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The first Serbian choral society in Serbia proper, founded in 1853 as the Belgrade Choral Society (Beogradsko pevačko društvo, henceforth BCS), renamed in 1929 as the First BCS. Working under the auspices of the royal family Obrenović, it was originally a male choir, later a mixed choir, and included a music school. Due to the lack of choir compositions in the Serbian language during the first years of BCS’s work, with Milan Milovuk, the repertoire was based on songs by German, Czech, Russian, and Hungarian composers. The national orientation, resulting in arrangements and stylizations of folk melodies and other compositions, was encouraged by Stevan Todorović, at various times a board member or the president and the main ideologist of the choral society, especially during the engagement of the most prominent Serbian composers as conductors, including Kornelije Stanković, Davorin Jenko, and Josif Marinković, culminating with Stevan Mokranjac. Mokranjac promoted his own choral music, as well as that of his contemporaries and predecessors, not only in the capital of Serbia and the places where a dispersed Serbian population lived (in what is now Vojvodina, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Macedonia), but also in Greece, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire/Turkey, Russia, and Germany, performing concerts for the kings, emperors, and a sultan with great success. This peak in BCS history (...

Organization founded in 1930 “to train American orchestra musicians in orchestral techniques and repertoire, providing them with the necessary experience and level of expertise to enter professional orchestra careers.” Originally called the American Orchestral Society and later reorganized by Mary Flagler Cary, Franklin Robinson, and Léon Barzin, the Association gave its first concert at Carnegie Hall on 28 October 1930, making it the oldest training orchestra in the United States. Barzin, who later became founding music director of the New York City Ballet, led the Association until 1958 and again from 1970–76. He remained involved with the organization into his 90s, and an annual award has been given in his honor. The orchestra has not only explored the standard repertory but has also given more than 60 world premieres, 25 American premieres, and 60 New York premieres. It has rehearsed and performed under such guest conductors as Aaron Copland and Bernard Haitink, and has accompanied soloists such as Emanuel Feuermann, Myra Hess, Philippe Entremont, and Itzhak Perlman. During World War II, the orchestra played at army camps and hospitals and gave 25 war-bond concerts over the New York radio station WQXR. It was the official orchestra of the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto in ...

Bulgarian composers’ union. The first association of Bulgarian musicians was known as Săvremenna muzika—druzhestvo na bălgarskite komponisti (‘Contemporary Music—Bulgarian Society of Composers’), and was founded on 24 January 1933 by Pancho Vladigerov, Dimităr Nenov, Assen Dimitrov, Lyubomir Pipkov, Petko Staynov, Andrey Stoyanov, Veselin Stoyanov, and Tsanko Tsankov. Chaired by A. Stoyanov they adopted the following roles: president Staynov, vice-president Vladigerov, secretary-treasurer Nenov, and control board (Dimitrov, Pipkov, and V. Stoyanov). The founders pursued the following objectives: to create interest in Bulgarian music; to encourage composers to use folklore; to create better working conditions for composers; to assist poor and needy composers; and to maintain the status and reputation of established Bulgarian composers.

Performances of Bulgarian music were considered the chief priority. This society existed until 1944. On 12 February 1947, 17 people established a new Asotsiatsiya na bălgarskite kompozitori i muzikolozi (‘Association of Bulgarian Composers and Musicologists’) as a successor to Săvremenna muzika (‘Contemporary Music’), in order to unite musicians and disseminate Bulgarian music. The president was L. Pipkov, vice-president Ivan Kambourov, secretary V. Krăstev, and treasurer B. Ikonomov. After a month, on 17 March, performing artists joined the Association, though they left again on ...

[Society of Romanian Composers, Union of Composers, Uniunea Compozitorilor și Muzicologilor din România]

Professional association of Romanian composers and musicologists. It was founded in 1920 as the Society of Romanian Composers (SRC) and its main purpose was to support Romanian music. The objectives that it has pursued ever since have been to encourage native composition, to promote it through concerts and the publishing of scores, and to defend the interests of Romanian musicians both at home and abroad. Among the musicians who established the SRC were Ion Nonna Otescu, Alfred Alessandrescu, Constantin Brăiloiu, Tiberiu Brediceanu, George Dima, Dumitru Kiriac, Mihail Jora, Filip Lazăr, Dimitrie Cuclin, Constantin Nottara, Mihail Andricu, Theodor Rogalski, and Ion Vidu. Its first elected president, George Enescu, served this role for 28 years. In more than nine decades of existence, the institution has known highs and lows, always in close connection to the social and political events that have shaped Romania. In its first phase (1920–44), the SRC honourably fulfilled its mission, including for the duration of World War II, largely due to the efforts of Brăiloiu, Alessandrescu, Jora, and Enescu. It entered into decline after the war, as Romania became part of the Soviet sphere of influence. The forced politicisation of institutions, through state-imposed communist ideology, also affected the SRC....