that end, Ksenija is very broad-minded, open to a lot of different possibilities and tries to help any way she can.
What does the Balkan Cinema mean to you personally?
The space itself truly fascinates me. It was the place of the first operas, movie projections and as such it deserves to last for many years to come; in this or maybe some other form, but preserving the old spirit in any case. Personally, I was really looking forward to the moment when the Cinema Balkan would open again and host events of this type.