Naše kulturno bogastvo - Razvojni center Srca Slovenije

Tamburitza orchestraŠmartno pri litijiŠmartno near Litija boasts a richcultural life which is witnessed bythe Cultural and Arts Societies witha decades-long tradition, amongthem the Tamburitza OrchestraŠmartno near Litija. Their historygoes back to 1892 and is consideredthe oldest tamburitza group inSlovenia.The preserved cash book is a documenton the constitutional festivityof the choir at the beginning of the20th century. The Tamburitza Choir ofŠmartno near Litija, as it was originallycalled, was at first led by Ivan Bartl fromŠmartno near Litija. There are only afew written sources and photographson the orchestra of a later date. Theinitiative to revive the tamburitza groupwas given in 1983 by the artistic directorof the folklore group of the Cultural-Arts Society Folklore Group Javorje, IdaDolšek. At the time the group was ledby Urška Meglič, and later on by MarjanJanežič Jr. and Janko Slimšek. In 2002,the Tamburitza Group of Šmartno nearLitija which had already grown into anorchestra was taken over by the artisticdirector Helena Vidic who majored inComposition and Conducting at theMusic Academy in Ljubljana. Under herleadership the group grew into one ofthe best Slovenian orchestras, which isevidenced by their achievements at nationaland international competitions.In January 2010, the Society left theCultural and Arts Society Javorje and isactive today under the name of CulturalSociety Tamburitza Orchestra Šmartnonear Litija. During the last two years theactivities of the tambouritza players inŠmartno outgrew the frameworks of thesections so they decided to become anindependent society.At the moment there are 36 activetamburitza players, which has earnedthem the right to be among the largesttamburitza groups in Slovenia. Themembers are mostly young since morethan a half of them are under 30 yearsof age. The youngest tamburitza is 11years old, while the oldest is 71. There arethree sections of the tamburitza playersof Šmartno near Litija: the TamburitzaOrchestra, the Plectrum Group and theyouth section.The members of the Orchestra masterall five instruments from the tamburitzafamily: bisernica, brač, tamburaško čelo,bugarija and berda belonging to theplucked string instrument group. Theyhave rehearsals all the year round, twicea week in the Šmartno elementaryschool. Over the recent years they havebeen participating in about 35 appearancesannually. When the Orchestraperforms independently, the memberswear uniforms which they take care ofthemselves.Their repertoire is very diverse and comprisesover one hundred compositions.Most of them are arrangements of Slovenianfolk music and arrangements offoreign songs. Over recent years HelenaVidic has been helping them to broadentheir repertoire by including arrangementsof classical music, gipsy music,folk melodies and original works.Music is a very important element of theOrchestra; in addition, the Orchestra existsas a special social group. Within theOrchestra, different relationships, habitsand unwritten rules are intertwined andthey all depend on the generation- andprofession-related structure as well ason the occasions when the Orchestraperforms. The members keep in contactalso after rehearsals and performances,in particular when one of them has abirthday. Sometimes they surprise amember with a serenade on the occasionof their name’s day.21