Vision: Encouraging and fostering symphonic music and developing the culture of music in Belgrade and Serbia.
Mission: Improving the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra’s financial situation through sponsorship and donations.
When a cultural institution transcends the frame of the cultural policy, its product includes values that are wider than the culture itself and starts to influence social values, which unite and connect us.
Yet, how should we measure these values? The measuring standards that apply to the economy or, even, to sports are not appropriate when culture is concerned. In communities with intuitive awareness of their own social values, the society itself undertakes the duty to foster such values. In such communities, it not uncommon, even in the crisis periods, to find cities competing whose concert hall is more grandiose and whose orchestra is more respected.
In today’s Serbia, it is not easy to consider these topics and contemplate the future with no sense of apprehension or fear. Nevertheless, when we have an orchestra such as the Belgrade Philharmonic, we cannot avoid asking ourselves what kind of future we want for these people. They are worthy representatives of the European culture, who have made our country recognizable in the regional context and beyond. In any case, the best testimony to this assertion is the reaction of audiences in concerts. This, actually, serves to show how hungry Serbia is for genuine social values and changes.
The bar we now need to jump over has been set quite high. The first objective of the Foundation is to channel this creative energy into an efficient business model of financing culture, which entails the Foundation’s role as the integrator of public and private partnership, the only force capable of matching the potential of this orchestra. Of course, we are referring to the funds required to maintain and further improve such a top-notch orchestra.
However, we cannot measure success only in financial terms, since money is not a unit for measuring social values. We shall measure it as the number of young people who dream of becoming members of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra. We will consider ourselves successful once we have brought ninety minutes of supreme concert programme to people in smaller towns throughout Serbia, who have no opportunities or possibilities to come to Belgrade. Success will be rated by the number of young people in our concerts. Success will be tangible if Belgrade also becomes known as the city of culture, not only as the city of entertainment.
Our success is when the music we play instils hope and faith in the future.