Q1. What can urge young people to turn
       towards sacred singing?

Their spiritual state! It is always your spiritual state which determines everything. Within our being, it is the soul which searches, asks for something and finally makes the ultimate choice. In other words, we might speak of 'a sense of belonging'. Concerning sacred singing, this decision can only be made at a time when the being is still receptive, innocent, unshaped, unsoiled. And it is when you keep such a disposition that you can go on singing this repertoire all your life long, till the end.

Q2. In your case, how did it occur?

Exactly as I've just told you. At the time when my soul was still searching for its identity, I went to the monastery of the Presentation, I heard Mother Agniya and the sisters; they sang divinely and – there it was, I was caught!

Q3. What is the link between melody, God's
       share in art and your own talent?

Everything is intertwined. Melody can be the mediator between the human and the Divine, and even indeed the very link with the Divine. As for talent, what artist has time to think about his own talent before years and years of maturity? Talent is a glance God casts on the being, and as such a happy occasion for the one who is granted it as it enables him a relationship worthy of God.

Q4. How can you be dedicated to
       something so sublime and solemn
       at a time of chaos and speed?

Each time has its own chaos! The relationship between Chaos and Time can be compared with the one between an adolescent in puberty (man) and a Father (God). Today's chaos is precisely this 'immoderate speed' which gets you nowhere, since it is apparent and doesn't exist in time. It is akin to mass blindness, caused, I think, by this dust lifted by high speed. And since this rush has to be justified, new values have been invented, just as you cut and put flowers in a vase, flowers without roots. All this is vain since, much before those false values, there has been God's Truth on man. It is since then that the 'branch' on which man may be picked up has been growing. This is the reason why I find it so simple and natural to devote myself to this kind of music, which is sublime – since it comes from God- and solemn – since life is indeed a celebration.

Q5. What can you tell us about your
       experience as a choirmaster in Paris?

The beginning of my professional commitment in Paris is linked to the creation of the choir of the Serbian church Saint Sava, whose members at the time were exclusively Serbs. I worked with them for several weeks to form the choir who sings during liturgies. It was both a professional experience I've already had but also something new because those singers were born in France or else had lived there for so long that they had actually become French. I started working with foreigners in 1998. Since 2002, I've opened work-groups in Paris and London and another is to be opened in the Netherlands shortly.

Q6. How do these varied audiences react to
       your work, to what they hear?

They are the best evidence that sacred music and working on this music brings man upwards. This is what I experienced thanks to my work as a choirmaster as well as thanks to the concerts, in France, England and Germany. I think it will always be this way wherever I sing and work.

Q7. Except from the singing lessons
       themselves, is there a theological
       history about the metaphysical
       foundation of singing?

Since the beginning, singing is intricately linked to a 'theological history', thus it has indeed metaphysical foundations. Whatever form it takes, singing has existed since the time of the Apostles and represents the angelic songs addressed to God. Does a greater metaphysical and theological foundation exist? This can easily be felt through the text that carries the melody or that is carried by it.

Q8. What do you think of the current trends
       of ethnic or world music?

There is such a wide range of it that it gives you headache! We have entered a dangerous zone where one's reason to sing is no longer education but personal glory and profit. Still, this music is very popular, which shows how depersonalisation has taken pride of place. Fortunately, fashions are always short-lived, and few and far between are those experiencing a long-lasting success.

Q9. Why do you insist on authenticity?

Well, you know, authenticity is a constant requirement which demands continuous improvement. Mixing 'my sound' with modern or electronic expressions is only acceptable within the boundaries of good taste.

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