🢂 TICKETS FOR THE PERFORMANCE ON MAY 15TH AT 20:00 PM
"Split's velo varoga folk intimist and fashionista (Americanism, foxtrot, "komandjan", bubikopf). ST nostalgic from Riva, Marmontova, Šperun and Geta..." (Silvije Bombardelli about Tijardović in an article from 1995 on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of Tijardović's birth).
Ivo Tijardović was a unique artistic personality in the history of the city of Split - The witty composer of operettas was also the writer of librettos inspired by the spirit and history of the city; he also knew how to convey his impressions visually – in numerous illustrations and caricatures, which he linked to his theatrical works, or with which he portrayed his friends and acquaintances. He was also a director, choreographer, costume designer and set designer, and also an organizer who knew how to gather and train musicians. The intendant and director of the opera of the Split Croatian National Theatre, and later the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, and the director of the State Symphony Orchestra, he composed, in addition to theatrical works, orchestral, chamber and film music. He wrote eight operettas, the most famous of which are Spli's watercolor i Little Floramye, remain permanently in the repertoire of Croatian theaters. There are also operas Chimneys along the Adriatic, Marko polo, Diocletian, the musical Catherine the Great and a musical comedy Experience in Shanghai created in 1937, rediscovered and staged in the form of a musical play by the Chamber Orchestra Tijardovic, conductor Hari Zlodre and director Ivan Leo Lemo and a series of soloists on the 130th anniversary of the composer's birth.
Ivo Tijardović, born in Split in 1895 in a house next to the eastern walls of Diocletian's Palace, wrote his first compositions while still a schoolboy. Just after he graduated, World War I began, which led to his initial mobilization into the Austrian army, and he later managed to defect to Italy, before switching sides and fighting on the Salonika front. After the war, he went to study architecture in Vienna. He was drawn to the theater, so he interrupted his studies and enrolled at the Drama School in Zagreb in 1921.
He began his professional artistic career in 1922 at the newly founded National Theatre in Split, not only as a conductor and set designer, but also as a director, costume designer, and choreographer. He soon wrote his first works for the theatre. He was largely self-taught in music, but this did not prevent him from gradually developing a recognizable operetta musical style, in a series of works that would be created in the following years. The first of these was the operetta Pierrott Ilo, which she performed that same year on the Split stage. In 1926, she Little Floramye i Queen of the ball, and then Spli's watercolor 1928.i Marshal Marmont's order 1929
His operettas were also a great success at their Zagreb premieres, and he composed an operetta especially for Zagreb. Jurek and Štefek.
After the permanent theatre in Split was abolished, Tijardović was active in the Split Theatre Society, where he prepared a number of works. From 1929 to 1933, he headed the music department of a record production company in Zagreb, together with musicologist Pavle Markovec. Edison Bell PenHe occasionally stayed in Berlin, where he wrote music for several films for the Ufa and Tobis film companies, including Coral Princess (Coral Princess), In exile under Emperor Diocletian i Little IvicaThere he also worked on the musical Shanghai Adventure, to a German libretto by Alan S. Dale, which he published in 1937 in Vienna.
In 1940 he returned to Split and became the intendant of the newly formed permanent theatre. In 1941, due to wartime circumstances, musical life in the city died down. Tijardović joined the People's Liberation Movement, and later the Partisans, and during this time he composed numerous songs and arrangements of folk songs, the most popular of which remains Marjane, Marjane.
After the war, he became the director of the then Dalmatian National Liberation Theatre, and then in Zagreb he became the intendant of the Croatian National Theatre and director of the State Symphony Orchestra, or Zagreb Philharmonic.
At that time, he stopped composing operettas and composed a series of more serious works, among them operas Chimneys along the Adriatic (1950.) I Marko polo (1955), as well as incidental music (Fishing disputes C. Goldoni 1956.), and the later opera Diocletian, which has not been performed yet. He also composes a number of chamber pieces, songs and choirs, and music for films.
Among other works, the incidental music for Marulić's Judith, which he later refined and turned into a cantata, which was premiered in October 1940 in the historic theater in Hvar, and immediately afterwards, on December 5 of the same year, its performance was the ceremonial opening of the theater in Split.
He is the winner of the Award Vladimir Nazor for his life's work. He died in Zagreb in 1976.
Adventure in Shanghai, original name Min, written in 1936 in Berlin and published in 1937 in Vienna, was first performed in Zagreb in concert, then in Osijek in 1958 and in Split in 1963.
Its creation came about through acquaintance - as Ivo Tijardović writes in the text published in the booklet for the performance of the operetta Min at the Croatian National Theatre Split in 1963 - during a performance Little Floramy in Dubrovnik in 1934. There he met the Viennese critic Schreyvogel, who - being delighted Floramye and the audience's reactions, persuaded him to write an operetta with international content to a German libretto, promising him that he would send "a good librettist from Vienna" to Split and find a publisher. Tijardović was interested, and librettist Andor Nemeth (Alan Steven Dale was his pseudonym for the Anglo-Saxon countries) arrived in Split. Tijarodivć and Nemeth jointly decided to set the action in the Far East, in Shanghai, during the Chinese Civil War, which would provide the setting for the spy-love plot of the work.
"The time of the action is the year 1927, when that civil war was raging and when it was in Shanghai that the imperialists in their settlements widely developed the activity of the intelligence services, because everyone - both the British and the Americans and the Japanese and others - wanted to dominate the situation in China. In that intelligence rush, one side tried at all costs to find out the intentions of the other side, and everyone carefully concealed their own plans... Japanese intelligence officer Min Sai Ćo, who presented as a "persecuted Chinese woman", she breaks into the apartment of British intelligence officer, Captain Reginald Smiley, who has just taken up his duties in the British settlement. She is ostensibly seeking "protection" from the "Chinese soldier girl", but it is actually her colleagues, Japanese intelligence agents, who are doing all this to deceive the young British captain and discover the plans of the British. Reginald falls in love with the young and unusually attractive Min, but in the meantime she also genuinely falls in love with him. This unforeseen circumstance disrupted the combinations of her commanders, who counted on the traditional loyalty of every Japanese to the motherland. The result is a tragic end to this love adventure: Min ends his young life in front of the gun barrels of his compatriots, which is only hinted at on the scene. As a counterbalance, another couple appears in the work, Jessye Monrey and Hank Dodsworth, two adventurers from Europe. It is not known exactly what their personalities are, what their occupation is and what they intend to do, except that they want to live in an easy way. They are the bearers of a bright note in the work."
This is how Ivo Tijardović describes the plot of his musical, which with its ending – when the young Min is discovered and taken away by Japanese soldiers – provides the bittersweet note of nostalgia carried by the short Shanghai adventure.
Tijardović writes about his music:
"The music that was supposed to serve as a background for this libretto also attracted me. At that time, I was working on the music for a German-produced film (UFA) on the subject of Japan, and therefore I visited the rich music archive and the discotheque of the Japan Institute in Berlin. There I had the opportunity to get to know the music of the Far East in detail, which then served me a lot for this work (and many years later for my opera "Marco Polo"). I was also interested in the possibility of using a jazz orchestra for this score, in addition to the obligatory symphonic one. So I wrote and arranged all the dance numbers for the jazz ensemble, and all the lyrical parts and the finale with the finale for the symphonic ensemble. Two pianos, which require excellent musicians, play an important role in this composition. The colorfulness and interestingness of the score lies in the fact that European music and musical motifs of the Far East are constantly intertwined in it. This work, of course, has nothing in common with my folklore music-stage works, but everything in it is built on my melodic musical approach, which was accepted by both the audience and critics."
After the work was completed in 1936/37, it was to be performed in Vienna, but this was prevented by the start of World War II, so the premiere took place at a concert performance on 5 July 1952 in Zagreb, with the Symphony Orchestra, soloists Nada Tončić, Ruža Cvjetičanin, Noni Žunec and Franjo Paulik, and conducted by Tijardović himself. The work was also performed at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, as well as in 1957 on the Budapest radio station in a Hungarian translation. The following year, under the title Min, in the translation of the libretto into Croatian by Tijardović, the musical was first performed on stage at the National Theatre in Osijek, and in 1963 the first performance followed at the National Theatre in Split. It was conducted by Karlo Radinger, directed by Borivoj Šembera, costume designer Jagoda Buić, choreographer Franka Hatze, and the soloists were: Slaven Smodlaka (Reginald Smiley), Mirjana Dulčić (Min Sai Ćo), Berislav Mudnić (Hank Dodsworth), Tonka Štetić and Dosija Košćina (Jessye Monrey), and members of the National Theatre Chorus in Split in minor roles (Andrija Petej, Vinko Varvodić, Tomo Milatić, Zlatko Fajt, Pero Vrca, Tješivoj Cinotti), with an orchestra, ballet and the "Small Ensemble of Džeki Srbljenović".
For a new performance by Tijardović Adventures in Shanghai at the Croatian House in Split, the original orchestration was adapted by conductor Hari Zlodre, with a transcription for a salon-style chamber ensemble that is in keeping with the time of the action, or rather the creation of the work itself.
Zrinka Matić
Director's word
I love Ivo Tijardović. I was born in 1976, the same year the maestro left this world, and every time I direct him, I feel a special joy and responsibility, and a truly great desire to live up to his work, to continue where he left off, to spread the joy of living, the beauty of creation, and the importance of creative interpenetration. In the year when the city of Split celebrates 130 years since the birth of Ivo Tijardović and Jakov Gotovac, it is an exceptional honor to direct Adventure in Shanghai, that newly discovered operetta-melodrama diamond that takes us all the way to the Far East in terms of plot. Once again, Tijardović has shown us how his work spreads a cosmopolitan spirit and how, under his theatrical cloak, the world is accessible, recognizable, networked, perfect. I am an orientalist by habit and I love these romantic expeditions to distant cultures that enhance the imagination of us, born Westerners. However, what tickles the most, not only the imagination, but also the heart, is the music of this Shanghai adventure. Irresistible, memorable, nostalgic, sexy, wistful, flirtatious, suitable for dancing, singing and crying all kinds of tears, those that flow from a wounded heart, but also tears of joy. As much as it is a pity that these arias have not been in our intimate and institutional repertoire for decades, like the well-known melodies, themes and choruses from Floramye i Watercolor, it is such a great privilege and exclusivity that our time and our generations are lucky enough to discover this wonderful and healing music. Tijardović is a classic, part of our identity core, and yet, he is still fresh, new and gives us the opportunity to fall in love with him again for the first time. The Maestro teaches us how to live easily and how to love deeply. Thank you!
Ivan Leo Lemo
Dirigent Hari Zlodre was born in Split in 1967, where he graduated from the Vladimir Nazor Gymnasium and the Josip Hatze Secondary Music School, piano and theory department. He graduated in conducting in 1993, in the class of Prof. Igor Gjadrov. He received the Rector's Award in 1992 for his graduation performance Traviata G. Verdi in the production of the Split Croatian National Theatre. He has been working at the Croatian National Theatre Split since 1992 as a choirmaster and conductor. In the following seasons he will stage the premieres of the ballet Teuta (Papandopulo) and The devil in the village (Lhotka), as well as reruns Rigoletta (Verdi). In the following seasons he conducted a series of reprises, and organized the concert series Young Musicians of Split. He collaborated with maestros Nikša Bareza, Pavle Dešpalj, Vjekoslav Šutej, Antonio Pirolli, Ricardo Capasso, and conducted the following operas: Troubadour (Verdy), Milo Gojsalić (Gotovac), La Bohème (Puccini), Carmen (Bizet), Little Floramye (Tijardovic), Aida (Verdi) and Stanac (Gotovac).
From March 2000 to September 2006, he was the director of the Opera of the Croatian National Theatre Split and the director of the music program of the Split Summer Festival. During the same period, he organized a concert season called Music Monday in which he hosts top Croatian and foreign soloists and ensembles, as well as regular holiday concerts with the choir and orchestra of the Split Croatian National Theatre. Among the stage works he conducts during this period: Swan Lake, Shchelkunchik (Tchaikovsky), Traviata (Verdi, premiere production), Love potion (Donizetti), Luisa Miller (Verdi, guest performance in Zagreb), Split watercolor (Tijardovic), Ero from the other world (Gotovac), Tosca (Puccini).
In August 2011, at 57. Split summer for repeat conducting Eras from the other world in Vrlika and the premiere performance of the ballet Zorba the Greek Theodorakis wins award Judita for the best artistic achievement of the musical program.
Since September 1996, he has been an assistant and later a lecturer in opera roles at the regional department of the Academy of Music in Zagreb, with classes in Split. Since March 2006, he has been permanently employed at the Academy of Arts in Split. He frequently performs with the orchestra, choir and soloists of the Academy of Arts in Split, and has staged a number of plays. Dido and Aeneas Savitri, La traviata, Nikola Šubić Zrinjski, The Elixir of Love, The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute)
In early 2008, he founded the band with composer Mirko Krstičević. Splithesis Project, whose main activity is the premiere of works by Croatian composers.
He is one of the founders of the Chamber Orchestra. Tijardovic 2023. years.
Ivan Leo Lemo was born in Split. In 1999, he graduated in theatre directing and radio broadcasting from the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb. He has directed around 120 plays in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia, Germany and Italy. Some of these plays have successfully toured domestic and international festivals and won numerous awards.
He has worked on everything from children's plays, through domestic and foreign classical and contemporary authors to musicals, operettas and operas in most Croatian theatres (HNK Split, HNK Zagreb, HNK Osijek, HNK Ivan pl. Zajc Rijeka, Kerempuh, Komedija, DK Gavella, &TD theatre, Marin Držić Theatre Dubrovnik, Croatian National Theatre Zadar, Croatian National Theatre Šibenik, City Youth Theatre Split, INK Pula etc.). Among the dramatic performances, the following stand out: Trainspotting, Marlene Dietrich, Basket, Masquerade, Parasites, Dangerous connections, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, A Streetcar Named Desire, Tales from 1001 nights, It's important to be named Ernest, Leda, Hasanaginica, I, who have more innocent hands, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Animal farm, Ideal husband, Amadeus, Bobočka or other hundred pages by Filip Latinović, Performance of Hamlet in the village of Mrduša Donja, Zagora Law, What is a man without a mustache etc.., and from opera/operetta performances Little Floramye, Ivica and Marica, Traviata, Bat, Bear, Princess of Czardas, La Bohème, The Feast of Figaro...
Over the course of seven years (from 2016 to 2023), he wrote and directed seven cabarets (Cabaret Splitska, Cabaret via connection, Vla-Vla-Vlajland cabaret, Cabaret Split in space, Miracle, Cabaret Zagreb women and the static engineer, Cabaret Yugoslav Women) which have also been awarded at domestic and international festivals and have achieved record ratings and hit status. His plays have toured the region and the United States, Great Britain, Venezuela, Italy, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Russia, Kyrgyzstan... He has won an award for directing a play based on his own text Vla-Vla-Vlajland cabaret at the International Theatre Festival in Pristina in 2020 and at the International Monodrama Festival in Bitola, then the award for direction and dramaturgy of the play Happy people HNK Mostar at the Theater Games in Jajce 2023 and the Croatian Theater Awards 2023 for directing the play Zagora Law, of the City Youth Theatre in Split, for which he is also the author of the text. In total, Zagora Law received eight prestigious awards, including the Award for Best Overall Performance at the Actor's Festival, the Award for Best Performance by the Young Jury at the Days of Satire, and the Award Judita at the 70th Split Summer Festival.
He taught opera acting at the music department of the Academy of Arts in Osijek, and he also taught the same course at the music department of the University of Mostar and the Academy of Arts in Split. He also worked as a director in the entertainment program of the Croatian Radio and Television, and he directed numerous festivals, shows, and commercial events. He currently teaches the course Event Organization at the University of Zagreb. He is a member of the Croatian Association of Independent Artists and the Croatian Society of Dramatic Artists. He lives in Zagreb.
Neda Pejkovic, soprano, enrolled at the Academy of Arts in Split in 2014 in the class of Prof. Giorgio Surian (Žana Marendić, assistant professor). She participated in productions of concerts, operas and operettas. During her studies, she performed the role of Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro by WA Mozart, and participated in opera projects of the Split Summer Festival. She won second prize at the state competition Lev Mirski in Osijek in 2017. In the same year, he attended a master class with Radmila Bakočević in Split. In July 2017, he made his debut in the operetta Queen of the ball Ivo Tijardović, in the role of Dragica. In the production of the opera Nikola Subic Zrinski performs the role of Jelena in 2018. In the opera Love potion Gaetana Donizettia performs the role of Adina in 2019. In the meantime, she is studying with Danielle Schillaci and performing at concerts in Kolin, Czech Republic. In 2020, she graduates in Solo Singing with a final concert Stabat Mater GB Pergolesi in the class of Žana Marendić Bučević. After studying, he successfully passed the audition and was employed in 2021 at the Croatian National Theatre in Split, where he continued with further engagements. In March of the same year, he became an external associate of the Academy of Arts in Split. During the year, he participated in competitions Vinko Lesic in Split and Darko Lukic in Zagreb. In collaboration with the academy, she performs the role of Pamina in Mozart's The Magic FluteIn April 2022, he will make his opera debut at the Croatian National Theatre in Split. Krabul dance Giuseppe Verdi in the role of Oscar. In July, she will debut in the role of the Priestess in the opera Aida G. Verdi. In October, she sang the solo part in Gabriel Fauré's Requiem on the stage of the Croatian National Theatre, and in November of the same year, she made her debut in the role of Anna in the opera Traviata Giuseppe Verdi. In collaboration with the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, in 2024 she sang the solo soprano part in WA Mozart's Requiem in the Church of the Little Brothers. In March 2025 she made her debut on the stage of the Croatian National Theatre in the opera Love potion Gaetano Donizetti in the role of Adina.
Mezzo-soprano Jelena Kordić She studied in the class of Martina Zadro at the Zagreb Academy of Music and took lessons with Ruža Pospiš Baldani. Her final exam was her debut as Carmen in the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall in 2011. In the following years, she received invitations from Croatian opera houses, primarily the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb. She performed with orchestras such as the Zagreb Philharmonic and the Croatian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra. In 2015, she joined the studio ensemble of young singers at the Semperoper in Dresden, where she performed in roles such as Cherubino, Dorabella, Orlofsky, Ivica and Janáček's The Fox. She then spent a year in the ensemble of the Braunschweig State Theatre, where she debuted in the roles of Sesta and Charlotte and performed in a new production Carmen. In concert, she performed in Mahler's The other one and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Verdi Requiem and Wagner's Wesendock songs. Since 2018, she has been a member of the National Theater in Mannheim. In 2019, she sang the role of Dom from Gotovčevo in Munich. Eras from the other world with the HRT Choir and the Munich Radio Orchestra conducted by Ivan Repušić. She was a guest at the German Opera on the Rhine in Düsseldorf (Ivica and Marica), Concertgebouw in Amsterdam (Electricity), Latvian National Opera in Riga (Nabucco), with the Luxembourg Philharmonic (Beethoven Ninth Symphony), at a gala concert in Guadalajara, Mexico, the Lithuanian National Theatre in Vilnius (Cavalier with a rose) and in Weimar (new production Caligula Detlev Glanert). She returned to Zagreb to perform Four songs for voice and orchestra Dora Pejačević with the HRT Symphony Orchestra and performed in Verdi's Requiem under the direction of Plácido Domingo. She also made her debut as Fricka in Rhine gold i Die walküre in Mannheim and on tour in South Korea. She regularly improves her singing skills with singing teachers, among whom she highlights Dolora Zajick and Deborah Polaski. She is currently taking lessons from Sherman Lowe and Allison Oakes.
Bože Jurić-Pešić is a tenor from Solin, Croatia. He received his early musical education by attending private piano lessons with the Sisters of Charity in Split. He then enrolled in solo singing at the Music School “Josip Hatze” in the class of Prof. Sanja Erceg Vrekalo, and the Music Academy in Zagreb in the class of Prof. Vlatka Oršanić. He continued his studies at numerous seminars. He has won a number of awards at regional, national and international competitions, including 1st prize at the Bruno Špiler International Competition in Montenegro, where he also received a special award for overall impression. He won the Grand Prix at the International Summer Opera Workshop in Beeskow (Berlin), for which he was also awarded a scholarship.
During his musical education, he gave concerts throughout Croatia. Important performances include: Passion Heritage Days in Zagreb, the opening of the 52nd St. Donatus Evening in Zadar, and a performance of Bruckner's Te Deum in the Red Cycle of the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra.
He was engaged in the ensemble of the Croatian National Theatre in Split, where he sang numerous roles since 2018, and then became a soloist of the Croatian National Theatre Opera. Ivan pl. Zajc in Rijeka.
In addition to his work in Croatia, Bože Jurić-Pešić has a colorful international concert and opera career. In 2018, he received the prestigious Croatian Actors' Association Award for the best artistic achievement in an operetta or musical. During the past season, Bože Jurić-Pešić performed at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Busoni's Arlecchino as Leandro, he made his debut as Don José in Bizet's Carmen at the SNG Opera in Ljubljana, and also made his debut as Turrida in Cavalleria rusticani Pietro Mascagni at the Croatian National Theatre in Rijeka.
He has performed numerous tenor roles, such as Ismael in Verdi's Nabuccu , Cassia in Verdi's Othello, Tamina in The Magic Flute and Podesta in To the fake gardener WA Mozart, Lensky in Eugene Onegin PI Tchaikovsky and the Fisherman in Nightingale Igor Stravinsky. Bože Jurić-Pešić has a wide repertoire, with a special emphasis on Italian veristic opera, such as Rodolfo and Pinkerton in Puccini's La bohème i Madame Butterfly and Alfredo in Verdi's La Traviata. In concerts, Bože Jurić-Pešić sang in a long list of orchestral and oratorio works, such as Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Mozart's Requiem, his Great Mass in C minor and Coronation Mass, Brucker's Te Deum and Schubert's Mass in G major.
Bože Jurić-Pešić made his debut at the City Comedy Theatre in Zagreb in 2015, thus achieving his graduation performance. In June and July 2017, he performed on the big stage of the Berlin Philharmonic, where he sang in Felix Mendelssohn's symphony CanticleIn addition to opera, he sings Italian canzones, German Lied and operetta arias, and is also a skilled organist. In 2012, he was named Young Musician of the Year and was a guest on the show Dobro jutro, Hrvatska.
Baritone Erol Ramadanović rBorn in Sarajevo. After completing his graduate studies at the Faculty of Sports and Physical Education in Sarajevo, he enrolled at the Music Academy in Sarajevo, where he graduated in solo singing. He studied in the classes of Prof. Paša Gackić, Prof. Adema Pljevljak-Krehić and Prof. Vedrana Šimić. After completing his studies, he worked on vocal technique with the renowned Croatian bass-baritone and professor, Giorio Suriano. He had notable roles in operas and operettas; Count Almaviva (The Feast of Figaro, WA Mozart), Sharpless (Madama Butterfly, G. Puccini), Schaunard (Bohemians, G. Puccini), Hotjan (Tvrtko, King of Bosnia; A. Jažić) Krušina (The Bartered Bride, B. Smetana), Ben Upthegrove (Phone, GC Menotti), Hedgehog (Ježeva kuća, Z. Vauda), Fiorello (The Barber of Seville), the studio role of Papageno (The magic flute WA Mozart) in the National Theater Sarajevo, and the role of Sonora (Child of the West, G. Puccini) at the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc in Rijeka and Ali Portuka (Nikola Šubić Zrinjski, Ivan pl. Zajc) at the Croatian National Theatre Zagreb. He has performed abroad in concerts in Austria, Belgium, Chile, Croatia, Slovenia and Spain. Highlights include a gala concert held at the Palais des Beaux-Arts (BOZAR) in Brussels, and a gala concert held as part of the festival Travel in Italy at the Flagey Hall accompanied by the Orchestre de l'Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, also in Brussels, a bass solo from Mozart's Requiem, held at the La Sucrerie Hall in Wavre, and recitals as part of the XXIII Encuentro de Música y Academia de Santander Festival, held at the Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria in Santander. In October 2023, he was accepted for training at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel under the tutelage of the renowned Belgian bass-baritone José van Dam, as well as the French mezzo-soprano Sophie Koch and the French baritone Stéphane Degout. He is the recipient of the annual award of the National Theatre Sarajevo for his performance of the role of Count Almaviva from the opera The Marriage of Figaro, WA Mozart.
Michael Elias is an actor born on September 16.9.1998, XNUMX in Virovitica. After graduating from the Catholic Classical Gymnasium with Public Rights in Virovitica and the Jan Vlašimsky Music School in Virovitica (saxophone), he enrolled and completed the undergraduate study of Acting and Puppetry at the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek and the graduate study of Acting at the Academy of Arts in Split. During and after his studies, he performed a dozen roles in puppet shows (Per Shin - Prisoner of the Bro Tower Požega City Theatre, Roda - Stork and fox and Ivica - Ivica and Marica Puppet shows by Ivana Brlić Mažuranić in Zagreb) and drama performances (Zet - Balinese stories and the Shepherd - Dreamers of the future Boris Senker and The Convict - In the penal colony Franz Kafka Theater Fortforno, Danny - DNK Dennis Kelly and John - Winter of a lion James Goldman at the Virovitica Theater, Lion/Shrine/Lucifer - Hell Dante Alighieri at the Croatian National Theatre Osijek and Đoni - Shut up, it hurts. at the City Youth Theatre in Split), and appears in several films and series of domestic and foreign production.
Sara Zuvela, soprano, born on February 6, 1996 in Split. She comes from Blato on Korčula. She graduated from the general gymnasium in Dubrovnik in 2014. She graduated from the Luka Sorkočević Art School in Dubrovnik, music department, solo singing in the class of Prof. Dubravka Hilja in 2016. In the same year, she enrolled in the 1st year of the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, solo singing in the class of Prof. Pie Brodnik. She attended additional training seminars with Nelli Manuilenko, Eva Blahova, Edita Garčević Koželj and Dunja Vejzović. She participated in the regional competition in 2015 in Dubrovnik where she won 2nd prize in the 3rd category and in the international competition Daleki akordi in Split in 2016 where she won 1st prize in the 3rd category.
In 2015, she played the lead role in the short film Magda Mozarka (French-Bosnian production) which was noted at several international film festivals.
She participated in the opening of the 66th Dubrovnik Summer Festival. She has performed numerous times with the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra. In 2016, she participated in the 15th anniversary of the Sorgo Music Workshop with the premiere of Tomaso Resti under the baton of prima donna Dunja Vejzović. In 2018, she participated in Crescendo summer institute. In 2019, she graduated and in the same year enrolled in the Master's degree in Musical Arts at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana. In 2019, she sang the role of Woman in the Opera The old man is always right. under the academic project Mini Opera II. In the same year she sang the lead role of Katarina in the tamburitza opera Ambrose and Catherine. In 2020, she won 1st prize at the Davorin Jenko International Competition with the chamber group Trio sospiro. In 2021, she collaborated with the contemporary music ensemble ".abeceda". In the same year, she participated as a soloist at the XIV International Opera Aria Festival Tino Pattiera in Dubrovnik. In 2022, she completed her Master of Music degree at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana. She continued to work on her vocal technique with professor Dubravka Krušelj Jurković. In the same year, she participated in the Ljubljana Festival as the main soloist in the opera In the embrace of Lahinja. In 2023, in addition to the artistic part of her musical journey, she also became involved in pedagogical work and in the program Education with Music for preschool children. In 2024, she made her debut at the Croatian National Theater in Split in the role of Marica in Split watercolor I. Tijardović. In the same year she participated as a soloist at the International Festival of Opera Arias Tino Pattiera in Dubrovnik.
Iles Becei, tenor, academic title He earned a Master's degree in solo singing at the Music Academy in East Sarajevo, debuting with the role of Donn Ottavio in the play Don Giovanni WA Mozart. He began his professional engagement in 2011 as an episodic actor in the choir of the Sarajevo National Theater Opera, debuting in the role of Triquet in PI Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, and continued with a series of solo and episodic roles: Camille de Rosillon (F. Lehár – Merry widow), Edwin Ronald (E. Kálmán – Princess of Czardas), Gaston de Letorieres and Giuseppe (G. Verdi – Traviata), Borsa (G. Verdi – Rigoletto); Count Lerma and the Herald (G. Verdi – Don Carlos), Gherardo (G. Puccini – Gianni Schicchi), Parpignol (G. Puccini – La bohème), Osman Pasha, Ali-pasha Fidahić and Herr Apel (A. Horozić – The Dragon of Bosnia), Count Almaviva (G. Rossini – The Barber of Seville), The Second Priest and the First Armored Man (WA Mozart – The magic flute), Conductor (G. Donizetti – Viva La Mamma), Guy (J. Gotovac – Ero from the other world), Vasek (B. Smetana – The Bartered Bride), Mirko/Petar Petrović (I. Tijardović – Little Floramye), Spoletta (G. Puccini - Tosca), Pluto (Jacques Offenbach - Orpheus in the underground), Goro (G. Puccini - Madame Butterfly), Don Curzio (WA Mozart - The Feast of Figaro),Vuk Dabišić (Ammar Jazić - Tvrtko, King of Bosnia).
He is a soloist of the Sarajevo National Theater Opera. He is the winner of numerous awards at international competitions: 1st prize at the International Competition of solo singer Bruno Špiler in Herceg Novi, 2nd prize at the International Competition of solo singer Nikola Cvejić in Ruma, 2nd prize at the competition as part of the musical event Obzorje na Tisa - days of Josif Marinković and others.
He is the winner of the annual award of the Sarajevo National Theater for the best supporting male operatic role of Mirko / Petar Petrović in an operetta Little FloramyeHe has participated in over 100 concerts, performances and other engagements in almost all cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, surrounding countries and Europe: Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Italy, Austria, Germany, France, England, Turkey and Hungary.
Dora Jana Klaric, mezzo-soprano, born in Makarska, Croatia. She graduated from the Academy of Arts in Split in the class of Prof. Terezija Kusanović in 2024. She was also an Erasmus student at the UDK Berlin in the class of Prof. Albert Pesendorfer. She sang numerous roles at the Croatian National Theatres in Split, Varaždin and at the first Zagreb Opera Festival at the HNK Zagreb. Her first role was Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro at the age of 19, followed by two roles in Puccini's opera Sister Angelica. Some of the other roles she has performed are Suzuki - Madame Butterfly, Zita - Gianni Schicchi, Third Lady – The magic flute, Flora Bervoix - Traviata, Mama Lucia – Cavaleria Rusticana etc. She has won Grand Prix awards in competitions Far Away Chords 2022 Oder Spree Oper 2023 in Beeskow, Germany, in solo categories and International Competitions Stojan Stojanov Ganchev i " Lev Mirski in the chamber music categories. Since 2021, she has been a member of the opera trio TrioLe with which she won 4 first prizes in competitions and the award SEA-EU in Naples, Italy. She is also a concert and oratorio soloist. In the 2024/2025 season she made her debut at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, in the world premiere Always more as Frau Steinbock in R. Wagner's The Mastersingers. She is part of the Young Singers Project at the Salzburg Festival 2025.
From the 2025/2026 season, she will become a member of the Eva Marton International Opera Studio at the Hungarian State Opera in Budapest.
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