A chance meeting between a Pelham music school owner and a renowned flautist from Serbia has resulted in the musician coming to Pelham for a special charity concert on Oct. 19. Snježana Pavićević, flautist with the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra will be performing alongside pianist Vladimir Vanja Šćepanović, a renowned musician in his own right, at Fonthill United Church.
The show came about as the result of a trip to Greece two years ago when Vicky Vlassis-Radulovich, owner of the Strive Music School based out of Fonthill United Church, was overseas visiting relatives.
“It was my relative who introduced me to this friend of hers and who ended up staying with us for a few days, as a professional flautist,” Vlassis-Radulovich said. “We had a nice chat about this and that.”
That professional flautist was Pavićević.
Vlassis-Radulovich was surprised to hear from the musician and hear that she was on this side of the world and was completing a North American tour with a show in Toronto on Oct. 17.
“She said, if you're interested, I'd be happy to perform for your music school.”
And after speaking with church treasurer Jim Bradley, the deal was done.
Pavićević has collaborated with many orchestras and conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Muhai Tang, Mihail Jurowsky, Kiril Petrenko, Krzysztof Penderecki, and Howard Griffiths among others.
Besides her orchestral engagements, she also plays with various chamber ensembles and performs recitals with flute, piccolo and alto flute – solo and with piano accompaniment.
She collaborates permanently with “Ensemble Studio 6” for contemporary music and they perform primarily contemporary works in Serbia.
Šćepanović, meanwhile, has performed more than 100 full-evening concerts featuring major works by composers from the Baroque period to the 21st century, as well as concerts which premiered works by Serbian, Italian, Slovenian, American, and Armenian composers.
The concert is a fundraiser with proceeds from the show going to the church’s outreach programs, which help support various local charities. While there is no admission fee there will be a free-will offering collected at the show.
“We want to make it accessible to everybody,” Vlassis-Radulovich said.
