The Cheah Chan Duo are thrilled to be opening Some Enchanted Evening, the first concert of their seventh season—and their first appearance at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music (450 West 37th Street)—on Friday the 13th of November at 7:30pm (tickets are $20 at the door) with an art song by Dora Pejačević (1885-1923), one of the most significant Croatian composers of the early 20th century and one of the most important woman composers from that time as well. Author of over a hundred works including a symphony, the first piano concerto penned by a Croatian composer, several formidable large-scale chamber music compositions, and some 33 art songs, Pejačević began composing at the age of 12.
Author: Nenad N. Bach and Darko Žubrinić
Zdravko Basaric representing Croatia at the Israeli pavillion at the 2015 Frankfurt Book Fair
It was great honor for Mr. Zdravko Basarić and and for his country the Republic of Croatia tobe presented and promoted in the pavilion of the State of Israeli, during the Frankfurt book fair 2015. Thanks to his publisher of Hebrew edition Mr Pierre Lavi, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel and the Ministry of culture of the Republic of Croatia, “The Countdown Trilogy” has become successful Croatian-Israeli cultural project which is presented to the global publishers in the world and to the Hollywood film industry.
Miro Gavran's play "All About Women" premiered in Moscow on 27th Sep 2015
Croatian writer Miro Gavran will have premiere of his play “All About Women” on 27th October 2015 in famous Russian theater “Et Cetera” in Moscow. Director of Gavran’s play is young and talented Viktorija Pecernikova. The play was translated from Croatian into Russian by Sergej Girin. Actors are Angela Belian Skaya, Natalija Zhitkova, Olga Belova, Elizabeta Ryzhikh, Katarina Buylova and Anastasia Kormilitsyana. Gavran’s play “All About Women” had 41 premieres in Europe, North and South America and India so far. Miro Gavran’s plays were translated into 38 languages, there have been 300 world premieres and more then 3 million people around the world saw them.
Marin Cilic is the winner of the 2015 Moscow Tennis Tournament
Marin Cilic has defeated Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut in the Moscow final for a second consecutive year, 6-4, 6-4. The victory marks Cilic’s 14th career title and first of 2015. “This tournament is becoming more and more special for me. To win it again really gives me huge satisfaction and big pleasure,” Ćilić told the Moscow crowd after the final.“This tournament is becoming more and more special for me. To win it again really gives me huge satisfaction and big pleasure,” Cilic told the Moscow crowd after the final.
Stephen Kovacevich distinguished classical pianist of Croatian origin in London
Stephen Kovacevich was born in San Pedro, Los Angeles, USA, to a Croatian father and an American mother. As a soloist and conductor, he has frequently performed and recorded works by, amongst others, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms and Bartók. He has directed the London Mozart Players, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in this way. Stephen Kovacevich is one of the most revered musicians of his generation. He has won unsurpassed admiration for his interpretation of Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart and Schubert. He has given master classes and recitals at Dartington International Summer School for many years. Had two concert appearances in Croatia’s capital Zagreb, in 2012 and 2015 (on the occasion of his 75th birthday).
Miro Gavran's novel "Kafka's friend" second edition published in Dutch 2015
The second edition of Miro Gavran’s novel “Kafka’s friend” was just published in Dutch. Translation was done by Sanja Kregar while publisher is “KLIN” from Amsterdam. Dimitrije Popovic’s painting from series called “Kafka” was used as book cover. The novel was published in Croatian by Mozaik Books in 2011 and after that it was published in Czech, English, Slovak, Dutch and Esperanto in parts. Miro Gavran’s work has been translated into 38 languages and his novels had more then 200 different editions in Croatia and abroad.
Zlata Blazina Tomic & Vesna Blazina and their monograph Expelling the Plague from the city of Dubrovnik
Zlata Blažina Tomić on the photo is a medical historian who worked at McGill University’s Osler Library, Canada. Vesna Blažina is a translator and librarian who worked at the Université de Montréal, Canada. “Studying an extraordinarily rich set of documents in Dubrovnik, the authors Zlata Blažina Tomić and Vesna Blažina bring scholarly attention to an early public health office dedicated to surveillance and containment of plague epidemics. Social and medical historians will find this work very valuable.” Wrote Ann G. Carmichael of the Indiana University, USA.
A Castle for Croatia in Australia's capital Canberra
The Lifestyle Magazine CAPITAL for in and around Canberra, in the 14th issue of January – February 2005, published a luxorous article A castle for Croatia, written by Ainsleigh Sheridan and with excellent photos of Elizabeth Hawkes. The story of the Croatian embassy is as epic as Croatia’s history. It was built entirely through the efforts of Croatians living in Australia. Furthermore, local architect Antony Mikulic won a selective competition to design the embassy, which the Royal Institute of Architects awarded with a commendation in 2001. The article is based on the interview with His Excellencey Dr Mladen Ibler (on the photo), the then ambassador of the Republic of Croatia in Australia.
Zdravko Basaric: Krize ne bi bilo da je 50% Vlade ili Sabora iz dijaspore
Zdravko Basarić: U ovom trenutku dovršava se prijevod trilogije Odbrojavanje na hebrejski jezik, snima se i trailer u Izraelu koji će se prikazivati na najvećim sajmovima knjiga, ali i u Hollywoodu, jer je jedan od ciljeva, osim prijevoda na druge strane jezike, i ekranizacija ove trilogije. Reakcije iz svijeta vrlo su pozitivne jer je ova trilogija zapravo i pobuna protiv svake agresije. Izraelci su izvrsno prihvatili ove knjige, vjerujem da bi se i Palestincima svidjele jer pozivaju na dijalog i mirno rješenje sukoba.
Miro Gavran's play "All About Women" had 100th performance in Bratislava Slovakia in 2015
Theater Divadlo v Podpalubi from Bratislava, Slovakia had 100th performance of Miro Gavran’s play “All About Women” with author attending on September 30th, 2015. Translation into Slovak was done by Jan Jankovic while director is Minim F. Otzow. Main roles are performed by Andrea Profantova, Andrea Karnasova and Bibiana Ondrejkova. Miro Gavran is a Croatian playwright and novelist, whose works have been translated into thirty-five languages. His plays have had more than two hundred first nights worldwide and have been seen by more than two million theatregoers.
Yoko Nishii Japanese pianist issued 2CD in Tokyo with music of Croatian female composer Dora Pejacevic
Yoko Nishii, Japanese pianist, entered Music Academy “Ino Mirković” situated in Lovran, Croatia with full scholarship for 2 years. Thanks to her great talent and dedicated work, she completed the academic program in only 2 years of studies (normally it lasts 4 years) and graduated with excellent grades under prof. Evgeny Zarafiants in September 2000. In 2012 she has produced and given the concert of the complete piano works by the first Croatian female composer “Dora Pejačević” as a project “the Cultural Transmission from Ise to the World” in Ise, Japan. In February 2015 she has released 2CD ” Dora Pejacevic: Complete Piano Works ” (a set of 2 CDs) from Japanese CD label “Herb Classics”. Yoko Nishii speaks Croatian language.
Frano Zivkovic Croatian guitar prodigy invited at the age of 8 by Tommy Emmanuel to play with him
Frano Živković, born in 2005 in the city of Rijeka, Croatia, is an authentic guitar prodigy. He is playing very nontrivial pieces from classical music, but he also adores modern modern fingerstyle guitar play, and his special inspirationa is Tommy Emmanuel, the greatest contemporary fingerstyle player of the world. Tommy already had several concerts in Croatia. During his appearance in the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall in Zagreb in 2013, Tommy Emmanuel invited Frano, then at the age of 8, to be his special guest in the program, where they played together some well known pieces composed by Tommy. He also played with Lars de Rijck, a well known guitarist from the Netherlands.
Ivana Marija Vidovic and the 9th Epidaurus Festival in Cavtat in Croatia 9-19 September 2015
U srijedu 9.9. otvorit će svoja vrata po deveti put, 9. Epidaurus festival. Uz zvuke sa Sicilije, zanimljivih prizvuka tradicionalnih instrumenata s otoka, a uz novitete koje su unijeli u siciljanski melos, s glavnim tumačima Mario Gulisano (glas, te instrumenti bodhrŕn, cajon, dumbek, tamburin, židovska harfa), Marco Carnemolla – fretless bas gitara i vokal, te Valerio Cairone – mala harmonika, gajda, vokal s koncertom Živahni Mediteran festival će započeti. Glazbenicima će se pridružiti i autentičan ples uz tradicionalne plesače Antonija Litrica & Stefaniju Tanteri. Ravnateljica festivala je Ivana Marija Vidović, istaknuta hrvatska pijanistica i pjesnikinja.
August Senoa’s historical novel The Goldsmith’s Treasure available in English since 2015
The first Croatian historical novel, written in 1871 August Šenoa (1838-1881), is the tale of a forbidden love between the daughter of a goldsmith and a nobleman’s son set against the backdrop of the streets and squares of 16th century Zagreb. The town lies before you. In the words of Šenoa himself: “below the mountain, a jewel most precious to us glimmers in the sun, strong like a mighty hero – the town of Zagreb.” The book, published by Spiritoso, Zagreb, has 388 pp, and has been translated from Croatian by Neven Divjakinja. Except into English, the book has already been translated into German, Czech, Polish, French, Slovak, Russian and some other languages.
FIBA U19 World Championship 2015: great Croatian basketball success winning silver medal
The United States received Croatia as its toughest challenge in the FIBA U-19 World Championship in the gold medal game. The Croatians put together an impressive effort to keep the score close throughout the game without star forward Dragan Bender (who sat out due to a shoe company dispute) and injured center Ante Zizic. Silver medal of Croatian young basketball team (under 19 years of age) at the FIBA U-19 World Championship is a huge success. Croatian Nik Slavica power block against USA Tatum in the finals has been proclaimed the BEST BLOCK of the Championship.
Marijan Busic: The Cravat Day to be marked on October 18th each year throughout the world
Academia Cravatica, a non-profit institution dedicated to the phenomen and culture of Croatian necktie, the cravat, aims to promote the cravat as a part of Croatian, European and also world heritage. This year, Academia Cravatica decided to pay special attention to international celebration of the Cravat Day, and is now in the process of inviting numerous Croats and their ancestors living abroad to join together on October 18th, put on their Croatian cravat with pride and, joining with others, remember the values it represents. The founder and director of Academia Cravatica is Mr. Marijan Bušić, successful and very creative Croatian entrepreneur in the city of Zagreb.
Mate Rimac and his fastests electric car in the world in Wall Street International by Zdravko Basaric
Zdravko Basarić wrote a nice article for the Wall Street Journal about Mate Rimac on the photo, his car factory near Zagreb, and about his team of young experts (average age of employees is less than 30 years), who make top quality bicycles, boats and super sport cars. Concept One car has a brutal power of 1088 HP and the torque 1600 Nm, from 0 – 6500 rpm (this applies only for cars with electric engine!), acceleration 0-100 km/h (62mph) in only 2,8 seconds! This is a real 4WD car because every wheel has own electro engine and computer control with high precise sensors which manage this vehicle by precisely defined power.
Hrvoje Prpic Trillenium creating beautiful online shops in VR, 3D and mobile
Trillenium is developing a proprietary platform. It’s a key enabler of the next phase of online fashion retailing. They have experience of doing this before: their founder, Hrvoje Prpic, is one of Europe’s most successful retail entrepreneurs. His previous exit was one of the biggest domestic IPOs in Croatia and the Central Europe region. Trillenium intends to bring virtual reality, 3D, gaming and mobile technologies together with an interactive and social shopping adventure.
Mia Negovetic interpreting Croatian National Anthem on the occasion of the Victory Day on 5th August 2015
Mia Negovetić is only 12 years old girl from the city of Rijeka, Croatia, who had the honor to interpret Lijepa Naša (Our Beautiful), the most beautiful national anthem, accompanied with Klapa Sv Juraj of the Croatian Military Marine, during the celebration of the 20 years of Humanitarian and Liberation Operation Storm in 1995. Mia is from the family of musicians, her favorite subject in school is mathematics, and she would like to become a cook and have a family.
Ana Rucner Croatian cellist and Klapa Sinj celebrating the tradition of Sinjska alka
On 5th August Croatia is celebrating Liberation Day, remembering not only the Storm Liberation Operation from 1995, but also endevours of generations of Croatian people during many centuries. Here we provide a beautiful video from the town of Sinj, featuring Sinjska Alka and Croatian cellist Ana Rucner, with typical songs from the Sinj area interpreted by Klapa Sinj, as well as the famous air U Boj, sang in Croatia’s capital Zagreb by the Kwansei-Gakuin Choir from the city of Kobe, Japan. Finally, we end with a testimony of Dr. Slobodna Lang, distinguished Croatian humanitarian activist, professor at the University of Zagreb.