Božidar Boki Milošević

Božidar "Boki" Milošević ( (1931-12-31) December 31, 1931) is a renowned Serbian and Yugoslav clarinetist.

Božidar Boki Milošević
Background information
Birth name	Božidar Milošević
Also known as	Boki
Born	(1931-12-31) 31 December 1931 Prokuplje, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Genres	Folk, classical, jazz, evergreen
Occupation(s)	Soloist, orchestral musician
Instruments	Clarinet
Years active	1947 (1947) – present
Labels	PGP RTB

Biography

Image from early childhood, Božidar with his sister Paraskeva.

Birth

He was born in Prokuplje to father Krsta, a farmer (1892–1968), and mother Vidosava, a housewife (1896–1971). After completing primary school in 1947, self-taught, he began playing the clarinet.

Education

In 1950 he came to Belgrade. This is where he started studying the English language at the Faculty of Philology. At the same time, he worked at the National Orchestra of Radio Television Belgrade, which was then led by the famous Vlastimir Pavlović Carevac. Since that year, he has launched into a successful music career. The same 1950 he passed I preparatory class at the School of Music Josip Slavenski in Belgrade, under professor Franjo Partlić, and automatically entered the second grade. He became a member of the sextet Duško Radetić in Radio Belgrade from its founding in 1951.

In 1951 music editor of Radio Belgrade, Djordje Karaklajić, formed the Great National Orchestra RTB and was its principal conductor. He arranged the Yugoslav folk melodies. The Orchestra was also conducted by Dušan Skovran, a rector of the Music Academy in Belgrade, and Djura Jakšić, a headmaster of the Music School Slavenski in Belgrade. Božidar Milošević regularly performed in this Orchestra.

Božidar Milošević had played regularly for 30 years to President Josip Broz Tito and Jovanka Broz, as well as to statesmen from all over the world who made official visits to the President. He played to them at: Brijuni, The White Palace, The Federal Executive Council, Bled, The Old Palace.

From 1952 to 1956 he continued musical education in the High Music School Slavenski under professor Franjo Partlić. During 1955–1958, he used to play in the String Orchestra RTB under the direction of Ilija Genić – Baćka.

After the death of Carevac in 1956, the violinist Rade Jašarević Rade Jašarević was appointed as the new head of the National Orchestra of Radio Television Belgrade. Božidar Boki Milošević was still playing in the Orchestra as a soloist on the clarinet.

From 1956 to 1960 he studied at the Music Academy in Belgrade. He was with the first generation of clarinetists (Ernest Ačkun, Mihailo Živanović, Milenko Stefanovic and Božidar Milošević) in the class of Bruno Brun. Then, under Bruno Brun, he entered postgraduate studies (1960–1963).

Works

From 1960 to 1966 he worked as a professor of clarinet at the Music School Slavenski which was a part of the Music Academy in Belgrade. In 1966 he moved to Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra and became its member and soloist.

After the death of the violinist Rade Jašareviđ in a car accident, Bozidar Milošević had become 1976 the head of the famous National Orchestra of Radio Television Belgrade and worked there until his retirement in 1980. He had been an instrumental soloist of the orchestra for 30 years.

Tours and concerts

As a soloist performer, he had tours and concerts all over the world. In the 1950s in Israel, London, Vienna, Berlin, across the United States, Colombia, Guatemala, Canada, Mexico and ... Touring the Soviet Union in 1971, he visited more than half of the Soviet Union. There he composed his first composition Vlaska storm.

Recordings, phonograph records, CDs and reviews

With the sextet Duško Radetić, the Orchestra of Radio Television Belgrade, the Grand National Orchestra RTB and others, he made many lasting and valuable recordings of the Yugoslav national heritage.

As an instrumental soloist, he made countless shows in radio and television programs in many European countries as well as in the New York NBC television. Here, in the country, in addition to regular appearances, his two special TV shows in which he presented himself as a complete musician performing at a high level classical, jazz, evergreen, and folk music are still remembered. He has made a lot of records and CDs, mostly for record label PGP RTB.

Both domestic and foreign music critics gave very high ratings and opinions about Milosevic's music-making.

Significance and contribution

Maestro International, valuable and favorite master's degree to Boki Milošević.

With his original style of playing the clarinet, Božidar Milošević has worked in the development of folk music and setting of its standards, criteria, and evaluation.

He is a role model and measure of value for many young generations of clarinetist. He has introduced a severe-educated way of playing the clarinet in folk music, not from any element of academic level of playing the clarinet and his approach.

He has made many valuable recordings of all genres (from Mozart's Divertimento and the A major concert for the clarinet and orchestra, to jazz concert of Artie Shaw, through melodies eternally living, to melodious Vranje and his featuring compositions of southern Serbia...) for Radio Belgrade, Radio Novi Sad, Radio Titograd, Radio Sarajevo, Radio Skopje, Radio Zagreb and Radio Ljubljana.

Prizes and awards

Prof. and Magister Božidar Milošević with his many trophies won by a hard, dedicated and devoted work during 65 year companionship with the clarinet.

1. Third prize in the Youth Competition of Clarinetists in Ljubljana, 1956
2. Special prize at the Competition of Young Artists of Yugoslavia (classical music) in Zagreb, 1959
3. He received the Order of Labour with silver wreath for outstanding contributions to the spread of music culture from President Tito in 1971
4. Oscar of popularity in 1999, Radio Television Review in 2001, 2005, 2006 and 2008
5. Viktor Award ("Yesenin") for the best instrumentalist in 2002 and 2003, RTV Novi Sad.
6. Melko (17 consecutive years, starting from 1981), the best instrumental performer in the folk music, the Association of folk and pop music, Belgrade.
7. Status of an exceptional artist, the Union of folk and pop music, Belgrade
8. The award for fostering musical heritage of the Serbs, Yugoslav Club the Serbian people around the world to Boki New York – Chicago, June 1994.
9. Meastro International Award in 2008, the International Music Center of Belgrade.
10. Association for fostering tradition and heritage preservation of Nis Old Nis – Nis Europe Concert awarded Master's letter for Lifetime Achievement to Božidar Milošević, for the remarkable and entire contribution to the preservation of Serbian tradition and culture and fostering original folk songs and music of the Serbian people, 5 December 2008
11. Golden Chain Award for constant contribution to the culture of Belgrade, 26 January 2000, Belgrade Cultural and Educational Association

Festivals, composition and awards

Božidar Milošević is a multiple winner at numerous festivals in the country and abroad. There is almost no such music event, where the audience and the jury did not award him first prize:

• At the Belgrade Sabor in 1972, his composition Cuno’s Round Dance won the first prize.
• At the International Music Festival of Clarinetists in Tunisia in June 1973, in the category of clarinetists from around the world (25 nations took part), his composition Kostana’s Mekam Dance won the first prize. The award was handed out to him by the president of Tunisia, Habib Bourguiba.
• At the Ilidza Festival 1973 in Sarajevo, with the composition Koštanin mekam čoček, he won the first prize.
• At the Ilidza Festival 1974, with the composition Pastoral Ballad, he became a triple winner and was awarded the first prize for composition, arrangement and performance.
• At the Belgrade Sabor in 1974, with the composition Oriental Elegy he won the first prize.
• At the Folk Music Festival in Paris in 1975, with the composition Call from the Mountain, he won the first prize of the jury.
• At the Belgrade Sabor in 1975, with Radivoj Lazić’s composition Pupil’s Round Dance, he won the first prize.

Related pages

• Bruno Brun
• Vlastimir Peričić, Students of Bruno Brun, 1978.

More reading

• Lexicon of Yugoslav music, Zagreb, 1984, vol. II, 15
• 40 years of Faculty of Music (Music Academy) 1937–1977, University of Arts, Belgrade, 1977, p 98
• 50 years of Faculty of Music (Academy of Music), University of Arts, Belgrade, 1988, 153 pages.

Other websites

• All about the clarinet and clarinetists Archived 2013-12-07 at the Wayback Machine

Death

Milošević died on 15 April 2018 in Belgrade at the age of 86.