Aleksandar S. Vujić (1945, Serbia), graduated from the Faculty of Music in Belgrade, with degrees in piano, composition and conducting. During his studies he was four times awarded as a student with the best average grade.

He founded the chamber ensemble Sinfonietta and the Madrigal choir of the Faculty of Music in Belgrade, of which he is the chief conductor and art director. He is a full-time professor at the same faculty, and the president of the Association of Serbian Choirs of Fatherland and Diaspora.

His oeuvre consists of choral and chamber works (piano, violin, cello, violin and piano, cello and piano, string duo, string trio, piano trio, string quartet), and compositions for chamber and symphonic orchestra. His works have been printed in the USA, Germany, Italy, Hungary and Serbia. The exclusive publisher of Vujić’s choral pieces is Synkope Verlag from Germany.

His work as a composer brought him several international awards – 1993 Third Prize at the International Choral Competition in Trento, Italy; 1995 First and Third Awards at the “Robert Schumann” International Choral Competition in Zwickau, Germany; 2002 Gold Medal at the Second Choir Olympics in Busan, South Korea; 2009 Gold Medal at the International Choral Competition in Budapest, Hungary.

Serbian Kolo, for string orchestra
The piece was written several years ago. Nowadays it exists in separate versions for different performing ensembles: piano solo, two pianos, four-hand piano, violin and piano, piano trio, string quartet and symphonic orchestra. The version for violin and string orchestra was composed last year.

When wedding guests start to dance the kolo, their hearts overjoyed with rhythm and pulse, and they let go of the real world to a rapid tempo floating on the waves of sound into an endless swirl of physical pleasure brought about by hopping. Pulse, which is very important for Kolo, should get oneself into a trance-like state, owing that to great virtuosity of the violin part. The composition is not based on a pre-existing motive or melody, but inspired by Serbian folk music, given in a modern manner. The piece is conceived as a representative of Serbia.