@Café Pink House in Saratoga, CA, February 17, Wednesday

An interesting diverse program of American Standard Classics (Gershwin, Ellington, Porter), Jazz styles of various eras, World Music – Balkan/Gypsy – Roma, Latin/Brazilian/Tango Jazz & Classical Music influences.

Pianist Larry Vuckovich came to San Francisco in 1951 as a teenager from Montenegro – former Yugoslavia. He was fortunate to experience the heyday of jazz of which the '50s decade had some of the richest and most diverse developments happening. He heard such great big bands as Harry James, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Woody Herman as well as small groups as Miles Davis, MJQ, Bill Evans, Red Garland, Sonny Rollins, just to name a few. He brings to the solo piano format all the impressions he absorbed from that period and more which developed later throughout his performances with the masters Mel Torme, Jon Hendricks, Dexter Gordon, Philly Joe Jones, Bobby Hutcherson, Charlie Haden, Charles McPherson, Tom Harrell & more. He was fortunate to study classical piano at SF State with the noted Russian classical master pianist Vladimir Brenner. Larry Vuckovich is recognized for his piano touch where he incorporates some European classical themes fused with jazz. Larry is also recognized as a pioneer in the U.S. for combining the Balkan Folk influences with Jazz which is found on his landmark recording "Blue Balkan" featuring Bobby Hutcherson. We hope you will join us for a unique solo piano presentation.

Please join the Njegos Endowment for Serbian Language and Culture at Columbia University's East Central European Center and the Harriman Institute for a screening of the film Enclave (2015) followed by a Q&A with director Goran Radovanović.

Synopsis: A Christian boy, determined to create a proper community burial for his late grandfather, crosses enemy lines and makes friends among the Muslim majority in deeply divided, war-torn Kosovo. Focused on a tiny Serb community living in a UN-protected enclave in Muslim Kosovo, Enclavelooks at the legacy of ethnic cleansing and internecine conflict through the eyes of a small boy, Nenad. Every day Nenad is taken to school from his father’s farm in a KFOR armored car to study alone in a school with no other pupils. Like any other boy of his age, all Nenad wants are some friends his own age. Each day, through narrow observation slits in the military vehicle he sees two Albanian boys and a shepherd boy – who has lost his father in the war and hates Serbs.

Dr. Krinka Vidaković-Petrov is a scholar, professor, diplomat, translator and journalist. She holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature. Currently she is Senior Fellow (Full Professor) affiliated with the Institute of Literature and Arts in Belgrade, Serbia. Her fields of interest are comparative literature and folklore, Hispanic and Jewish Studies, Balkan and Serbian Studies, emigrant culture, Holocaust studies, literary translation, international relations.

The Nikola Tesla Educational Corporation (NTEC) has started an initiative to rename the upper portion of "Burlington Street", in Hamilton, Ontario, to "Nikola Tesla Boulevard". Tesla was a genius who changed the world, and influenced the industrialization of Hamilton a century ago, specifically around Burlington Street. On October 14th, 2015 The Hamilton City Council approved the proposal of the name change under the condition that NTEC raises up to $150,000 to cover the costs of signage.

Једина школа у Чикагу у којој се учи на српском и руском језику, Академија „Свети Сава“ основана при Српској православној цркви, одлуком градоначелника добила је свој дан – 27. јануар.

Данашњи дан у Чикагу по први пут ће осванути као Дан Академије „Свети Сава“. Одлуком градоначелника Емануела Рама 27. јануар званично је проглашен за дан основне школе Српске православне цркве, која је основана при чикашком Саборном храму Васкрсења Христовог. У образложењу, Рам је навео да је Академија „Свети Сава” једина основна школа у Чикагу која нуди целодневно двојезично образовање на српском и руском језику, као и да има „ програм образовања утемељен на православљу који деци даје чврст духовни оријентир како у учионици, тако и ван ње”. Он је приметио и да се број ученика од оснивања школе утростручио и да сваке године расте за 17 одсто. „ Позивам све становнике Чикага да препознају трајне доприносе академије  и њихово чврсто уверење у снагу образовања које је подигло генерације житеља нашег града”, закључио је градоначелник пре него што је потписао и печатом оверио своју одлуку.

Pulitzer Prize Photojournalist Kim Komenich to release new book just in time for 30th anniversary of EDSA Revolution... With your help!

About this project

The 30th anniversary of the 1986 Philippine “People Power” Revolution will be celebrated from February 22-25, 2016. That week, Filipinos from around the world will be honoring the millions who took to the streets during those four miraculous days, putting their lives on the line to protect their democracy.

In honor of the anniversary I am in the process of publishing a collector-quality book of my photos of the fall of the Ferdinand Marcos regime, including the images that were awarded the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography.

The Mayor's proclamation also noted that Saint Sava Academy is "the only full-time elementary school in Chicago offering dual language education in both Serbian and Russian languages," "offers a safe community where students are able to express their culture and religious beliefs," and "sustains an Orthodox faith-based education that provides students a strong spiritual compass both inside and outside the classroom."

Leaders of Holy Resurrection Cathedral and Saint Sava Academy warmly welcomed the Mayor's proclamation.

The book on Serbia’s Christian Heritage in Kosovo and Metohija, its heartland in medieval times and through Ottoman domination, in recent months introduced to a wide reading public the oldest and richest treasury of Serbian medieval history and culture. Many university libraries were very pleased to have a copy of this high-quality publication, outlining the spiritual and artistic heritage of the Serbian Orthodox Church. It has been added to reference collections and now many students and faculty will make use of the ready access to it.

Филм „Добра жена”, редитељски првенац глумице Мирјане Карановић, имаће светску премијеру на предстојећем Санденс филмском фестивалу у САД. Филм наше глумице и редитељке изабран је међу 12 филмова који ће се такмичити у међународном такмичарском програму фестивала.

„Добра жена”, за коју је Мирјана Карановић писала и сценарио, уз сараднике Стевана Филиповића и Дарка Лунгулова, је филм о суочавању са личном прошлошћу. Након тридесет година брака, главна јунакиња сазнаје тајну о свом мужу, због које је присиљена да донесе одлуку да ли да настави да живи скривајући истину од себе саме, или да остави све оно што је дотад стекла и започне самостални живот, што је у њеним годинама прилично застрашујуће.

The story portrays the various experiences of Simona’s love and the affect of those experiences on her life and the lives of others, beginning with her first love, the unexpected ending of that relationship, and continuing through her dysfunctional marriage. The book is available on Amazon UK.

“I have already started working on a preliminary work for my new historical novel, entitled, In The Shadows of the Setting Sun: Legend about Hasan Pasha Predojevic. Because of the extensive research of the history of the second half of the sixteenth century, I may not be able to brag next year to tell you that I finished six novels in six years. However, this work is in progress and, as our people would say, ‘When you begin to do somethind, half of the work is done,’” said Marta.