Music Vlade Sunko creates an interesting "fabric" in a play on words, woven from the threads of his various musical interests – much like he shapes the tone and colors of his ensemble, which he has led for almost forty years, the Brodosplit City Choir, so too did this powerful and vibrant collection of voices necessarily shape the composer's musical imagination. One of the most important works of his opus, he wrote for Brodosplit, the composition Our Lady of Sinj (2006). It is an abridged version of a larger work, The Gold of Our Lady's Grace, for soloists for male choir a cappella, which was premiered on the occasion of the 280th anniversary of the coronation of Our Lady of Sinj in the Sinj sanctuary of the Miraculous Lady of Sinj in 1996. The powerful motifs of the first movement place the event on the stone of the Dalmatian hinterland, leading on a path that gently meanders through various folkloric inspirations, with recognizable clashing tones of the second, rhythms of the deaf circle and fine harmonies of the Mediterranean third. They give Sunko the initial impulse from which he builds a musical drama of the events of the Turkish siege of Sinj and the interventions of the miraculous protector, Our Lady of Sinj, to verses that are taken partly from Conversations of the pleasant people of Slovenia A. Kačić-Miošić, as well as excerpts from the poem In front of the painting of Our Lady of Sinj I. Čaglja and Hymns to Our Lady of Sinj A. Jadrijević, selected and edited by Fra J. Ande Soldo. Melodious baritone and tenor solos alternate with the diversely arranged chorus in harmonies that echo the archaic, leading in an epic manner through a series of moods, from martial drama to contrite prayer and complete devotion to a powerful and gentle patroness.
Oh, Vrliko written in 2012 for two mandolins, it is based on a folk tune, colored by stingy, archaic intervals, placed in a limited tonal range, but within it rich in specific rhythm, variation, ornaments, built on several recognizable tones and motifs, and even on the absence of a real tone. The way Sunko interprets it brings a hybrid of that sound, in which the mandola and mandoloncello imitate ancient fiddles, voice and dance, and the manners of the ornaments and rich passages and rhythms, especially in the central fragment of a dance character, may remind of the virtuoso music for the lute of the Renaissance, which found an unusual echo in the hilly corners of Zagora.
Missa (Classic – Pop – Folk) brings his unique vision among the numerous contemporary musical interpretations of the Mass Ordinary, which take him outside the church to the concert stage. The text of the liturgy provides Vlado Sunko with an ideal framework for the symbiosis of classical, pop and folklore, which enrich each other - in his unique and imaginative recipe for this combination, Sunko gives a note of freshness with the striking use of the harsh, powerful sounds of Dalmatian folklore. It was composed in 2012 for soloists, male choir and orchestra.
The statement of faith in the third paragraph, Credo, begins playfully, dance-like. The characteristic harsh seconds, which appear like a seal in many of Sunko's compositions, are only just beginning to be discerned, and later in this movement the influence of folklore and folk sacred chant takes on a completely sublime form – various influences are combined with melodies far linked to the sources of Gregorian chant, easily bridging the musical space towards the narrow intervals of Zagora, and part of the music also becomes the choreography of the deaf circle, the silence in the very steps, the dance which itself acquires a sacred dimension, as the spiritual peak of the movement. It is then complemented by the rhythm of the drums, as well as the whistling of the bora wind, the pouring rain, the echoes of prayer and conversation, through the effective use of extended techniques, such as clapping, whistling, snapping fingers, and speech. The ritual sound of Credo is strengthened by a small instrumental ensemble – piano, double bass, drums and doubles.
The diversity of fantasy is interesting, as it always seems to come from a similar source, which, like a leitmotif, connects Sunko's work - he engages in lyrical meditation and contemplation of those few tones of a harsh, rudimentary but musically meaningful second in the composition. Osh-nesh, for guitar solo. Analytically dissolving the specific shift from a minor second to higher and lower, in persistent repetitive rhythms, almost like a counting machine but filled with a series of nuances, ritual, meditative, reflective qualities, Sunko always finds new lyricism, drama, different meanings, and here the dilemma of leaving and returning to the original tone, which for him in this composition speaks of "intolerance among people and hasty decisions as a consequence of poor communication". The composition was written for Mislav Režić in 2007.
This concert will premiere a cantata for male choir, fiddler, female duet, flute and drum, The story of the Klis UskokAs the composer writes about it, the reason for its creation was "a text by the cartoonist Joško Marušić entitled Judicial ten published in the newspaper Wreath. It describes in folk tenor a corrupt historical event in our region during the war between the Turks and the Venetians. In doing so, it also highlights the contemporary geopolitical situation, in which small nations are dying while great powers are making deals. Due to the brevity of the text, I have supplemented it with selected parts from the biblical psalms: 35. A prayer of David against his enemies, 145 A hymn to the power and goodness of God in 150. High praise to God, which I converted into a ten-note stanza and thus achieved a unique rhythm. It is interesting that the Chorus presents the plot (Judicial ten-point), and the fiddler comments by addressing God with psalms. All this leads to the final apotheosis to God.
The special feature of this work is that the fiddle singing and playing as well as the rera are incorporated into the work as an equal and integral part, and not as external decor. The original two-part singing "rera" "tremesanje" of the Dugopolje-Kliška region was used.
Zrinka Matić
Vlado Sunko, conductor and composer, was born on May 10, 1954 in Split, where he graduated from the Classical Gymnasium Natko NodiloHe graduated from the Department of Composition and Music Theory at the Academy of Music in Zagreb in 1979. Since 1981 he has been working as a leader of musical activities and a member of the professional team at To the Center for Education in Split. In addition, he leads choral activities and works on the resocialization of children and youth.
From 1982 to 1992 he taught music theory courses at the Secondary Music School. Josip Hatze, led the school girls' choir, founded and directed the boys' choir. As an external collaborator and choirmaster, he prepared the Mixed Choir of the Croatian National Theatre in Split during the 1984/85 season, with the following premieres: Madame Butterfly (G. Puccini), Othello (G. Verdi), and at the renovation Nabucco i Help (G. Verdi). In the midst of preparations for the celebration of the 100th anniversary in the 1999/2000 season, the Mixed Choir is led by Round from Šibenik with notable success among professional critics and the people of Šibenik.
Since 1992, he has been teaching courses at the Department of Music Culture at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and Education in Split: Choir, Arranging for ensembles and Introduction to instruments. He has been teaching the same subjects at the newly founded Academy of Arts of the University of Split since 1997 (associate professor since 2002, and full professor since 2011). He was the Vice-Dean for Education from 2006 to 2008. With the Academy's mixed choir, he won seven first prizes for the most successful performances at the Festival of Sacred Music. Cro-patria in Split. The choir's successes at the International Folk Music Competition are particularly noteworthy. Adria sings in Šbenik 2016, where they won the gold medal in the domestic and foreign folklore categories with the highest number of points, and at the 11th International Choir Competition in Zadar 2018 they won second prize. The choir was awarded a diploma milka trnina for collaboration with the Opera of the Croatian National Theatre in Split on a joint performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in 2013.
Since 1988 he has been the conductor of the male City Choir. Brodosplit, with whom he gave (360) full-length concerts and (136) short
concerts and competitive performances in the country and abroad. It wins the highest awards at competitions in the country (Zadar, 1990 and 1995, Rijeka, 1993, Umag, 1999, Novigrad, 2007) and abroad (Budapest, 1991, Prague, 2002, gold medal and title of Olympic winner at the Choir Olympics in Linz, 2000, Xiamen - China, 2006, Winners at the World Choir Games in Graz, 2008, Petrinja, 2011, Prijedor - RS, 2012, Callela-Barcelona, 2012, Zwickau, 2014, Žilina, 2017, Bad Ischl, 2018). It is interesting to mention that at the 7th International Choir Competition Robert Schumann - Zwickau (Germany) 2014. achieved first prize and absolute first place in the category of male choirs, first prize in the category of sacred music, the award for the best performed work by Robert Schumann, and at the 14th International Choir Competition in Bad Ischl (Austria) wins three first prizes in the (polyphonic, sacral and folklore categories in 2018. He distinguished himself with his performances The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ B. Papandopoulou and Requiem L. Cherubini, Resurrection Lj. Stipišić Delmata and his own Misse (Classic-Pop-Folk).
He was the conductor of the European Young Mandolin and Guitar Orchestra (EGMYO), under the leadership of an international group of mentors (U. Orlandi, C. Blanko-Ruiz) in Pula in 2010. In the same year he was invited to a major international festival Pecs Cantat 2010. in Hungary, as an authority on male choir singing. He held a workshop for male choirs and performed at the Closing Night with a large male choir of 110 singers.
For his successful reproductive and creative work, he has been awarded the City of Split Award three times (in 2000, 2012 and 2017). The Split-Dalmatia County Award for 2017. A plaque for his contribution to the development of the University of Split in 2006. A plaque from the Croatian Association of Choir Conductors for outstanding achievements in conducting choirs and for promoting Croatian choral music abroad, as well as the professional title Master of Choirs 2009. Medal of the Order of the Croatian Danica with the image of Marko Marulić, 2013.
His compositional opus includes 192 titles (127 compositions and 68 arrangements). His creative interests focus on choral music, chamber music and music for mandolin orchestras. He wrote vocal-instrumental and orchestral works, as well as incidental music. He has received numerous awards and recognitions for his compositional work. He received first prizes from the expert committee for the following compositions: Chromatic Capriccio, 1997., Bells of Kaštela 2001. (Mandolin Imota), Our Father 1997 Cum invocarem 1999 Your and my secret 2004., To the Martyrs of Solin 2005., Majka 2010., Gloria 2020. (Cro-patria), Two poems by D. Cesarić (Croatian Cultural Festival 1999), Missa Classic-Pop-Folk (Passion Heritage 2014)
His compositions for mandolin orchestra are performed at international mandolin music festivals (Italy, Germany, Spain, Czech Republic, Hungary and France). He leads seminars in the country and abroad. He is a member of the juries of numerous competitions. He is a regular member of the Croatian Composers' Association.
He published four sheet music editions: three collections of his own compositions: Compositions for female, male and mixed choirs, Compositions for cello, Capriccio cromatico compositions for mandolin chamber ensembles and orchestras, and a cycle of six spiritual compositions for mixed choir The light is your shadow. to texts by E. Kišević.
So far, he has released fourteen albums: ten with the City Choir Brodosplit, two with the choir of the Academy of Arts in Split and two with the mandolin orchestra Sanctus Domnius.
(Taken from vladosunko.com)
Brodosplit city choir in 2022 with an anniversary concert in the Split theater and the publication of a rich monograph entitled Let's go, we punters. marked half a century of successful operation.
Unobtrusively and without great ambitions, the Male Choir was launched in 1972 in the Split shipyard, and while still a minor, it became recognizable for its quality at the national level, as well as on its first European voyages.
A choir is a complex musical organism in which each singer plays the role of an organ. With their voice, they color a specific section and give strength and emotion to the overall fusion. The conductor, who is also the artistic director of the choir, mixes, blends, shapes and delicately polishes every tone in each composition so that it arouses attention and provokes listeners to a unique experience precisely in the performance of each choir.
The Brodosplit City Choir is fortunate to have been led for more than three and a half decades, since 1988, not only by a conductor but also by one of the greatest living Croatian composers, the maestro Vlado SunkoThanks to the knowledge, vision, dedication, creative innovation and perseverance of Maestro Vlado Sunko, this choir has achieved superb artistic results: especially with performances of great works such as Papandopulo's The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Cherubini's Requiem, Stipišić's Resurrection and Sunkova The Gold of Our Lady's Grace i Where.
In the spirit of the proverb of the French philosopher Jean Jaurès: Tradition does not consist in preserving the ashes but in keeping the flame alive, in this musical-historical score, a precious section was sung by the Split choirs, and the Brodosplit City Choir is most deserving of preserving this praiseworthy tradition.
As the most recognizable ambassadors of their city, they became the most trophy-winning Croatian amateur choir, two-time absolute world choir champions.
In addition to the most prestigious professional awards, they have also received numerous social awards, from the awards of the City of Split and the Split-Dalmatia County to the Charter of the Republic of Croatia. But to this we should add the city and county award and the decoration of the Order of the Croatian Sun with the image of Marko Marulić to Maestro Sunko.
Music in the life of this region is the umbilical cord to the heritage of our ancestors, both secular and spiritual, but also a credible protagonist in the political arena in which, among swords and guns, notes and words – music and language – have found their place as weapons in the struggle for national identity.
(Biography taken from the website of the Brodosplit City Choir https://www.gz-brodosplit.hr/)
Brother and sister Tea and Roko Rogošić and Tea Armanda, are members of the children's klapa Maestral from Dugopolje and the Pleter KUD. They won second place at the Festival dj. Kl. In Zadar 2023, then in the same year the Second Klapa Festival in Omiš where they achieved great success, namely 1st place. The following year they won awards at the same festivals as in Perast in Montenegro. Behind them are several seminars and folklore festivals in Croatia and abroad.
Ivana Kenk Kalebić, mandola, she completed primary and secondary music school in Split, and in 2003 she graduated in mandolin at the Cesare Pollini Conservatory in Padua in the class of Prof. Ugo Orlandi. In 2004 she graduated in music culture at UMAS. She is an assistant professor at UMAS, and before that she taught at the Josip Hatze Music School and the Music School in Makarska. She participated in the development of mandolin learning programs in primary and secondary music schools. She has studied with a number of prominent mandolinists across Europe, and is a member of international mandolin associations. She plays in a number of mandolin ensembles and has won awards in the country and abroad. She is the concertmaster of the mandolin orchestra Sanctus DomniusHe collaborates with the Split National Theatre Orchestra, the Croatian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra and the Šibenik City Orchestra.
Stela Ivanisevic Curic, mandolin cello, was born in 1992 in Imotski, where she began her musical education in the Imotski Mandolin Orchestra, and then in the Music School of Dr. Fra Ivan Glibotic and the Music School of Makarska with Prof. Ivana Kenk Kalebić. She has won numerous competitions, including the Città di Barletta in Italy. She performs as a soloist with the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, the European Youth Orchestra, the Mandolin Orchestra A. Bocci in Siena and others. He graduated in mandolin at the Conservatory Giuseppe Verdi in Milan with Prof. Ugo Orlandi (2015) and music theory at UMAS in Split (2016) with Prof. Vlado Sunko. She is employed at the Josip Hatze Music School and is a member of a number of mandolin ensembles and orchestras.
Tonci Tranfic was born in Split in 1987, where he completed primary and secondary education at the Josip Hatze Music School. He graduated in piano from the Zagreb Academy of Music in 2009 in the class of Prof. Đorđe Stanetti. He has performed in more than 20 competitions, winning 1st prize at the Zlatko Grgošević International Competition and 2nd prize at the International Etudes and Scales Competition. He has studied with renowned pianists and pedagogues. He is employed as a piano professor at the Josip Hatze Music School and as an associate at the UMAS. He has performed as a soloist with the Croatian National Theatre Split Orchestra. He leads a klape You change i Electrodalmation.
Roko Radunic was born in Split in 1994. He played drums in several bands, and was also part-time engaged in the Split Croatian National Theatre as a percussionist for a period of one year. He graduated from the Academy of Music of the University of Sarajevo in the class of professor Davor Maraus. With the percussion ensemble PAMAS He won first prize at the International Percussion Competition. He taught at the Elementary Music School in Ilidža, Sarajevo, for a time, and has occasional engagements with the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra.
Boris Zivela, drums, graduated in percussion at the Academy of Music in Zagreb in the class of Prof. Ivana Kuljerić Bilić. He collaborated with the HRT Symphony Orchestra for eight years. He currently lives in Split where he teaches percussion at the Josip Hatze Music School and plays in the orchestra of the Croatian National Theatre Split.
Mislav Režić He graduated in guitar in 2001 at UMAS in the class of Prof. Goran Listeš, and received his master's degree at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague in the class of Zoran Dukić and at the Maastricht College of Music in the class of Carlo MArchione. He has won a number of national and two international awards at the guitar festivals in Zwolle in 2002 and Enschede in 2007. He performs all over the world and collaborates with a number of prominent soloists and ensembles. He is the founder of several ensembles that perform contemporary music, and composers V. Sunko, N. Chatzopoulu and S. Avramidou write works for him. He is a member of the jury of international competitions. He is the artistic director of the Musical Evenings at St. Jerome's festival, and a lecturer at the Summer School in Kaštela.
Piero Malkoc, double bass, was born in Ljubljana in 1980, where he completed his secondary education as a pianist. He continued his studies of double bass in Ljubljana, where he graduated in the class of Prof. Zoran Marković. He actively performs as a soloist and as a member of the Slovenian Philharmonic. He has also collaborated with other professional ensembles in Slovenia and abroad, and since 2010 he has become the first double bassist of the Croatian National Theatre Orchestra in Split and a professor at the Josip Hatze Music School.
Lucija Barisic born in Drniš, plays flute and piccolo, and is equally active in chamber music, opera repertoire, solo and in symphony concerts. She completed her primary and secondary education in Šibenik, and studied flute at the UMAS in Split.
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Vlado Sunko:
1. Cantata Our Lady of Sinj, for male choir a cappella
2. Oj, Vrliko, for mandolin duo
3. Credo, 3rd movement from the Mass (Classic-Pop-Folk), for male choir accompanied by instrumental ensemble
4. Osh-nesh, for guitar solo
5. The Story of the Klis Uskok, cantata for two altos, male choir, gusle and instrumental ensemble
Performers:
Program manager: Hertz Ganz
