"PriVocali" in the epilogue traces the tradition of the Macedonian song

"The language may not be understood, but the music speaks for itself" was a kind of maxim that accompanied the entire concert of the "Pro Ars" choir, which was baptized "12 months" with as many songs from the treasury of Macedonian music. Under the leadership of the conductor Sasho Tatarchevski, the choir has broken down the arrangements of the Macedonian composer Zhivolin Glishikj, which are summarized in a single major work, while the title touches on the nuances of the abstract

There are a total of 12 Macedonian folk songs in the "12 months" concert. It seems that each corresponds to the same month, but this is more of an illusion of the listener. Rhythms and even melodies are created by the "Pro Ars" choir, revealing the musical culture of the neighboring state in Pristina. 

Under the leadership of the conductor Sasho Tatarchevski, the choir has broken down the arrangements of the Macedonian composer, Zhivolin Glishikj, which are summarized in a single major work, after which the concert that closed the seventh edition of the International Festival of Vocal Music in Pristina is named. 

"PriVocal" on Sunday night was closed exactly as befits an event dedicated to vocals. That's all that was at the center of the closing night. It was completely up to the choristers to sing and keep the rhythm with their voices. Especially with a special program with Macedonian folklore works. 

As the conductor Sasho Tatarchevski said at the beginning of the concert, that "the language may not be understood, but the music speaks for itself", so it is possible. Rhythms and beautiful voices that often played solo points were the common language and connection between the performers on stage and the audience in the Amphitheater of the University Library in Pristina. 

They started the performance with the song "Liljano mome". Then they also sang the songs "Kiten, nakite", "Zoshto mi se srdish libe", "Koce berberot", "Po drum odam majche", "Potrchano", "Ni prela gora, ni tkala", "Dervishko mome", "Kinisa da oda", "Cvetinite ochi" and "Davaj me mila mamo". 

They closed the concert with the song "Kalajdzhisko", which was very special. It started with the conductor's claps, the rhythm of which was followed by those of the choir. The numerous applauses of the public have made the choir perform once again the part "Dervishko mome". 

The conductor and founder of the choir, Sasho Tatarchevski, has said that all are traditional songs, some of them much older and newer. He said that these arrangements are difficult to interpret.

"The composer, actually the arranger, is a professor, a famous Macedonian composer who worked with me and Kori, because he knew that it would be very difficult to sing these songs. This is because they are instrumental in the way we think, but we just wanted to push ourselves to do something we haven't done before. We accepted the challenge, even though it took us more time to work on the program, but in the end it is very satisfying to give life to these arrangements which are not very common in the region", he said, adding that the connection of 12 songs with the months of the year is an abstract concept.

"The composer thought about each song, chose them and saw them as a month of the year. If a song seemed to him like January, then he would consider it like that, it is a more abstract concept, it is not defined", he said while he said that the work process in general was very satisfactory. 

"It was a lot of fun to do this project. We performed it once in Skopje and once in Ohrid, now it is the third time we have given life to this cycle of works. The choir has existed for 11 years now and we are the 'de facto' choir of the Macedonian Philharmonic, although not officially, but we work together on all works with vocal-instrumental music", conductor Tatarchevski said further. 

He received his master's degree in choral, symphonic and operatic conducting at the Faculty of Music in Skopje. He attended conducting masterclasses in New York, Rome, Berlin, Saint Petersburg, Florence, Sarteano and Moscow. Tatarchevski has performed with the Macedonian Philharmonic, the Macedonian Opera and Ballet, the Monastery Chamber Orchestra, the ICE Symphony Orchestra - Rome, the Hermitage Symphony Orchestra, the Monastery Opera and many other choral, chamber and symphonic ensembles.

He has performed a large number of concerts and won international awards with various ensembles in Portugal, Spain, France, Britain, Belgium, Greece, Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Serbia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Russia, Austria, Slovakia, Romania , Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary and Turkey. Also, he has won several awards in conducting. Currently, he works as a professor at the Faculty of Music in Skopje and as a conductor of the orchestra "FM Soloists" and the mixed choir "Dragan Shuplevski".
Maestro Tatarchevski is a jury member in several international competitions, directs the International Choral Forum in Struga as artistic director, and is a board member and artistic advisor of the World Youth Choir Foundation.

It was the first time that "Pro Ars Choir" performed in Pristina. But for the conductor Tatarchevski, the music scene in Pristina is a well-known cultural space. He was the conductor at the concert where the Kosovo Philharmonic Choir opened the season on October 15. The concert was a combination of world works, eras and different styles. 

Chorister Elena Vasola considered that with the concert "12 months" the music scene of North Macedonia was presented in Pristina. 

"It was a great pleasure to prepare this program. At first we were afraid since they are original works, we were under some pressure. I think it is the best repertoire we have performed and I believe that in the future we will perfect it more by practicing each time. The works are in the Macedonian language, all Macedonian songs. We presented Macedonia in Pristina", she said. 
The director of the "PriVocal" festival, Hajrullah Syla, said that the concert program was quite demanding.
"A program that was really well done by the choir, whom I congratulate, as well as the conductor Sasho Tatarchevsky, who has done a very good job with them. I personally know it as a choir and I had the opportunity to work with them in Skopje. They are at a very high professional level and I believe that this was also observed tonight in their performance", said Syla. 

This year, the international vocal festival held its seventh edition from October 14 to 20. Syla said that the seventh edition of the festival was successful.

"The edition started on Monday the 14th with Adelina Paloja, which was well received by the public, a concert with a varied program. We had the realization of an opera that is not usual in terms of the realization of a traditional opera. It was an opera created in a different form, a virtual orchestra and with the performance of soloists, with a modest scenography, but that was the idea of ​​the opera", said Syla. 

The soprano Paloja had opened "PriVocal", bringing the world and local lyrical repertoire to the recital concert in Pristina. The title of the concert - "Eternal echoes" with the pianist Lirika Pula-Kasapolli and the string quartet "Amati" - was in the spirit of the event which celebrates the eternity of sound.