Women's Role in Sustaining the Practice of Tamburitza Instruments in Vojvodina

Abstract

In Vojvodina, the autonomous northern province of the Republic of Serbia, the collective (orchestral) playing of tambura instruments (of varying sizes and tunings) represents a particular style of the region sound mapping. According to literature, this practice has developed from the nineteenth century till today through multiple forms and in informal and formal contexts. The start of the twentieth century led to changes in the creation of the corpus of tambura instruments and the increase of strings for tuning. An intensive development of music-making on these instruments influenced the transformation of performance paradigms through the roles of specific orchestral instruments, playing techniques, interpretations, repertoires and styles. Since the beginning of collective tambura performances, women have participated primarily as members of the orchestra, while their role over the past few decades has shifted significantly. This chapter investigates the contemporary practice in which women have a more significant position in its sustainability, considering their participation in the process of formal and informal education, performance and creation of new compositions. Female tambura players are students, professors, musicians, conductors and composers and they visibly contributing to the survival of traditional types of tambura music and the development of new interpretational and genre frameworks. In addition to individual female tambutitza players' activities, the creation of women's tambura orchestras during the twentieth century had special influence on the sustainability of tambura music.