miroslav popović

“On the path to a truly good performance, the one who plays is not preoccupied with playing, nor with interpretation as such — but with the being of the musical work itself.”“The paradox of fine, meaningful playing is that it stays out of focus, leaving only the music to be heard.”“The strength of an interpretation lies in the tension of a wire stretched between two poles: the performer’s relentless devotion to uncover the score’s musical promise, and the power of their own artistic individuality and creativity that cannot — and should not — be neutralized.”

A pianist and Doctor of Musical Arts.Although the interpretation of classical repertoire forms the core of his artistic focus, his musical outlook reaches beyond the boundaries of genre, style, and era — in pursuit of an authentic musical expressiveness, whether in creating, listening to, or connecting with music.He also engages in composition and arrangements for both standard and unconventional ensembles. His performance activity includes solo appearances as well as collaborations with a wide range of chamber groups and artists.He approaches music with curiosity, nuance, and an openness that often resists categorization.

Une barque sur l’océan (from Miroirs) – Maurice RavelLive performance (audio)
from doctoral final recitalVenue Faculty of Music, Belgrade
Date September 27, 2024

Alborada del gracioso (from Miroirs) – Maurice RavelLive performance (audio)
from doctoral final recitalVenue Faculty of Music, Belgrade
Date September 27, 2024

La vallée des cloches (from Miroirs) – Maurice RavelLive performance (audio)
from doctoral final recitalVenue Faculty of Music, Belgrade
Date March 27, 2024

Varijacije-slike for piano solo – Miroslav Popović
Variations on the “Greensleeves” tune (about)Live performance (audio)Venue City Hall, Novi Sad
Date September 10, 2024

“Sve što znaš o meni” – a chanson by Arsen Dedić (encore)
Piano rendition by Miroslav PopovićLive performance (audio)Venue City Hall, Novi Sad
Date September 10, 2024

12 Preludes, Book I – Claude Debussy
Danseuses de Delphes • Voiles • Le vent dans la plaine • Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir • Les collines d’Anacapri • Des pas sur la neige • Ce qu’a vu le vent d’ouest • La fille aux cheveux de lin • La sérénade interrompue • La cathédrale engloutie • La danse de Puck • MinstrelsLive performanceVenue City Hall, Novi Sad
Date September 28, 2022

Sonatas K 213 & K 420 – Domenico ScarlattiLive performanceVenue City Hall, Novi Sad
Date September 28, 2022

Toccata in D Major, BWV 912 – J. S. BachLive performanceVenue The Vatroslav Lisinski Chamber Hall, Zagreb
Date May 6, 2025

Piano Sonata No. 17 in B-flat Major, KV 570 – W. A. MozartHome audio recordingDate June 2020

3 Pieces from Miroirs – Maurice Ravel
Noctuelles • Oiseaux tristes • Alborada del gracioso6 Preludes from Book I – Claude Debussy
I Danseuses de Delphes • II Voiles • V Les collines d’Anacapri • IX La sérénade interrompue • X La cathédrale engloutie • XII MinstrelsLive performanceVenue The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Gallery, Belgrade
Date October 12, 2023

Sonatas K 213 & K 420 – Domenico ScarlattiSonata in A-flat Major Hob.XVI:46 – Joseph HaydnLive performanceVenue The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Gallery, Belgrade
Date October 12, 2023

Piéces de clavecin from Suite in D – Jean-Philippe Rameau
La joyeuse • La follette • L’entretien des muses • Les tourbillons • Les cyclopes • Le lardon • La boiteuseLive performance (audio)Venue Faculty of Music, Belgrade
Date October 4, 2021

Sonatina in D for piano solo – Miroslav Popović
(about)Live performance (audio)Venue Faculty of Music, Belgrade
Date October 4, 2021

Visions fugitives, Op. 22 (Complete) – Sergei ProkofievLive performance (audio)Venue Faculty of Music, Belgrade
Date October 4, 2021

5 Preludes (Selection) – George Gershwin
Prelude No. 1 • Prelude No. 2, Blue Lullaby • Novelette in Fourths • Fragment (from Piano Concerto in F) • Sleepless NightStudio recording (audio)Recording session @ Studio M , Radio Novi Sad
Date August 2012

⌘ education →Doctor of Musical Arts
piano @ Faculty of Music, University of Arts in Belgrade
Years • 2020-2025
Advisor • Nataša Mitrović, Full Professor
Reviewer • Tijana Popović Mlađenović, Full ProfessorMaster of Arts in Music
piano @ Academy of Arts, University of Novi Sad
Years • 2003-2008
Class • Vladimir Ogarkov, Guest Professor (Russia)Music School • Elementary & Secondary
piano @ Isidor Bajić Music School, Novi Sad
Years • 1991-2003
Class • Prof. Ivana Branovački

⌘ teaching & appointments →Piano Associate
String Instruments, Department of Music
@ Academy of Arts, University of Novi Sad
Years • 2022-presentPiano Teacher
& Accompanist, also taught Collaborative Piano, Sight Reading and Chamber Music
@ Petar Konjović Music School, Sombor
Years • 2008-2022

✦ masterclasses & mentorships →Dušan Trbojević (RS) • Miroslava Lili Petrović (RS) • Arbo Valdma (DE) • Rita Kinka (RS) • Ninoslav Živković (RS) • Svetlana Bogino (RU) • Pascal Devoyon (DE) • Nenad Kačar (HR) • Prisca Benoît (FR) • Mladen Čolić (FR) • Diane Andersen (BE) and othersAlso followed classes and sessions with:
Jacques Rouvier (FR), Lidija Bizjak (FR), Jokut Mihailović (RS), Aleksandar Serdar (RS) and others

✦ awards & distinctions →Nevena Popović Award
“for the most significant artistic achievement in 2022”
Faculty of Music, University of Arts in BelgradeLaureate • Zagreb International Music Competition (2023)
& special recognition for performance of Debussy’s Préludes, Book IFirst Prize • Competition of Young Pianists, Šabac (2003)First Prize • Isidor Bajić Piano Memorial, Novi Sad (2002)
& special award Frédéric ChopinFirst Prizes • Competition of Young Pianists of Yugoslavia, Niš (1995, 1996)

✦ artistic collaborations →Performed in prominent venues including:
City Hall, Synagogue, and City Concert Hall (Novi Sad), The SASA Gallery, The Kolarac Endowment Hall, The Student Cultural Centre Hall, and The Belgrade Philharmonic Concert Hall (Belgrade), The Vatroslav Lisinski Chamber Hall (Zagreb)Worked with artists and ensembles:
Goran Erić, Radoslava Vorgić-Žuržovan, Ljiljana Lišković, József Biszák, Nemanja Sovtić, Vedran Ferizović, Ljubo Divac, Jelena Šarenac, Lydia Kneip, Dušica Polovina, Mihal Budinski, Nikola Radaković, Teodora Boljanac, Željka Milanović, Berislav Skenderović, Đorđe Marković and others
Klapa Panon, Bilitis Quartet, The Camerata academica Orchestra, The Academy of Arts Orchestra and othersContributed as performer, arranger or composer in numerous festivals, concerts, and stage productions, including SOMUS Festival, Multimod Festival, Kaleidoscope Festival, Doček Festival, Isidor Bajić Piano Memorial, and various radio/TV productions since 1994.

✦ stageways →Keyboardist, arranger & music contributor (2009-2015)
with Josip A Lisac (JAL)

An original band project, rooted in ska and reggae grooves with many stylistic crossovers, featuring arrangements shaped by a deep instrumental sensibility and often wistful lyrics.Over those years, more than 100 live gigs were played at clubs and festivals across the ex-Yugoslav region, and five studio albums came out along the way.Since its early days in 2009, the band remained active, growing steadily, deepening and reshaping its identity while staying rooted in the layered spirit of rock. It holds firmly to ideals shaped in the past — yet its sound feels current and forward-facing.spotify / instagram

✦ curation →A Fest – Robert Schumann (2007)
Student festival @ Academy of Arts, Novi Sad
Programme • Works by Schumann for varied instruments and ensembles
Role • Member of the artistic–organizational boardA Fest – Klasicizam vs. neoklasicizam (2009)
Student festival @ Academy of Arts, Novi Sad
Programme • Music by classical and neoclassical composers
Role • Artistic director

Concert Fantasy on The Magic Flute Overture (2019)
for two pianos and orchestra

The Magic Flute Overture reimagined as a double piano concertante piece with orchestra.The original music has been rewritten into the new parts for two pianos, while the orchestral score was adapted to support and respond to the new material — all with the aim of staying true to the form and musical sense Mozart wove into this piece, while playfully chasing the spark of his pianistic style, where, as he once said, “the notes love one another."
(Listen.)

Also on the album: Concertos KV 242 & 365
Soloists • Prisca Benoit & Mladen Tcholitch (FR)
Cond. / Orchestra • Lavard Skou-Larsen (BR), Salzburg Chamber Soloists
Recorded @ Mozarteum University, Salzburg (2012)
CD & digital release by Pavane Records (Belgium)

Written part of doctoral art project (2025)
Faculty of Music • University of Arts in Belgrade

“Does my score truly reflect the music I was searching for?”
This thought arises from the discomfort a composer may feel after the inner authorial whisper suggests that the new work might be finished. He has repeatedly reached for the ineffable outlines of music, settling them briefly within a tonal strucure. Then, faced with the written page, he moves forward again, into the unknown. A musical work remains unfinished — even after decades of silence on a library shelf. Its musical promise calls to the performer — to be unfolded, reinvented, and offered to the listenerʼs imagination.A score is only seemingly an ordinary set of instructions for performance. The external imperatives of its interpretation are not part of the score itself. There is no such thing as “correct” playing; there is only good playing. But what does that mean? The musical score is a central, enigmatic space where the artistic questioning of both composer and performer meets — a space for creatively uncovering the unique being and meaning of a new musical work.Good playing might be composer-like playing. The performer should not concern themselves with their own performance, but rather with what the composer once trembled before while reaching for the music and its closure. Good playing is an unfinishable debate, an artistic reenactment of the compositional process and a faithful return to its tension-filled terrain. How is that done?

The original abstract can be found here.→ The doctoral artistic project includes, alongside its written part, a performance component featuring works by Bach (Toccata BWV 912 & Partita BWV 825), Ravel (Miroirs), and Miroslav Popović (Varijacije-slike).

Varijacije-slike for piano solo (2018/2024)
Variations on the “Greensleeves” tune • (listen)

The variation sequence is set in motion by the old English melody — its quiet sophistication captivated the composer, opening an uncertain path, touching upon its unspoken musical meanings: in what directions might musical thinking drift — what lilting sound visions, fleeting thoughts, or reveries might be revealed not only to the listener, but also to the composer, in the unfolding of the writing process? These questions stirred the act of composition behind Varijacije-slike, the title of which translates as Variations-Pictures.Its creation and later sound realization played a central role in the doctoral artistic research on the interaction of performer and compositional modes of musical thinking.

• It was also performed as part of a ten-concert tour across Serbia in 2022, by pianist Nataša Mitrović.• The first version of Varijacije-slike appears in the sheet music edition Sélection d’oeuvres pour piano des compositeurs de Serbie (2018), commissioned by the Geneva Conservatory of Music.

Sonatina in D for piano solo (2012)

The initial melodic idea of this Sonatina sparked the intent to write a piece for children. However, the work eventually rounded itself out into a three-movement composition, and despite its more complex textures, it might still be considered somewhat childlike — a notion the composer fully embraces.

• It was recorded by the author in a studio session
Studio M • Radio Novi Sad • 2012
as part of a solo recital project for radio broadcast.
• Scrolling score video of the Sonatina is here.

Stanovi • ska-reggae-rock fusion track (2015)
from the Josip A Lisac album Sve u moje vreme

Usually behind the keyboard parts — and sometimes helping shape the arrangements, musical flow, and overall sound alongside songwriter Vedran Ferizović — Miroslav took a rare solo leap, drawing on the musical goodwill of his bandmates.The song Stanovi (Flats) was born from a recurring image: gazing at rows of apartment blocks and pondering the invisible, overlapping lives unfolding within, not knowing whose plan is grand, whose barely qualifies — and how the whole mess still works, beautifully uncertain as it is. One verse at a time, he shaped it into something melodic, and by the time anyone had doubts, it was too late. Somehow, that felt like a win.Its chorus captures the crammed nature of urban living, saying something like this:
Flats... / One life stacked above another / Plans... / Rising from pavement to attic

Music / lyrics / arr. & production • Miroslav Popović
Album • Sve u moje vreme (All In My Time) • 2015
Special guest • Vojislav Voja Savkov, sax
Sound engineer • Dragan Alimpijević Pik
Recorded @ Studio Road, Novi Sad

Pjesma o ribaru Marinu, Mari i moru • a capella rendition of the punk song (2012)
a Josip A Lisac project, from the original by KUD Idijoti

The vocal arrangement was originally intended to be sung by the band members themselves. However, after two takes during the studio sessions, they found themselves wondering if it might be best to turn to someone who actually knows what theyʼre doing.They reached out to one of the finest vocal ensembles in Novi Sad — and were genuinely delighted when the group actually turned up and nailed it.

Arr. • Miroslav Popović
Album • Sto godina sam ođe (I’m Here for a Hundred Years) • 2012
Sung by • klapa Panon
Producer & sound engineer • Dragan Alimpijević Pik
Recorded @ Studio Road, Novi Sad

Mamma Mia • 6-hand piano version (2020)
from the ABBA original

This six-hand arrangement was written for three fellow piano teachers at the Music School in the leafy Austro-Hungarian town of Sombor, in northern Serbia — where enthusiasm often runs higher than available instruments.Meant as an encore for the school’s summer student concert, the piece aims to reconcile the unapologetic disco pulse and 1970s basslines with the tonal backbone of a proper classical score… or something like it. The piano style is, let’s say, enthusiastically physical.

Arr. • Miroslav Popović
Here’s a computer-generated audio version — an honest Sibelius rendering, for those moments when the band is busy teaching harmony.

The Inspector Clouseau Theme •
for a strange ensemble of 7 instrumentalists (2017)
from the movie track by Henry Mancini

Miroslav and his colleague and friend, entranced by the tempo and general swagger of Mancini’s ever-slinky theme (particularly this version), roped in four more teachers from the Sombor Music School — plus a graduating flautist who clearly knew what she was signing up for — to bring a moment of refined absurdity to the school’s annual Teachers’ Concert.The real inspiration? Someone found a tuba and a metallophone lying around, and that's how decisions get made in this building.

Arr. • Miroslav Popović
Here’s a computer-generated audio version — lovingly exported from notation software, and only marginally less groovy than the live one.

Piano Sessions @Studio M (2012)
for Radio Novi Sad broadcast & sound archive

The following programme was recorded:
ϟ Haydn: Sonata in A-flat Major, Hob.XVI/46
ϟ Prokofiev: Sonata No. 4, Op. 29
ϟ Rachmaninov: 6 Preludes (Am, Dm, Fm, G, B, Bm)
ϟ Popović: Sonatina in D & Jazz Sonatina
ϟ Gershwin: 5 Preludes (No. 1 • No. 2, Blue Lullaby • Novelette in Fourths • Fragment in G Minor • Sleepless Night)
ϟ Debussy: Valse romantiqueProducer & sound engineer • Vladimir Moritz
Recorded @ Studio M, Radio Novi Sad

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