Canadian in her head, Serbian in her heart

I met with Kristina in Heart Café. We have known each other for a long time, but her serenity and the sprightly way she moves, gestures, and speaks always win me over. Kristina’s smile is her distinctive feature. She looks her collocutor in the eyes and listens with sincere interest and respect. I order a cappuccino for her and a tea for myself, and our conversation begins spontaneously, without hesitation.

Kristina Bijelic, 25-year-old musicologist and singer, possesses one more unexpected quality: she speaks fluent, grammatically correct Serbian, and uses the occasional English expression with the obligatory explanation that she does not know the word in Serbian. She was born in Toronto. She has never lived in Serbia.

The conversation naturally, therefore, started with language.

SAN: Your Serbian is just about impeccable, but you were born and raised in an English-speaking country. Did you exclusively speak Serbian at home?

I grew up with a big family, and there was never any doubt as to which language to speak. My mom and dad taught me Cyrillic. It was only later that I started speaking English. I never went to Serbian school.

SAN: I assume that your talent for languages is closely tied to your musical talent. How many languages do you speak?

I speak English, Serbian, French, and Spanish. I started learning Spanish in Grade 10, which gave me a basis, but in recent years I really devoted myself to studying it more seriously, so now I speak it without an accent; many people think that I am Hispanic.

SAN: You took some courses in Slavic studies at university. Tell us a bit more about your studies at the University of Toronto.

I decided to study at the Faculty of Arts and Science. I studied a Specialist in music, but in musicology, not in performance. My minors were Latin and Serbian, but since there were so few courses in Serbian that I was able to take, I fulfilled the course requirements with other relevant, pan-Slavic courses: Old Church Slavonic, Slavic linguistics, The Slavic Book, Slavic folklore, South Slavic culture…

SAN: Was that your first encounter with our traditional music?

No, that happened much earlier. I started dancing folklore when I was 16, which was significant in my getting to know traditional Serbian music. I must admit that I really miss folklore sometimes, since I really love dancing.

SAN: Were you ever interested in choral singing?

I love choral music, but I only sing in choir when director Jasmina Vučurović invites me. A year before going to Spain for my master’s studies, I sang in Kir Stefan Srbin Choir. By then, I was already singing professionally and that was the biggest reason why I did not opt for choral singing. My professional career simply took a different path.

SAN: How did you decide to further your studies in Spain, of all places?

I wanted to study a master’s degree, but I did not know in which university. I found out about Berklee College of Music, Valencia Campus through a friend, and after less than 10 minutes of looking at their website, I was absolutely sure that I wanted to study the program called Contemporary Performance. I went as a vocalist, but of course I took along my violin, even though it was not officially part of my studies. However, I got to play it any time we needed a larger ensemble.

SAN: The violin was your first musical love.

When I was five years old, my aunt bought me my first second-hand violin, and my parents did not even know. I came home and surprised them! For the first couple of years, my aunt even paid for my lessons. I never went to a formal school, but I was a serious private student. Even thought I will never be a professional instrumentalist, that knowledge and experience have been a very important part of my musical education.

SAN: When did singing become your greatest musical love and priority?

I showed promise as a singer at a young age, but I think it happened around the age of nine, when I was accepted to the High Park Choirs, which was founded and directed by Ann Cooper Gay and her husband Errol Gay. I met them through my Grade 5 drama teacher. A year later, when Ann became the artistic director of the Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus, I followed her and joined that choir. I stayed in it until I started university. I have remained very close with Ann. Her influence was very strong.

SAN: Besides Ann, who else has influenced your professional aspirations, education, and work in music?

Jasmina Vučurović, no question about it. I took singing lessons with her for more than 10 years. Jasmina’s musical taste is excellent, she is exceptional as a singing teacher; she does not let her students put anything less than all of themselves into their work, or to be satisfied with lesser quality than what they are able to produce. She supported me and helped me perform. Besides the support of my family, her role has been indispensible in my success and my path so far. With her I learned proper singing technique, which is not really possible in choir.

SAN: You returned from Valencia with one more diploma and one more experience and new knowledge, and then you decided to get a job that has nothing to do with your profession. Did you make that decision because you have to work, or do you feel the need to be independent?

Both. They talked to us about that at college. A career in music is very difficult and unstable. It is a slow process that requires constant learning and perfecting. Those who can find a steady singing or playing gig straight out of college are very lucky. Some people are for the orchestra, they like that; I respect that and I myself enjoy playing in orchestras, but above all I am a singer, and not a choral one at that…

SAN: What are your desires and plans? Do you have a clear goal when it comes to a musical career? Do you intend to take a stab at opera?

I would like to be a singer, to be an independent musician, to make a name for myself. When I was younger, my dream was to become an opera singer, but that has changed because my musical tastes have changed. I love early music from the Renaissance, Baroque, Gregorian chant, and I also love Russian composers, like Rimsky-Korsakov. I am not a fan of Verdi or Wagner… I like Puccini—he has beautiful harmonies, melodies, and wonderful stories. I simply no longer see myself in that genre whose main period in music history is the one that I like the least.

SAN: If you could choose, what would you choose to do?

I love early music, Renaissance and Baroque, and I would choose to do that. I have been trying to get in contact with the Belgrade group Renesans. I also really love Latin music, as well as other world music… I love musicals, but the old ones, like Gershwin’s.

SAN: You are well-known in the Serbian community in Toronto. You are always ready to participate in our cultural and artistic events, and you give the impression that you do it whole-heartedly.

That comes from home, just like everything else. My parents are also active in our community; they are very attached to their Serbian roots and they like upholding traditions. During the bombing of Serbia in 1999, my mom took me out of school because it was the public school of a NATO country. I did not go to school during the bombing, but for that reason I went to the demonstrations almost every day. I was nine years old! My teacher and the school principle were very understanding. I always sang at the demonstrations, just like I did at other Serbian gatherings and celebrations.

SAN: You still delight us with your voice at literary soirées, book launches, and other cultural events in Toronto.

I am happy to accept the invitations of people whose work I admire, whom I love, who have helped me. I think that the cultural life of our community is very important: I am always happy to hear that people in this country are able to do what they know best, where they can contribute the most. I do not like politics, and I do not approve when people misuse cultural events to market political ideas. Real artists have a positive influence on our whole community, but not only that: with their work, they also build the image of the Serbian community in its Canadian surroundings. I like to be a part of that picture.

SAN: You are a significant part of that image that we show Canadians. Those who know you like that someone so young and born in Canada has so much respect towards a country and culture in which they never grew up. It is astonishing how you feel both sides as yours, without the least bit of conflict.

In my head, I am Canadian, and in my heart—Serbian. I respect this society and I act like a Canadian; I am liberal like a Canadian. But I love the most beautiful side of my Serbian roots: the art, the culture, above all the music, our scientists like Pupin and Tesla, our warmth… Other people notice this with us as well. I went to a school where there were a lot of Serbian kids. The other kids would always talk about how they loved going to our celebrations and parties, and it was a similar story when I lived in Spain.

SAN: You currently have an active crowdfunding campaign for your first album, which you are doing with a colleague you met in Spain, Felipe Téllez. What kind of music is it?

One of my professors at Berklee, Victor Mendoza, advised me that I should do music that is a reflection of my personality and my nature. Following his advice, I recorded the song “What are you doing the rest of your life?” by Barbra Streisand. Since then, I have been looking for music in that style—piano ballads, music that is a kind of sophisticated pop, leaning slightly towards jazz. Felipe and I met at college in Valencia. He is a composer for film and media, and fairly accomplished in Colombia with philharmonic music as well. I like his music, and he likes how I sing. He has always wanted to arrange pop music for orchestra, something similar to what Sting did with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. Felipe writes music for short films as well, so he first took me on for one of those projects. We stayed in contact after graduation and decided to make an album with his compositions and my voice. It will be recorded by an orchestra in Budapest, with whom Berklee often collaborates.

[In the time between the interview and its publication, the crowdfunding campaign managed to reach its fundraising goal]

SAN: What kind of music do you listen to?

A bit of everything, but recently Latin music more than anything, especially Juan Luis Guerra, who is kind of like a Dominican Zdravko Čolić.

SAN: You have seen Zdravko Čolić in concert.

I love to see him live. He is excellent! I also saw him in Budva.

SAN: Which opera singers do you listen to the most?

Maria Callas, Julia Lezhneva, who is a Russian soprano my age, and countertenor Philippe Jaroussky.

SAN: What do you like to read? Which movies do you watch?

I mostly read historical and non-fiction books. I loved the book The Talent Code. In term of fiction, I like Jane Austen, historical fiction and adventure novels, pirate stories. I love old movies, especially those about the Second World War, like Guns of Navarone. Also, I like spy movies, and old musicals like An American in Paris.

SAN [laughing]: Should we mention again how old you are?

[laughing] I have already been told that I was born in the wrong century!

We parted ways with the agreement to meet up again once the album comes out. Until then, we will, through social media and our news outlets, follow this talented young woman, who enchants with her positivity and energy, and who effortlessly wins over her collocutor with her Canadian head and her Serbian heart!