Our Team

Đurđa Papazoglu graduated as a pianist from the Faculty of Music in Belgrade. She gained professional experience in Moscow with Elena Grechnikova and through work in the Moscow Choral Theater of Boris Pevzner. After returning to Serbia, Đurđa founded the art association Music Art Project (MAP) in order to promote cooperation in the field of art and culture. In the same year, she signed a Letter of Intent with the “Simon Bolivar” Music Foundation, thus making official the position of the association within the global El Sistema  network, continuing to work consistently and dedicatedly to achieve MAP’s mission. Her enthusiasm, energy and organizational skills enabled MAP to develop through the successful implementation of projects in cooperation with international institutions such as: UNOPS, UNHCR, UNICEF, the Delegation of the European Union in the Republic of Serbia, as well as the government of Switzerland, among others.

Actively working on the expansion and sustainability of the program, under her leadership the organization successfully establishes partnerships with relevant state bodies (the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, the National Commission for UNESCO, the Standing Conference of Cities and Municipalities, the Team for Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, units of local governments and self-governments, and schools where the program was implemented) and partner organizations of civil society, thus contributing to progress in the fields of education, human rights, minority rights, poverty reduction, social inclusion and preservation of cultural heritage. Her vision is to encourage and create creative leaders, who will motivate others in the future, whether they become professional musicians, successful executives or entrepreneurs.

Dijana Opačić completed her violin master’s studies at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, and then continued her education for a year at the Faculty for Music and Dance in Prague. During her music education, she found herself primarily as an orchestral and chamber musician and was a member of numerous orchestras and ensembles in Serbia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Italy. She sees music as a universal language that every human being, on an intuitive level, understands and feels, and her personal mission is to make as many people as possible realize the beauty of communication through it.

Through her work in MAP, that mission gets its direction through work with children from vulnerable social groups as part of various programs and projects that she has been implementing as a coordinator and teacher of the Music of Hope since 2018. Cooperation with fellow artists and professors as part of the international El Sistema network, and work on professional development through constant innovation of the program in Serbia with the teaching team and mentors bring her special joy and privilege. She is the co-creator of the Music of Hope teaching programs and one of the authors and implementers of the accredited MAP seminars.