Serbia: 19th Annual Children's Festival of Slovak Folk Songs Held in Vojvodina

Selenca, 8 February (TASR-correspondent) - The 19th annual children's festival of Slovak folk songs, called 'Nightingales from Selenca', took place on Friday and Saturday (6 and 7 February) in the village of Selenca near Novi Sad in Vojvodina, Serbia, TASR has learnt from its Vojvodina correspondent.
        The festival was jointly organised by the local Jan Kollar Primary School and the Bells Chamber Choir. The event was once again comprised of two non-competitive concerts.
        The first concert featured 27 nursery and lower primary school students, while the second featured 26 singers from higher grades.
        They were accompanied by the children's orchestra called 'Little Orchestra', which is affiliated with Jan Kollar Primary School in Selenca and the Bells Chamber Choir. "Thank God for sending us these people - first of all, parents who are willing to support the children in their singing and musical activities... Year after year, the children develop such a strong connection to this festival and to Slovak folk songs that they like to approach me with new ideas. The second concert is over, but I already had two children registered for next year's edition yesterday," said Juraj Sudi, music culture lecturer and leader of Little Orchestra, has told TASR.
        The orchestra has been active at Jan Kollar Primary School in Selenca since 1992. Its members have performed at events in Serbia, as well as in Slovakia and Croatia. Little Orchestra has won first prize at the Vojvodina Children's Music Festival for nine times, and it was awarded the Golden Plaque at the nation-wide competition of school orchestras in Serbia.