LJUBICA ŽIVKOVIĆ
Serbia
wwas born in Belgrade in 1952. After having finished Secondary Music School "Josip Slavenski", departments of music theory and solo singing, she continued her studies at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade, at both departments: music theory with Prof. Petar Ozgijan and solo singing with Prof. Zvonimir Krnetić. She graduated from the class of Prof. Radmila Smiljanić. During the course of her studies, she was performing actively as a soloist with the "Collegium Musicum" choir at numerous European concert stages. She performed at more than hundred concerts for the Music Youth, within the cycle "Youth for Youth". As a final year student, she passed the audition for the National Opera of Belgrade, where she was performing as a soloist for 13 seasons in 360 operas (La Traviata, Carmen, The Barber of Seville, Boris Godunov, The Consul, The Daughter of the Regiment, The Queen of Spades, The Bartered Bride, etc. ). She was a guest singer for the opera "Boris Godunov" in Ljubljana for three years, and performed as a soloist for La Traviata, Carmen and The barber of Seville in Novi Sad.
She played the role of Nanny in the film "Boris Godunov" with Ruggiero Raimondi. Alongside with her stage activity, she had been a soloist of the Art Ensemble at the concerts both in the country and abroad for 23 years. She started her pedagogical career in 1994, first at Music School "Jovan Bandur" in Pančevo, then at the oldest Belgrade Music School "Stanković", where she has remained until the present day. Alongside with that, during a three-year period, she was travelling to Banja Luka to help the development of the solo singing department of Music School "Vlado Milošević". She formed her own class at the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade in 2004.
With her pupils and students, she has participated at solo singing competitions both in the country and abroad: "Jeunesse Musical", the International Competition of Young Musicians "Petar Konjovic", Republic competitions of Serbia and the Republic of Srpska, International Singing Competition "Lazar Jovanović" (that she founded and has been organizing for six years), "The Days Solo Singing" competition in Lazarevac, Singers Competition "J. Marinković" in Belgrade, "The Dawn on the Tisa" in Novi Bečej, the Festival of Music and Ballet Schools of Serbia, "Nikola Cvejić" competition in Ruma. Her pupils and students have won more than two hundred prizes.
After having finished secondary music school, 28 of her pupils continued their education at the Faculty of Music and the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade, as well as at the Music Academies of Novi Sad, Banja Luka, Graz, and Mannheim.
She has founded the vocal ensemble "Operetika", which consists of her current and former pupils and students.
There have been four different programmes on their repertoire: Petar Krstić’s opera for children "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", operettas and musicals, opera arias and ensembles, and the Serbian national treasure. With the constant cooperation with the Music Youth of Serbia, they performed these programmes in many towns in Serbia (Pančevo, Zrenjanin, Valjevo, Obrenovac, Sopot, Mladenovac, Kovin, and Beograd). The ensemble also performed at the Ilija M. Kolarac Foundation, Sava Centre, "Cvijeta Zuzorić" Pavilion, Belgrade City Assembly, as well as in "Halls of the Ban" cultural centre in Banja Luka and theatres in Timisoara, Budapest and Moscow.
She has participated as a jury member at the following competitions: "Petar Konjović" in Belgrade, "Nikola Cvejić" in Ruma, Republic competitions of Serbia and the Republic of Srpska, "The Days of Solo Singing" in Lazarevac, "Davorin Jenko" International Competition, the Festival of Music and Ballet Schools of Serbia, Singers Competition "J. Marinković" and "Raspevano proleće" in Pančevo.
She was awarded a prize from the Association of Music and Ballet Pedagogues of Serbia for the results achieved in her long-time pedagogical work.
