St.Nicholas Serbian Orthodox Church
Indianapolis
Choir
Choir at the old church.
JOVAN DUCHICH CHOIR
PATRON SAINT: ST. GEORGE
Celebrated on the 6th of May
| Choir Director |
Bill Christoff |
| Choir President |
Ann Foreman |
| Vice President |
|
| Treasurer |
|
| Secretary |
|
| Librarians |
|
| Auditing Board |
|
JOVAN DUCHICH CHOIR - HISTORY
The Jovan Duchich Choir was formed under the direction
of Sam Salatich in 1957. Sam was an engineer for
the Stewart Warner Corporation. His love for music was
fostered while a teen in Chicago where he played in
a tamburitzan band.
As is customary the choir adapted the name of a famous
Serbian writer, poet, or composer. Jovan Duchich (Ducic)
was one of the greatest Serbian literary geniuses of
the nineteenth century. His poetry, especially patriotic
ones, had inspired the young and old Serbians to withstand
the oppression of the Ottoman Empire as well as
the Austro-Hugarian Empire.
Duchich served his country as ambassador to many European
countries. Portugal was the last country where he served
before he came to the USA in August 1941. His relative,
Michael Ducic of Gary, Indiana, was highly honored to
welcome this rare and honorable guest. Jovan stayed in
Gary until his death April 7, 1943. During these two
years he wrote many poems, historical books and articles
in the newspapers defending the rights of the Serbian
people. Most importantly he revealed the holocaust of
the Serbian people killed by the Croatian Ustashies,
a notorious Fascist group.
This tragedy hurt Ducic’s heart and soul more than
anything else in his life. He immortalized it in his
last poem, VRBAS. Ducic had united all Serbs in America
in the Serb National Defense Council.
The last words that Jovan wrote in his testament were:
"I believe in God and the Serbian people."
