Choral Singing in Prijedor

Choral singing has been in existence in our city for about a hundred and thirty years. It is connected with the Serbian Singing Society “Vila” which was established in 1885 but later grew into Serbian Cultural Artistic “Dr Mladen Stojanović“. In the time of its establishment, “Vila” was one of the crucial pillars of culture in the city and a cradle of future cultural and educational institutions, such as Music School and Theatre of Prijedor. As one of the oldest and best choirs on the Balkans, the Choir “Vila” had an honor to sing on the stage of then newly opened building of the Serbian National Theatre in Belgrade in 1923. at a solemn concert on the occasion of Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac’s transfer of relics.

After the war, in 1945 the glory of the Vila was inherited by Workers’ Cultural Artistic Society “Dr Mladen Stojanović“. Its choristers were the participants at the first Niš Choral Festivities. During the next sixty years they performed at many festivals in the then Yugoslavia and abroad. The Society won lots of medals and awards and organized several choral festivals. In 2001 it organized the first choral festivities in Prijedor titled “Choral Singing“ which grew into International Choir Festival “Zlatna vila“ in 2003.