Vjeko Martinko, director of the Hotel Villa Astra in the town of Lovran, Croatia, celebrated his 70th birthday with his friends and colleagues, including his schoolteacher Ana Ujević. As always, Vjeko is full of energy, fresh ideas and challenges for the future. The celebration was held in a peaceful and very pleasant environment of the hotel and the surrounding beautiful park, filling us with a special energy and enthusiasm. Hotel Villa Astra is one of the trademarks of Croatian private entrepreneurship, offering its guests a unique place for creative rest in a friendly atmosphere, where one feels like at home.
Author: Nenad N. Bach and Darko Žubrinić
Ivana Marija Vidovic i Vesna Miletic s koncertom na Rijeci 27. i 30. studenog 2017.
U ponedjeljak 27. studenog 2017. u Narodnoj knjižnici u Kostreni sv. Luciji te u četvrtak 30. studenog u dvorani Hrvatske čitaonice Trsat održat će koncert Klavirski duo Fantazija kojeg čine dubrovačka pijanistica i pjesnikinja Ivana Marija Vidović te pijanistica Vesna Miletić. U Kostreni će im se pridružit i pjesnikinja Vesna Miculinić Prešnjak s Rijeke, a za izbor i recitaciju stihova odgovorne su pjesnikinje Vidović i Miculinić Prešnjak. Na Trsatu će kao gost koncerta klavirskog dua nastupit i zbor Hrvatske čitaonice Trsat pod ravnjanjem maestra Vinka Badjuka.
Astrid Kuljanic @ Carnegie Hall October 24th, 2017 at 8 PM
Astrid will be making her debut at this esteemed concert venue with a performance of “Astrid Kuljanic Transatlantic Exploration Company: Riva”. Astrid: I am beyond excited that I can invite you to the album release concert at Carnegie Hall on October 24th! The whole band will be there: Ben Rosenblum on accordion, Mat Muntz on bass and Rogerio Boccato on percussion, including special guests: Hrvatska Ruza folklor, Rosa, Asaran Earth Trio, Elijah Shiffer – saxophone, Ben Sutin – violin.
LADO National Folk Dance Ensemble of Croatia at The Peforming Arts Center NY, Oct 3, 8pm
LADO National Folk Dance Ensemble of Croatia founded in 1949 in Zagreb as a professional national ensemble, with the aim of researching, artistically interpreting and presenting on stage the most beautiful examples of the rich cultural traditions of Croatia. The ensemble’s 39 brilliant dancers, who are also excellent singers, can easily transform this folk dance ensemble into an impressive folk choir, while its 14 superb musicians play some fifty different traditional and classical instruments. LADO National Folk Dance Ensemble of Croatia at The Peforming Arts Center Tuesday, October 3, 8pm.
Yoko Nishii pianist concert at the Mimara Palace in Zagreb in Sep 2017
Yoko Nishii had an excellent pianist concert at the Mimara Palace in Zagreb, which has started with Japanese and Croatian composers. She is known as a proponent of Croatian music heritage, especially the music works of Dora Pejačević (1885 – 1923), the first significant Croatian woman composer. The concert has been organized by the Embassy of Japan in the city of Zagreb. Till now, Yoko Nishii had 46 soloist concerts in as many as 24 Croatian cities and towns. She speaks Croatian, and in 2015 she published the double CD in Tokyo containing pianist works of Dora Pejačević.
Andrew Bogut very successful Croatian Australian basketball player in the NBA
Born in 1984 in Melbourne, Australia, in the family of Croatian immigrants, Andrew Bogut started to play basketball in the NBA since 2005. He has 213 cm, i.e., 7 feet, weighs 118 kg and he won the 2015 NBA championship with the Golden State Warriors. He represented Australia at several World Championships. His idol was Toni Kukoe, Croatian basketball player who has played in NBA for Chicago Bulls.
Mirko Tomasovic 1938-2017 distinguished Croatian literary historian and translator
A member of Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Mirko Tomasović was the most prolific literary translator from Romance languages in Croatia and distinguished expert in Latinist literature. He left us important studies on the written Croatian and Latin heritage of Marko Marulić (1450-1524), the most important Croatian Renaissance writer. His translations into Croatian include about 20 books of Italian, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan and Occitan poetry, as well as epic and drama literature.
Yoko Nishii has a pianist concert tour in Croatia Sep 2017: Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Split, Vinkovci, Sisak
Yoko Nishii is indefatiguable proponent of fine music, including Japanese and Croatian. Her concert tour in September 2017 includes Japanese authors Kozaburo Hirai and Kosaku Yamada, as well as Croatian authors Božidar Kunc (brother of a distinguished Croatian opera singer Zinka Kunc) and Dora Pejačević (the first internationally known Croatian woman-composer). As we can see, music does not know the borders. Yoko Nishii is a lecturer at Aichi University of the Arts in Japan. She speaks Croatian language.
Epidaurus Festival living with Arts in Cavtat, Croatia 3 – 22 September 2017, directed by Ivana M. Vidovic
U petak, 08.09. na Ljetnoj pozornici u Cavtatu s početkom u 21h nastupit će duo Buenos Muchachos; argentinski gitarist Pablo Covacevich čiji su korijeni vidno hrvatskog porijekla. Kako Tango ne može bez bandoneona uz Pabla će nastupit i vrhunski argentinski harmonikaš i skladatelj Luis Caruana. Na klarinetu će se pridružiti umjetnik sa Sicilije Giovanni Mattaliano profesor klarineta na Konzervatoriju u Palermu. Utemeljitelj Festivala Epidaurus i umjetnički direktor je neumorna Ivana Marija Vidović, istaknuta hrvatska pijanistica i pjesnikinja.
Luka Modric one of the best contemporary European soccer players
Luka Modrić (born 1985) is a Croatian professional soccer who plays for Spanish club Real Madrid and captains the Croatia national team. Modrić plays mainly as a central midfielder but can also play as an attacking midfielder or as a defensive midfielder, usually deployed as a deep-lying playmaker. He is recepient of the UEFA Champions League Awards Best Midfielder for 2017. Luka is married with Vanja (b. Bosnić, from Zagreb), and has two children Ivano and Ema.
Mateo Kovacic top Croatian soccer player fluently speaking English, German, Italian and Castillian
Besides his mother tongue Croatian, Mateo Kovačić is fluent in four additional languages: English, German, Italian and Castillian, as clearly indicated by his media appearances and interviews. He is among the best contemparary Croatian players, and a member of the Croatian national soccer team. Currently, he is a member of the Real Madrid in Spain. His team-mate is Luka Modrić, another distinguished Croatian soccer player and captain of the Croatian national team.
15 Reasons Why it's Time For You To Go to Croatia
Always sunny, easy to reach, still a good value, popular Hollywood destination, has the world’s most atmospheric Roman ruin, spectacular beaches, incredible national parks, incredible summer festivals, 1244 islands, isles and reefs, birthpalce of Marco Polo, one of Europe’s tastiests regions, fascinating history, safety and securety, FORBES recommend, necktie or CRAVAT originate from Croatia, 101 DALMATIANS is from Croatia. On the photo the city of Split with Diocletian’s palace on the Adriatic sea and the mount of Mosor behind it.
Darko Varga 1956-2017 distinguished Croatian publicist
Darko Varga, 1956-2017, born in the city of Osijek, grown up in the town of Dalj, attended High School in his native city, and completed his studies in Electrical Engineering at the University of Zagreb. From 1993 till 2000, he served as director of HEP (Croatian Electric Supply) in the region of Baranja on the NE of Croatia. He was active in revitalizing Croatian villages as well as ecotourism in Baranja, ravaged in the early 1990s during the Serbian aggression on Croatia. Also, he was an indefatigable promoter of cultural traditions of the region. His latest work on an impressive monograph dealing with the cuisine of the noble Croatian family of Zrinski, has been published in 2015 on the occasion of 450 years since the legendary Siget Battle in 1566.
Miro Gavran's novel John the Baptist translated from Croatian into Bulgarian
Miro Gavran’s book “John the Baptist” has been translated into Bulgarian by Valentina Sedefcheva, Sofia. So far this novel had seven editions in Croatian. It was also published in Spanish in Buenos Aires, in German in Vienna and in English on Amazon. It is a story set in 1st century AD, in time of violent political and religious shift. Heroes of the novel are John the Baptist, Saloma, Elisha and Bileam, and Jesus Christ himself.
2CELLOS Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser playing in Croatia and in more than 40 countries worldwide
We invite you to enjoy in the music of 2CELLOS, Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser, playing several well known classical tunes, accompanied with the London Symphony Orchestra. The tunes have been filmed in some celebrated Croatian resorts, like on the Zlatni rat (Golden Cape) on the island of Brae, then in the city of Dubrovnik, as well as on the Plitice Lakes. In the course of 5 years only, 2CELLOS had about one thousand of concerts in more than forty countries worldwide.
Ivana Marija Vidovic with ensmble Croazzola Concertante in Euphrasius Basilica in Porec 2017
In July 2017, Croazzola Concertante ensemble had a very successful concert in the Euphrasius Basilica in Porec. The basilica is under protection of UNESCO, and is known for fantastic acoustic. The name of Croazzola is obviously composed of the names of Croatia and Piazolla, a famous Argentinean composer. On the photo is Ivana Marija Vidović, pianist, poet from Dubrovnik and director of Epidaurus Festival, with maestro Krešimir Marmilić who founded the Croazzola Concertante ensemble in Zagreb.
RONNA – Robotic NeuroNAvigation in neurosurgery project led by Bojan Jerbic in Croatia
RONNA – Robotic NeuroNAvigation is a project that deals with research into and the design of a new innovative and competitive robotic system for application in neurosurgery. The project was launched by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Zagreb, with the Clinical hospital Dubrava and the Croatian Institute for Brain Research as partners in the project. Founders of the project are Professor Bojan Jerbiae, PhD (project leader, on the photo), Assistant Professor Darko Chudy, PhD and Professor Gojko Nikoliae, PhD.
Dora Pejacevic's music played by Yoko Nishii in Nasice
Dora Pejačević (1885-1923) is the first internationally known Croatian woman composer. Her growing popularity has reached even Japan, where in 2015 Yoko Nishii, a fine pianist, has published a double CD in Tokyo containing Dora’s collected pianistic works. Yoko Nishii, on the photo, has visited numerous Croatian towns, including the town of Našice, where she was playing on the paino on which Dora Pejačević was composing her works. Yoko Nishii speaks Croatian, and she completed a part of her music studies in the town of Lovran in Croatia.
Milka Trnina or Ternina 1863-1941 distinugished Croatian opera singer
According to Giacomo Puccini , author of the famous opera Tosca , Milka Trnina (or Ternina) was the best “Tosca” that he had opportunity to listen to (on the London premiere in 1900). In 1898, she appeared for the first time in opera in London, performing Isolde in Tristan und Isolde. She would continue to appear at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, until 1906, achieving a total of 98 appearances there in a variety of operas. Did You know that the name of the famous MILKA chocolate, Switzerland, had been given in honour to Milka Trnina, Croatian opera diva? The founder of the company, who was a great admirer of the singer, decided to name the company and his chocolate by the name of MILKA.
Matt Sertic's Applied Ceramics and Sunceco rejuvenating his hometown of Sisak in Croatia
In parallel to his global successful ventures, Applied Ceramics and Sunceco, ACAP Silicon Valley chapter member Matt Sertic (on the photo with his daugher Maya) is slowly but steadily rejuvenating his hometown of Sisak and creating a “new hot Valley to be in”. Ten years ago, Matt recognized the potential of the once enormous but almost forgotten Ironworks factory complex in which he invested substantial funds to create a production facility for Applied Ceramics putting Croatia on the map as the only country in the European Union that produces sapphire crystals used in high technology.