“The New Year Concert of the Banja Luka philharmonic, which took place on January 14 in the full concert hall of the Cultural Center Banski dvor, proved how professional and serious the symphony orchestra is”, the orchestra`s director, Ivan Otašević, said.

After the concert Otašević said that the Banja Luka Philharmonic developed into a serious symphony orchestra.

“Two years after we were founded there are still certain staff issues that we are facing, but we have managed to create in Banja Luka what nobody had before with the local staff involved”, Otašević said and added that this year`s New Year Concert was better than the one form the last year.

He thanked the RS Ministry of Education and Culture, the RS Ministry of Family, Youth and Sport and the Mayor of Banja Luka, Mr Dragoljub Davidović, for making it possible for the concert to take place.

Apart from the Banja Luka philharmonic conductor, Vanesa Kremenović, this year`s concert was conducted by Darinka Matić-Marović as well. Radmila Smiljanić, Dunja Simić, Mladen Đorđević and Arsen Čarkić performed as soloists.

Pieces of Tchaikovsky and Strauss were accompanied by the folk dance ensemble „Veselin Masleša“ and the Serbian Choral Society “Jedinstvo” also performed.