The Military Orchestra of the Republic of North Macedonia, together with the orchestras of the 3 armies from the region, held a joint concert ahead of the New Year’s Eve, under the slogan “Army Chords, New Year’s Celebration of Friendship through the Sounds of the four NATO Armies”.
The Military Orchestras of the Republic of North Macedonia, the Republic of Albania, the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Slovenia, under the baton of the conductors of the four orchestras, performed an unforgettable concert at the Army Hall in Skopje.
After the national anthems were played, the auditorium in the Army Hall had the opportunity to watch a one-hour performance of various songs by several world and regional composers.
The repertoire, consisting of various pieces by world authors Bob Merrill and Naohiro Iwai, as well as famous evergreens by composers from the countries of the orchestras, received thunderous applause. The concert ended with the most famous songs of our singer-songwriter and one of the most famous guitarists in the world, Vlatko Stefanovski, arranged by the conductor of our military orchestra, Lieutenant Colonel Goran Ilijevsk, which led to encore of the above mentioned song. This confirmed the excellent cooperation and the synchronicity of the military orchestras performing.
The New Year’s Eve concert was attended by the Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Vasko Gjurchinovski, the Deputy Minister of Defense Tiron Jajaga, MPs of the Republic of North Macedonia, ministers in the government, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Albania, former ministers of defense and former chiefs of the General Staff of the Army, active and retired Army generals, the diplomatic and military-diplomatic corps accredited in the Republic of North Macedonia, representatives of religious communities, members of the Ministry of Defense, the General Staff, Army commands and other guests.
The joint concert of military orchestras of the NATO armies from the region has grown into a project within the framework of inter-army cooperation, traditionally performed several years ahead of the New Year’s Eve or before other public holiday.
The Military Orchestra of the Republic of North Macedonia, during the 31-year period of its existence, has performed at numerous concerts on different occasions, in different towns of our country.
A remarkable performance was held last year with the military orchestra of the Albanian Armed Forces on the occasion of the 30-year jubilee of the Army, as well as the trilateral New Year’s Eve concert with the military orchestras of the Republic of Albania and the Republic of Croatia in 2019. In the same year there was also the joint concert of five military orchestras within the framework of the activities to mark “NATO Week”, when performances were given by the Military Orchestra of U.S. European Command, The Hellenic Republic, the Republic of Slovenia and the United Kingdom. In 2018 a concert was performed by the Bulgarian and Monte Negro Armed Forces. In 2014 the orchestra had a performance together with the orchestra of the Republic of Turkey.
