Dževad Šabanagić, First Violin of the Sarajevo Philharmonic, Passes Away

(Patria) - Dževad Šabanagić, violinist and concertmaster of the Sarajevo Philharmonic, and music educator, has passed away at the age of 79.

Šabanagić will be remembered as the first violin of the Sarajevo Philharmonic, professor of chamber music for strings at the Music Academy in Sarajevo, recipient of the April 6 Award, and as the husband of performer Beba Selimović.

The information was also confirmed on the Sarajevo Philharmonic's page.

"A final and saddest farewell to our colleague and friend, Maestro Šabanagić, long-time concertmaster of the Sarajevo Philharmonic. We are proud to have grown alongside you, through glances, tones, shoulder to shoulder through the difficult and happy moments of our orchestra.

You have left an indelible mark on the history of our homeland, our city, and therefore a big thank you from your Philharmonic members!" it was stated on their official Facebook page.

Dževad Šabanagić was born in Sarajevo in 1945, where he graduated from the Music Academy in the class of Professor Kurt Hauzer.

From his early student days, he was very interested in chamber music. As a student, he was engaged in the Symphony Orchestra of RTV Sarajevo, then as a violin teacher at the "Dr. Vojislav Vučković" Music School, and later became its director from 1973 to 1983.

During that period, he worked intensively on the development of music education in the city of Sarajevo and opened a number of branch departments, which later grew into independent music schools. For such engagement, the school received the April 6 Award of the City of Sarajevo in 1976.

In addition to his artistic and pedagogical activities, Dževad Šabanagić was involved in social work with a series of roles:

- President of the Association of Music Schools of Bosnia and Herzegovina 1973 - 1983.
- President of the Association of Music Educators
- President of the Association of Music Artists
- Secretary General of the Association of Music Educators of the former Yugoslavia
- Secretary General of the Association of Music Educators in the Federation of BiH
- Vice Dean of the Music Academy until 1999
- Head of the String Department until 1997
- President of the Management Board of the Sarajevo Philharmonic
- Member of the Management Board of the National Theatre in Sarajevo
From 1983, he was a professor of chamber music for strings at the Music Academy in Sarajevo.
He performed at many festivals in the former Yugoslavia and abroad, and received a number of recognitions and awards, the most significant of which are:
- Charter of the "School for Basic Music Education" for the development of music education
- Charter of the City of Sarajevo for the work of the String Quartet during the war
- Certificate of Appreciation from the "5th Corps of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina"
- Charter of the "International League of Humanists" for 1996
- Award of the "Association of Music Educators of BiH" for the work of the String Quartet
- April 6 Award of the City of Sarajevo for 1999.