by Uroš Dojcinovic
Jovicic is without any doubt our greatest guitar pioneer of the second half of the twentieth century. He was born July 5, 1926, in Vrdnik (Srem in Vojvodina), a northern part of Serbia; died 2013 in Belgrade. His parents, father Milan and mother Ljubica, helped wth his musical education in his early childhood when Jovan first started to play the violin. But like many others, young Jovicic soon changed his attention to the guitar, which was very popular in those times. He attended public schools and finally became a professor of physics at the University of Belgrade. Nevertheless, his love for the guitar was so great that through his talent and constant practicing, he managed to teach himself to play this instrument very well, at the beginning using an old Carulli guitar method, the only didactic publication he could find. And he studied guitar at the Music Academy in Belgrade with Anny Claassens, a pupil of Heinrich Albert. Then, at the end of fifties, he joined the master classes of Andrés Segovia, at the Chigiana Music Academy in Siena. In 1961 he completed his studies with maestro Segovia, who predicted an extraordinary success for Jovicic, both in his concert career and his musical profession in general. Holding a Ph.D in physics, Jovan Jovicic later published many scientific works, some related especially to the acoustic properties of the guitar affecting the resonance and tone of the instrument. One interesting result of these studies can be read in the famous Acustica magazine, number 18, 1967 (“Jovan Jovicic – Spectres sonores de la guitare de concert”), where he reports the results of his comparison of guitars of different makes, different soundboard materials, etc. As a musician Jovicic adopted Sor’s and Tárrega’s idea of the guitar as well as that of his great teacher Segovia, who effected the “renaissance” of the instrument at an even more modern level. Jovicic also accepted Segovia’s idea for improving the playing technique of the guitar, and the presentation of works dedicated to it by contemporary composers. He accepted not only Segovia’s artistic principles, but also his evaluation of the guitar as a worthy, valuable, high quality instrument with calls for thorough and systematic study. Jovicic’s concert activity began very early, and from 1948 he was an established soloist on radio and television in Belgrade. Even at that time some of his magnificent interpretations could be heard outside the country. After one of this radio appearances, the great Greek guitarist Dimitri Fampas wrote: “My dear friend Jovicic, one Sunday at midnight I had a very pleasant surprise while listening to the Belgrade radio station. It was you speaking with your warm voice about the history of our beloved guitar and playing Bach, Tárrega, etc., in your unique excellent way. Sincerely it was a very nice experience for me and I am very happy to send you my hearty congratulations.” In 1957 Jovicic was the laureat of the international guitar competition in Moscow, after which he continued to give recitals and broadcasts in many countries. The first international tours included Greece (1954), West Germany, Belgium and Italy (1955), France (1956), Egypt (1959), Romania (1964), Hungary and Poland (1965), and so on... During his active performing career, Jovicic gave over 2000 concerts throughout Europe, Asia and Africa, and played in almost every Yugoslavian city. However he aroused interest not only as a performer, but also as a composer. A supreme connoisseur of folkloric music, he enriched his repertoire with many artistically stylized compositions based on traditional themes. Inspired by folk songs and dances, Jovicic composed over 100 guitar works, but unfortunatly not much of this was published outside Yugoslavia. In 1950 his “Balkan Dance” and “Concert Etude” were published by Broekmans & Van Poppel in Holland, and some ten years later his “Macedonian Rhapsody” in the Ukraine. Jovicic’s selected concert works are published by Mel Bay publications in the USA. A large part of Jovicic’s opus was published in Serbia by the publishing company Nota Knjaževac, among which it is important to mention his School of the Guitar in five volumes (the first was issued in 1969). Another notable feature of his activity is his writing of music for radio and television plays, theatre and films, for which he won a number of prizes. He has also recorded for several gramophone companies in Serbia, Croatia, Russia, Spain and the USA. It is especially to Jovicic’s credit that in the course of his artistic career, the guitar has attained a place of honor in the concert halls of the former Yugoslavia, and it has been accepted there as a classical instrument. During his only visit to Yugoslaia in October, 1973, the great Spanish artist Andrés Segovia wrote:”Jovan Jovicic is one of my greatest students. A master, a great master, of the guitar...” 
(More information can be found in the following books by Uroš Dojcinovic: The Magic World of the Guitar, Ed. Nota-Knjaževac,1984; Following the Guitar Trails in Yugoslavia, Ed. Sorabia, Niš, 1992; Secret of the Guitar, Ed.DKSG-Beograd, 1996; Anthology of Guitar Music in Serbia, Ed. Prometej Novi Sad, 1996; Anthology of Guitar Music in Montenegro, Ed.Pro-Arte-Niksic, 1996.)