Press Cuttings
The appearance of Serbian pianist, Natasa Srdic, generated media interest both before and after the competition, as the difficulty of her journey from war-torn Novi Sad made all the more dramatic her subsequent victory in the competiton. Both articles were printed in the "War in Europe" pages of their respective newspapers.
The Herald published this article in the April 26, 1999 edition.
A TEENAGE Serb musician will this week attempt to travel from Novi Sad to Scotland to participate in a piano competition at the weekend, writes Michael Tumulty.
Natasha Srdic, and 18-year-old pianist, hopes to reach Edinburgh to take part in the Rowena Ferguson Memorial Piano Competition, organised by Scottish composer, Nicky Hind in memory of his late mother, a concert pianist.
Mr. Hind said the young Serb had been granted a visa to travel to Britain, though she would be getting here with some difficulty. "I've managed to talk to her father by phone, and, following the NATO bombing of Novi Sad, there appear to be no trains in or out of the city," he said. "Natasha will therefore be traveling by car to the Hungarian border, and from there will be able to get a train to Budapest from where she'll fly to Britain."
Natasha Srdic played in Edinburgh in January this year while she was in the UK to participate in another piano competition. Her presence this weekend will add a special emphasis to the rather unusual competition, which is designed to feature not just classical pianists but also those from folk and jazz traditions.
"We have to recognise that, apart from classical, other forms and traditions are equally profound and important", said Mr. Hind, "and the fact that Natasha will be playing folk-inspired music by Serbian composers will highlight the humanity and richness of Serbian culture and serve as a reminder that not all Serbs are ethnic cleansers and war criminals."
The competition, on Saturday and Sunday at St. Bernard's Church in Edinburgh, will feature 18 pianists from countries including Taiwan, Korea, the US and South Africa.
Phil Miller, Arts Reporter
Natasha Srdic is an accomplished and exciting pianist, who has won an Edinburgh piano competition awarded with her performances of Serbian folk songs.
However, the Yugoslav student is as knowledgeable about the cold realities of NATO attack aircraft and missiles as the intricacies of Mozart and Chopin.
Natasha, 18, lives in Yugoslavia's heavily bombed second city, Novi Sad. She has witnessed dozens of bombing raids which have destroyed every major bridge across the Danube - one hundreds of yards from her family home.
Natasha said that she can now recognise every NATO plane used in the bombing of her homeland. "I'm an expert on F-15s, F-16s, Tomahawks, small bombs, big bombs," she said. "At night they land near my house. At the beginning of the war it was very strange, but now it is very normal, we are used to it."
She won the Rowena Ferguson Memorial Piano Competition on Sunday, organised by the Scottish composer, Nicholas Hind, at St. Bernard's Church, Edinburgh. The piano competition was organised by Mr. Hind in memory of his mother. It brought together 18 young pianists from a diversity of musical backgrounds, including folk and jazz as well as classical music.
Natasha, who will return home this week, said she hopes her performance of Serbian folk music would help people appreciate Serbian culture, and by extension, the Serbian people. "I hope by my playing that people will understand that we are not animals. This is music from centuries ago, and that is why it is so important," she said. "We are having many concerts in Novi Sad. Playing music is important in this time."
Her main worry is that NATO will start a ground war. Her father, Nikola, 47, a professional clarinet player, has been told by Yugoslav authorities to stay in Novi Sad. He will be called to the armed forces in the event of a NATO invasion. Men aged from 16 to 60 are on standby for the Yugoslav army.
Natasha, whose mother, Dusanka, is a piano teacher and whose sister, Milika, 15, plays violin, said she had Yugoslav friends living in Kosovo. She laughed at NATO reports of atrocities in the province. "They said on television that Serbian men raped a million Kosovar girls, but I don't believe it. It's impossible," she said.
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