Ivan Tasovac has been appointed Director of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra by the Government of Serbia, resuming the leadership of the institution he headed from 2001 to 2013.
 
Following the open call in November 2016, the Management Board of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra proposed that the Ministry of Culture and the Media select Ivan Tasovac for the position of the Director.
 
In accordance with the selection criteria, and in particular on the basis of the proposed work programme, knowledge of the operation of cultural institutions, experience in managing cultural institutions, performance at the interview and the opinion of the staff on the candidates’ proposed work programmes, the Management Board reached the unanimous decision to propose that Ivan Tasovac be appointed Director of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra.
 
The Government of Serbia’s decision is consistent with the views of the Belgrade Philharmonic staff, which were taken into account by the Management Board, given that the Belgrade Philharmonic is a community, and the relationship between the director and the staff is of great importance for the institution’s success.
 
During Mr Tasovac’s term, the Philharmonic positioned itself as the finest orchestra in the region and a breath of fresh air on the international concert scene. He succeeded in making the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra the most successful cultural institution in Serbia through his endeavours to ensure better treatment of talented people that made up the orchestra and original promotional efforts. During that time, institutional regional cooperation was significantly enhanced through original and unique concepts that promoted ethnic and religious diversity through music (the New Years concert series), as well as regional cooperation between the three national philharmonic orchestras of Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia (the Pika-Točka-Tačkaproject). He is the driving force behind the Zubin Mehta 2004 Belgrade Philharmonic Foundation, which is considered the initiator and chief proponent of the culture funding model based on public-private cooperation in Serbia.
 
The Government of Serbia relieved Mr Tasovac of duty as Director of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra on 19 September 2013 owing to his appointment as Minister of Culture and the Media on 2 September. He held this position until 11 August 2016. During that period, the Acting Director of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra was Darko Krstić.