Nikola Mijailović, who did not sign his support for Vučić, is no longer the director of the Opera

The National Theater in Belgrade announced today that "the artistic director of the Opera, Nikola Mijailović, has resigned from that position."

Without explaining why he did it.

Only the statement of Svetislav Goncić, manager of the National Theater, is attached, in which he states that "Nikola Mijailović performed one of the most responsible jobs in the National Theater with great artistic enthusiasm." Mijailović still has an active artistic career. He has new challenges in his career as an opera singer and I wish him all the best in his future work. Mijailović directly participated in the creation of the current repertoire of the National Theater Opera. That repertoire is appreciated by the audience and professional public".

Baritone Nikola Mijailović is only ready to confirm to the media that he has retired from the post of artistic director of the National Theater Opera.

His colleagues in the theater say they don't know, that it's probably private reasons and other career plans.

His appointment at the head of the Opera National Theater in December 2021 was the first move of the then new manager Svetislav Goncić. Mijailović came to this position from the Board of Directors of this house as a non-partisan person.

Nikola Mijailović is not among the 2000 people who supported the "Aleksandar Vučić - Serbia must not stand still" list before the elections on December 17, as did a large number of Opera members.

When he was appointed artistic director two years ago, he said that "his mother Radmila Smiljanić (champion of the Opera) used to walk him around this building while he was still in his womb. At the buffet, Ljubinka Bobić fed me ćevapcici, and I had my first performance at the age of ten".

The media mention his impressive biography: at the age of 20, he graduated from the Vienna Conservatory, and at the age of 23, he received his master's degree from the "Curtis Institute of Music" in Philadelphia. After training at the Opéra Bastille in Paris and the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, he rounded off his singing education with a diploma from the Milan Scala in 1999. He is now a regular professor and head of the Department of Solo Singing at the Faculty of Music.