biNg bang

The biNg bang percussion ensemble was founded in 1999 under theartistic leadership of Igor Lesnik, during one of the summer festivals organized by Jeunesses Musicales in the JM International Cultural Centre in Groznjan. The ensemble's performing members are the best percussion students of Croatia and laureates of various percussion competitions. In addition to standard percussion ensemble repertoire, biNg bang also premieres works of Croatian composers. Currently, the list of ensemble's guest soloists includes renowned artists such Ney Rosauro, Jean Geoffroy, John Beck, Michael Udow, Payton MacDonald, Fernando Hashimoto, Angel Frette, Ludwig Albert, Arthur Lipner and others.
biNg bang is a winner of the Percussive Arts Society 2004 percussion ensemble competition and as 2004 world's best university level percussion ensemble performed showcase concert at PASIC in Nashville/USA. biNg bang is also a recipient of the Special Rector's prize of Zagreb University in 2005 and 2009, and was proclaimed the best chamber ensemble in 2005, winning also the "Ivo Vuljevic" Prize. Among the ensemble's most important successes is an invitation to perform as the official accompanying ensemble of third Universal Marimba Competition in Belgium. biNg bang is also the winner of the 2009 European Music (EMJ) competition & festival.

biNg bang's recent international touring includes Argentina, Austria, Belgium, China, France, Italy, Poland, Puerto Rico, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Uruguay and USA. They also appeared at important international percussion festivals such Perkumania in Paris, Crossdrumming in Warsaw, Nights of Percussion in Graz, Percussion Days in Valencia, Patagonia Percussion festival in Argentina, TIPC in Taipei, Puerto Rico International Percussion festival , to name only a few. Their debut recording entitled biNg bang plays Lešnik appeared at American label Equilibrium and received wide international acclaim.

The CROATIAN MILITARY ORCHESTRA is a representative orchestra of the Republic of Croatia, founded in 1991. Besides performing the protocol tasks,  the orchestra has performed various concerts within the framework of the Concert Season in the Concert Hall "Vatroslav Lisinski" in Zagreb. The main part of the repertoire is made up of original compositions for wind instruments, and special notice is given to the first performances of the Croatian composers as well as the Croatian first performances of the pieces which are part of world's heritage. The orchestra is composed of young academic musicians, and besides the Concert Band, there are also various Chamber Ensembles, Brass Band, Big Band, and Marching Band . Besides the chief conductor Tomisav Fačini and the former chief conductor Mladen Tarbuk , the orchestra has been led by many respected conductors, where as many eminent Croatian and foreign soloists have performed with the orchestra. The cooperation with other Croatian  musical ensembles is customary. Along with the concerts during the concert season, the orchestra has performed at various Croatian summer festivals (Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Zadar, Osor, Krk, Hvar), at Varaždin Baroque Evenings and Music biennale Zagreb, and it took part in eucharistic festivities during  the visit of the Pope John Paul II to Zagreb in 1995. Also worth mentioning are guest performances in Lourdes, Budapest, and at the Moscow autumn festival . Besides many recordings for the Croatian Broadcast, the orchestra has recorded 2 CDs - Božićni san and Hrvatske mise (A. Klobučar: Papinska misa and F. pl. Lučić: Missa Jubilaris); the CD Povijesne hrvatske koračnice (Croatian historical marches) is currently in production.

CROATIAN RADIO TELEVISION BIG BAND

The Croatian Radio Television Big Band, that is, its predecessor, the Dancing orchestra of Radio Zagreb, was founded in the season of 1946/47 to fulfill the demands of the Radio and assembled the best musicians from a number of ensembles, under the baton of Zlatko Černjul. Of the numerous conductors that followed, a special mention must be made of Miljenko Prohaska, who was in charge of the orchestra for more then 30 years and introduced the policy of creating a repertoire of their own. This change of orientation brought on the development of a specific style. Many internationally prominent soloists performed with the ensemble: Art Farmer, Clark Terry, Johnny Griffin, Ernie Wilkins, Kai Winding, John Lewis, Art Taylor and others. For the last decade the orchestra has been under the successful direction of Silvije Glojnarić. He introduced the policy of gradually including the best musicians of the younger generation (Saša Nestorović, Davor Križić and others) in order to maintain the highest level of artistic achievement. For the last five years the Big Band has had a regular concert series.

I SOLISTI DI ZAGREB - The Zagreb Soloists

Founded in 1953 as an ensemble of  Radio Zagreb, under the artistic leadership of the renowned cellist and conductor Antonio Janigro, I Solisti di Zagreb have gained recognition as one of the world's most prominent chamber orchestras. In addition to their prominent tenure with Maestro Janigro, I Solisti Di Zagreb have worked closely with artistic directors Tonko Ninic, Dragutin Hrdjok, and Andjelko Krpan, usually without conductor, lead by the concert master. Since 2006, their concert master and artistic director has been Maestro Borivoj Martinić-Jerčić. The shared virtuosity and remarkable discipline of the members of the Ensemble create an enthusiasm and love for chamber music and ensemble playing of the highest level. 

The Ensemble has held over 3300 concerts worldwide, receiving  public recognition and critical acclaim at the world's most prestigious venues - Vienna Musikverein, Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebow, London's Royal Festival Hall, Berlin Philharmonic Hall, Sydney Opera House, and Teatro Real Madrid to name a few. The ensemble regularly appears at internationally recognized music festivals - Salzburg, Prague, Edinburgh, Berlin, etc. I Solisti di Zagreb have also collaborated with many great artists, including Henryk Szeryng, Alfred Brendel, Pierre Fournier, James Galway, Katia Ricciarelli, Christian Ferras and many others.

The Ensemble's extensive repertoire includes baroque, classical, romantic and contemporary works with special attention given to the works of Croatian composers. I Solisti di Zagreb's vast discography can be heard on over 70 albums for the EMI, RCA, Vanguard, ASV, Eurodisc, Melodia, Hispa-vox, Pickwick, Croatia and EDI Records labels.

The Ensemble is recipient of several prestigious awards, including First Prize in the Mar de Plata for their recording entitled 18^th Century Concerti, the Pablo Casals Medal, the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Medal for the best performance of contemporary music, and the Vladimir Nazor, Milka Trnina and Orlando Awards for the best performance of a Croatian work. I Solisti di Zagreb have twice been honoured with the City of Zagreb Award and have received special recognition from UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Science and Cultural Organization).  In addition to receiving a silver CD from Croatia Records, the ensemble has been awarded the Order of National Merit and the Silver Plaque of Jeunesses Musicales. 

I Solisti di Zagreb proudly enter a new century of ensemble playing with their dynamic programming and performances. They play a major role in bringing vibrant performances of widely varied chamber repertoire to audiences worldwide. 

SONG String Quartet

The Song String Quartet was founded in 2006 within the framework of the chamber music course at the Academy of Music in Zagreb in the class of professor Joža Haluza. The Quartet has actively participated in international chamber music courses held by Alain Meunier in Italy (Monfalcone), the Silesian String Quartet in Zadar ("Strings Only"), and in the German Jeunesees Musicales Workshop in Weikersheim held by the Artemis Quartet (Heime Muller and Jacques Ammon). They performed in Italy, Germany, Austria, Zagreb, Senj and Tar, and have toured Catalonia, Spain.

XL TUBA QUARTET

Wishing to introduce current international performing trends to the local audience Krunoslav Babić established the XL Tuba Quartet in 2002, as the first of such kind in the region. Since tuba is primarily an orchestral instrument, it was their wish to demonstrate that it can also be adapted to chamber music playing and even solo parts. The ensemble's repertoire varies from classic masters to jazz and contemporary composers. Along with original works for a tuba quartet, they often reach for arrangements of baroque and classical „hits". The arrangers are usually the leading brass players of the second half of the 20th century, soloists from European and American orchestras and professors. The musicians of the Quartet have all, upon graduating from music academies, perfected theirplaying with the prominent professors. The audience has recognized their high quality and the uniqueness of this ensemble, which has already played a big number of concerts at home and abroad. The XL Quartet has recorded two albums for Aquarius Records, so far, 100% Tuba and 101% Tuba.

ZAGREB SAXOPHONE QUARTET

The graduates of the Music Academy in Zagreb, in the class of Prof. Josip Nochta, founded the Zagreb Saxophone Quartet, which has been performing in the present line-up since 1989. They have performed with numerous orchestras under the baton of esteemed conductors. The ZSQ has given performances, highly acclaimed both by critics and audiences, at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Split Summer Festival, Zagreb Music Biennale, Europhonia, Musicora Festival, Julian Rachlin & Friends, NOMUS, Saxophonia and the World Saxophone Congresses. The ZSQ has received important Croatian awards for their achievements in culture (Milka Trnina, Judita) and seven Croatian
Porin Awards for their recordings. Along with radio- and TV recordings in Croatia and abroad, the ZSQ has released their own albums, Croatian Music for Saxophones and Z Quartet, a CD in the US, Tsunagari, and played as guests on numerous CDs. Their repertoire includes pieces originally written for a saxophone quartet, as well as transcriptions and arrangements of pieces by various composers belonging to different periods and styles, ranging from the baroque to progressive jazz. In addition to this, the ensemble has premièred more than fifty new works by Croatian, Slovene and other composers.

ZVJEZDICE GIRLS' CHOIR 

"Zvjezdice" Girls' Choir is one of the most representative music ensembles in Zagreb and Croatia. It was founded in 1985 and forms part of the Youth Music Centre in Zagreb. The members of the choir are all outstanding students of primary and secondary schools in Zagreb. In more than two decades of its existence, the choir has developed a strong cooperation with the most prominent Croatian ensembles and performers, as well as with many conductors - from both Croatia and abroad.

Let us mention some of the best-known projects the choir has participated in: the performance of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater in cooperation with Zagreb soloists and magnificent Croatian artists such as Ruža Pospiš Baldani and Dunja Vejzović, Symphony No. 3 and Symphony No. 8 by Gustav Mahler, cantata Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, concert performance of Wagner's Parsifal and Zajc's Mislav, concert performance of Boito's Mefistopheles, oratorio The Translation of St. Domnio by J. Bajamonti, scenic oratorio The Representation of the Soul and the Body by E. de Cavalieri, music melodrama Persephone by Igor Stravinsky, appearances in operas Carmen by G. Bizet, Fire by Blagoje Bersa, Werther by J. Massenet, The Child and the Magic Spells by Maurice Ravel, Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo and Mirjana by Josip Magdić, the War Requiem by Benjamin Britten, oratorio Jean d'Arc au Bucher (Joan of Arc at the Stake) by A. Honegger, the oratorio Fidelissima advocata Croatiae by J. Magdić, Messe in G major by F. Schubert, concert performance of the opera Hansel and Gretel by E. Humperdinck, Missa apostolica by Gerald Wirth, etc.

The choir has performed alongside the Zagreb Soloists, the Symphony Orchestra of the Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT), the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, the Croatian Chamber Orchestra, the Zagreb Wind Trio, the Windstrings string orchestra, the Opera Orchestra of the Croatian National Theatre (HNK), the Croatian Army Symphony Wind Orchestra, the Tamburica Orchestra of the HRT, etc.

Furthermore, the choir has performed under the direction of many renowned conductors such as P. Dešpalj, K. Ono, M. Horvat, N. Bareza, M. Belamarić, R.F. de Burgos, A. Rahbari, F. Shipway, V. Kranjčević, M. Tarbuk, M. Bašić, I. Kuljerić, P. Gotovac, M. Prohaska, S. Britvić, Z. Juranić, A. Bjelinski, etc.

The choir's wide range of activities inside Croatia also includes a cappella performances at the International Children's Festival in Šibenik (1990) and Dubrovnik Summer Festival (2000). The "Zvjezdice" choir filled the audience with enthusiasm in Norway, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Russia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, etc.

The two United States tours should especially be mentioned. First came the highly successful tour in 2003 (New York, Pittsburgh, Dayton, Northern Kentucky), when the choir received a major acknowledgement and December 12 was declared the "Zvjezdice" Day in New York, and December 19 was declared the "Zvjezdice" Day in Dayton. The other, equally successful tour took place in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York in 2004, and included the concert in the Church of the Holy Family at the United Nations Chapel in New York under the high patronage of Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See at the UN. In 2006, the tour to Australia and Malaysia (Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, Kuala Lumpur) followed, and the tour to Canada took place in 2009.

Many works by the leading Croatian composers have been dedicated to the "Zvjezdice" choir, most notably The Four Seasons by Davorin Kempf, Orion, Venus, Andromeda by Milko Kelemen and Djevojačke vede (Maiden Vedas) by Ivo Josipović.

The "Zvjezdice" choir has received many national and international awards and some of the most notable are: two awards for best performance at the International Choir Festival in Llangollen, North Wales (the International Musical Eisteddfod), the outstanding performance awards at the Sligo Choir Festival, Ireland and Stavanger, Norway, the award for the best performance of a contemporary composition at the International Youth Choir Festival Celje. Along with Dunja Vejzović, Ruža Pospiš-Baldani and Zagreb soloists, the choir received the Ivan Lukačić Award for performing Stabat Mater by G. B. Pergolesi at the Varaždin Baroque Evenings in 1991.

The choir has an impressive discography list, consisting of several hundreds of recordings, a series of independent releases such as the CD Ave Mundi Gloria, double CD titled Zvjezdice (released for the choir's 15th anniversary) and Christmas editions realised in cooperation with the Zagreb Soloists, the Zagreb Wind Trio, the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra and the Croatian Army Orchestra, and the recent CD: Zvjezdice - 20 years.