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The Radio Television of Serbia Choir was founded in 1939. within Radio Belgrade. Its first chief conductor, Milan Bajšanski, built a strategy towards the affirmation of domestic musical heritage, as well as globally significant choral literature and vocal-instrumental works. This strategy has been retained to this day, and defines the eight-decade long artistic biography of this ensemble. The work of the Choir has especially been marked by chief conductors Borivoje Simić, Mladen Jagušt, Vladimir Krаnjčević and Bojan Suđic.
Throughout history, the Choir has performed with numerous prominent conductors and solo artists. It has participated in all significant ex-Yugoslav and Serbian festivals, and has additionally successfully toured in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, England, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Greece and Russia. The Choir is also active in the process of archiving permanent sound recordings, which are being kept in the Sound Archive of Radio Belgrade. In the archive, recordings of the music of domestic artists stands out, as it depicts the ensemble’s active effort towards the preservation and affirmation of national cultural heritage.
The RTS Choir has won various awards including the „October Award of the city of Belgrade“ (1982), the Special Golden Ring award (1989) (Specijalni zlatni beočug) for the promotion of culture and the arts of the city of Belgrade, the Special Golden Ring award (2007) (Specijalni zlatni beočug) for its lasting contribution to the culture of the capital, the „Muzika klasika“ award for the concert of the year (2014), and the Sretenje Order of the Third Degree (2019) for the results achieved in cultural activities during its past 80 years of work.
It is the only professional ensemble of this type in Serbia. Today, its repertoire includes the most significant choral pieces, complex vocal-instrumental and opera pieces, and it nurtures the music of popular genres. The ensemble actively performs contemporary domestic and foreign pieces of music, some of them premiering works dedicated to the Choir itself. It persists with expanding its repertoire, through collaborations with the other ensembles of the RTS Music Production, enhancing the already abuntant collection of the Sound Archive with new, interpretationally modernised recordings. The wide range of artistic aspirations positions the RTS Choir as a renowned ensemble, with a recognizable sound and performing reputation, and as an active participant of the Serbian music scene.
