The winner of the 10th jubilee edition of the International Competition of Folk Music Recordings Svetozar Stracina Grand Prix is The Beskydy Chameleon, contribution submitted by the Czech Radio. This year´s competition featured 40 folk music recordings, entered by 15 EBU Member broadcasting organizations from 13 countries and the winner was selected by the international jury, chaired by Prof. Bernard Garaj from Slovakia.
Beside the Grand Prix, the jury also awarded 5 additional prizes: Special prize for the best authenticity was awarded to Radio Russia for the recording It Was Early Spring. The song is sung in Prudki village of Krasnogvardeiskiy district of Belgorod region. It is about the last free days of a young man who leaves for military service or war. Russian old song traditions have been well preserved in the village, and bearers of these traditions still live there. The "Mezhdurechye" folk ensemble was organized in Moscow by young lovers of South Russian song traditions. Mezhdurechye means interfluve in Russian.
The Special prize for the best performer was awarded to Bulgarian National Radio for the recording Thracian Chants, performed by the gadulka player Simeon Iliev. Simeon is 16 years old student at the National School of Folk Arts in Kotel. He is a gadulka virtuoso, holder of many prizes of Bulgarian folk music competitions. Thracian Chants is a challenging music piece created by the gadulka composer and performer Atanas Valchev.
Special prize for the best collection of recordings goes to Radio and Television Slovakia. RTVS, Slovak Radio nominated in total 4 recordings for the competition, including presentations of traditional singing from the north-eastern Slovakia region, lullabies from Liptov, as well as Christmas songs from Kysuce and Upper-Hron region and the modern jazz arrangement of the Serbian folk song Niška Banja, performed by violinist Barbora Botošová.
Radio Canada and its Chagall Suite became the holder of the Special prize for the most creative fusion of ancient and contemporary music traditions. The piece was composed in traditional klezmer style by Gabriel Paquin-Buki in 2017 on the occasion of the exhibition of Chagall paintings in Montreal and refers to the Belarusian-Jewish roots of this outstanding artist.
Austrian Broadcasting Corporation ORF had been awarded Special prize for the best technical level for Three Stockings Made Out of Leather. This song is part of the CD "Jucker, Springer, Rongger, Schlicher" that was produced by the ORF Vorarlberg. It contains dances and songs that were found in old music collections from the beginning of the 19th century. The aim of the producers of this album is to revive traditional Austrian folk songs.
The competition is held biennially. The results of 2021 edition were officially announced during a Gala concert that was held in the upside down pyramid building of the Slovak Radio to honour the work of Svetozar Stracina as phenomenal Slovak composer. February 2021 commemorates 25 years from his death. Summarizing 10 editions of Svetozar Stracina Grand Prix by now, Jaroslav Rezník, Director General of Radio and Television Slovakia (RTVS) says the competition presents a rich variety of folk music recordings from different regions of the world, and features an incredible diversity of sounds and forms of traditional music, ranging from the very archaic pieces to contemporary arrangements and distinctive fusions of folklore with other musical genres. "Perhaps we do not even recognize it, but both the music and song traditions significantly enrich our everyday life. I am therefore convinced this event shall continue to offer valuable content to its audience and inspire authors and creators, dealing with the rich folkloric heritage of the particular countries," concluded Jaroslav Rezník.