Charismatic person of free spirit and wide knowledge, parish priest of the Sv. Eustahije (St. Eustace) Church in Dobrota (Roman Catholic Diocese of Kotor, Montenegro), Don Branko Sbutega died at the age of 54 in the night from Wednesday to Thursday, Blessed Ozana Kotorska’s Feast Day April 27, 2006.

— REMEMBER HIM —

Our lives will never be the same and our hearts will be forever broken,
in memoriam.

The interior of the Bay of Kotor is surrounded by high Montenegrin mountains which precipitate towards the waters of the Adriatic, over which the mount Lovcen rises. The reminiscence of the Alpine lake the landscape evokes is so strong that a passenger arriving from the hinterland into the Bay of Kotor cannot even assume that this is just an episode of the Mediterranean Adriatic waters. The feeling of isolation and of being sheltered most probably was the reason why the first urban settlements were created precisely in this part of the bay where people were denied a view of the open sea, but where they were also hidden from the ambitions of numerous enemies cruising the Adriatic.

Numerous charming settlements that developed during centuries testify not only of the ages long harmony created between the man and the nature, but also of the more intense civilization and communication which modeled its diverse architectural forms of the private and public buildings in the Bay of Kotor upon the styles of Gothic, Renaissance and baroque. This reduced and stylistically multilayered town planning charm is recognized even today despite the unstoppable and explosive urban development in recent decades. Churches, palaces, squares and the overall atmosphere seem to revive the spirit of the time in which they were created.

Relying on the relevant music tradition of the Bay of Kotor, which maintained its continuity from the early Middle Ages and intensively fed on the Mediterranean music heritages, young and recognized pianist Ratimir Martinovic started in 2002 an initiative named KotorArt, which was supposed to give the ambiance a music significance in the form of a festival-pedagogic engagement. Searching in the region and wider for artists interested in participating at it, KotorArt has attracted a whole range of eminent artists among which we single out artists such as Aleksandar Serdar, Dejan Sinadinovic, Konstantin Bogino, Kemal Gekic, Lovro Pogorelic, Bozo Paradzik, Ksenija Jankovic, Roman Simovic, Sreten Krstic, Ksenija Akeynikova, Egon Mihajlovic, Ljubisa Jovanovic, Darinka Maric-Matovic, Alun Francis.

Ensambles such as the Zagreb Philharmonic, String orchestra of St. George, Ensamble “Lado”, opera ensemble from Hannover Polyhymnia, which performed for the first time an opera of a Montenegrin composer — “A Girl without Arms” by Tatjana Prelevic, had guest performances at KotorArt.

From the very beginning KotorArt promoted top level performing and pedagogic art providing an opportunity to young music students from the wider region to acquire new knowledge and improve their artistic potential with renowned guests of the festival. The desire for Kotor to become a true place of creative encounters through this initiative is expressed in a special manner by gathering of music youth coming from different European countries who by working and being together during the festival practice a relevant all evening choir programme. This year it will be Stabat Mater of Pergolesi, which is to close the festival on August 14.

KotorArt 2005 begins on the island of Our Lady of the Rocks by a joint performance of Dubrovnik Symphonic Orchestra, the Vojvodina symphonicists and the Chamber Orchestra of KotorArt, who will perform Handle Water Music and Fireworks Music in the ideal context of the petrified ship of Our Lady island. Among numerous distinguished guests we wish to point to the pianist Michail Voskresenski and Itamar Golan, the ensemble Di Villancico from Sweden, string quartet Tartini from Slovenia.

St. Triphun Cathedral, the Church of St. Spirit, the island of Our Lady of the Rocks, as well as numerous squares in Kotor, will again this summer become the target of numerous admirers of music heritage, and the best guarantee of a genuine experience are the renowned performers from the world who, year after year recognize Kotor more and more as the place of true cultural and artistic experience.