Nemanja Ostojic performed an Evening of Classical Guitar in the Ruth Lilly Performance Hall on Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m. The performance was part of the Faculty Artist Concert Series.
Ostojic has been playing classical guitar for 23 years. He released his album, “First Born” in 2011 and began working at UIndy in 2014, teaching guitar and performing as part of the Faculty Artist Concert Series.
“I just love music, and I love playing,” Ostojic said. “I realized that I could follow the path of becoming a professional and actually be able to support myself and turn it into an occupation. I think it’s really nice to be able to do what you like and be able to live [off] of it. It’s really special.”
His selections came from Georg Philip Telemann’s “Twelve Fantasies for Solo Violin,” “Sonato for Guitar” composed by Antonio Jose, “Un Sueno en las Floresta” by Augustin Barrios Mangore, and “Sevilla” by Issac Albeniz. Ostojic also performed “Lament for the Seas” and “Against the Earth” from “Especes Perdues (Lost Species),” which was a collaborative effort between him and composer Aaron Travers.
“It was particularly pleasing to perform the brand new piece by composer Aaron Travers, from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music,” Ostojic said. “This was a piece that we worked on together that furthered our collaboration as a performer and a composer so that was a very unique experience, and I probably enjoyed that the most.”
The piece is representative of environmental concerns, particularly in regard to extinctions already caused and the problems to come if human impact on the climate continues to be ignored, according to Travers.
“I think that was mutual to us,” Ostojic said. “We both love animals, and we both are passionate about the treatment of animals, both farm animals and wild animals as well. The song just deals with how we, as humans, have a tendency to not care so much about our planet when we really should.”
Professor of Music Paul Krasnovsky attended the concert to support his friend and colleague.
“It [‘Especes Perdues’] just had so many interesting effects in it,” Krasnovsky said. “Just the scent of it that it expressed about the environment with the situation that we have going on now in the world. It’s just sort of scary, I suppose, because so many strange things are going on.”
Both Krasnovsky and Ostojic encourage students to attend FACS performances, as well as others.
“It’s [attending concerts] a beautiful way to concentrate on a kind of style of music that you may not be familiar with,” Krasnovsky said. “So much of the time, people don’t focus; they don’t concentrate; they’re not really in the moment, so they can’t possibly fully appreciate the richness of an experience. When you go to a concert, you are in a room filled with people who are focused and concentrated on the same thing, and that creates a level of your ability to experience the evening which is very rich, I would say.”
Ostojic wants students to have the opportunity to learn more about different kinds of music, including classical guitar. He said that everyone is welcome and that L/P credit is always available for performances.
“Most people know what guitar is and what guitar playing is, but not everybody, especially in this day and age, knows about classical guitar,” Ostojic said. “So it’s kind of cool to see what you can do with an instrument that also has six strings but you play with fingernails and you can make a lot more sound.”
The next event in the Faculty Artist Concert Series is “Spiritual Reveries,” featuring adjunct faculty and pianist Minju Choi. It will be held on Monday,
Feb. 27, at 7:30 p.m. in the Ruth Lilly Performance Hall. The music for the performance dates back to more than 200 years.
Composers featured in this performance include Ferruccio Busoni, Olivies Messaien and Robert Schumann with pieces such as a transcription of J.S. Bach’s “Chaconne in D minor, “Vingt regards sur l’efnfant-Jésus” and “Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17.”
