The Japanese Foreign Minister’s Commendations are awarded to individuals and groups with outstanding achievements, in order to acknowledge their contributions to the promotion of friendship between Japan and other countries and areas. Japanese pianist Yoko Nishii (on the photo) is a recipient of the commendation for 2023. She was awarded for her continuous promotion of Croatian and Japanese music during the past 25 years, and in particular of the pianist works of Dora Pejačević, the first Croatian woman-composer of international reputation.
Author: Nenad N. Bach and Darko Žubrinić
Epidaurus Festival in Cavtat 2023, Croatia, will take place on Sunday, August 27th
Right from the first day of the 17th Epidaurus Cavtat Festival, visitors of this renowned event will be welcomed with a true delight – an evening that equally celebrates art and the importance of peace in the world. Cavtat is a lovely small town near the city of Dubrovnik. The 2023 Epidaurus Cavtat Festival officially opens on August 27th at 8 PM with the prelude programme Together for world peace along with the opening of the exhibition The Power of Music by the Dubrovnik Association of Visual Artists DuLu. The founder and director of the Epidaurus Festival in Cavtat is Ivana Marija Vidović, distinguished Croatian pianist and poetesse (on the photo).
Mexican Mariachi music is very popular in Croatia
According to Fulanito Viajero (Mexico), the best ten Mariachi ensembles in the world (after Mexico) arrive from the following countries: Croatia!!! , Japan, USA, Spain, Slovakia, Colombia, USA, Cuba, UK, Poland. Top 10 Mejores Mariachis Extranjeros del Mundo! The best Croatian Mariachi ensemble is Los Caballeros , founded in 1998 in Croatia’s capital Zagreb. They were often accompanied by distinguished Mexican harpist from Ciudad de Mexico. Many thanks to Mrs. Branka Gudelj (Canada, on the photo), for revealing us this surprising facts.
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) the father of Radio Technology and Wireless Communication since 1893
The principles of Radio Communication and Wireless Communication were layed down by Nikola Tesla, distinguished Croatian – American inventor, in 1893, during his spectacular public lecture in the St Louis concert hall, in front of 5000 people. The event was described in detail by Margaret Chaney in her monograph Tesla / Man Out of Time , in Chapter 6 entitled Radio. We provide an important testimony by William Gundry Broughton, son of Henry Primm Broughton (1865-1959) who served as Tesla’s assistant during his lecture in St. Louis. Nikola Tesla is the precurusor of mobile-phone technology for more than hundred years.
Yoko Nishii and Marija Vidovic held concerts in Tokyo, Tokamachi, and Osaka
In July 2023, three concerts with Marija Vidović (soprano) and Yoko Nishii (piano) were organised in Tokyo, Tokamachi and Osaka by the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Japan and EU delegation to Japan, on the occasion of celebrating the Croatian Statehood Day, the 10th anniversary of the EU membership, the 30th anniversary of Establishment of diplomatic relations between Croatia and Japan. The concert included works by Croatian composers: Dora Pejačević (the first Croatian woman-composer), Ivan pl. Zajc, and Josip Hatze.
Emmanuel Vukovich Canadian violinist of Croatian roots popularizing Ukrainian folk music
Emmanuel Vukovich prepared several very nice video recordings of beautiful Ukrainean folk songs, accompanied with his violin play. He appears as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician in venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Museum of Natural History, London, and the Hrvatski glazbeni zavod in Zagreb, Croatia, performing with such artists as Ida Haendel, Matt Haimowitz, and Alex Klein. Emmanuel is founder and artistic director of the international collaborative The Parcival Project and artistic director of Montreal’s Bach Odyssey.
Raveno Cuvalo assassinated on 2nd July 1991 in Zagreb by the Yugoslav Army
Raveno Čuvalo was one of those citizens of Zagreb, who on 2nd July 1991 tried to stop with their bare hands the tanks leaving the the infamous “Marshall Tito Military Camp” (also called “Maršalka”). He was then at the age of 32, employed at Kemoboja, playing piano and counterbass, singing at the Ivan Goran Kovačić Choir , one of the best of Croatia. On these days, most of the citizens of Zagreb were hiding in cellars of their houses for months.
Ana Vidovic incredible classical guitar perfomer and teacher
Ana Vidović, residing in the USA, was born in Karlovac near Croatia’s capital Zagreb, and started playing guitar at the age of 5. At age 7, she gave her first public performance and at the age of 11 she was performing internationally. She became the youngest student at age 13 to attend the prestigious National Musical Academy in Zagreb. In the second half of 2023 she will have solo concerts in Cordoba Spain, Ventura Ca, Girona Spain, Seattle WA, Copenhagen Denmark, Viborg Denmark. She is a wonderful classical guitar teacher, always ready to share her unique music experience with numerous guitar fans throughout the world. Her timetable of solo concerts is filled in for more than a year in advance.
Zoran Filipovic Zoro distinguished Croatian photographer
Professional photographer and writer, born in 1959 in Brčko (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Zoran Filipović has lived in Croatia’s capital Zagreb since 1978 where, in the last few years, he’s been turning more and more towards graphic and product design. As photographer, he has worked and seen his work published in a number of distinguished world magazines, such as Paris Match, Life, Photo, Le Figaro Magazine, Die Zeit, Frankfurter Allgemeine Magazin, Vogue/GQ and others. He is the author of 22 photo-monographs.
Ivana Marija Vidovic the first Croatian to join the Jury of the "Giulio Rospigliosi" competition in Italy
Among the distinguished members of the jury from the world of classical music, for the first time in the history of the competition, this year was someone from Croatia. Dubrovnik pianist and poetess Ivana Marija Vidović was alongside her distinguished colleagues Pietro de Maria and Stefano Fiuzzi, both of them presidents of the jury. The jury was also joined by the Mexican conductor Gabriela Diaz Alatriste, Hungarian pianist Istvan Szekely, the Italian pianist Adriana Silva, and the Austrian pianist, organist and conductor prof. Robert Lehrbaumer from Vienna.
Miro Gavran's plays in India and Indian actress Nimrat Kaur
Miro Gavran’s plays had several hundred of premiers throughout the world, so that he is not able to follow them all. Only his play “All About Women” had as many as 53 premieres (in Zagreb, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Prague, Buenos Aires, Sarajevo, etc). she had a role in Gavran’s play “All About Women”. With this play, distinguished Indian actress Nimrat Kaur had the largest number of repeats, due to which she earned a nomitation for the leading theatric recognition in India. This article is a short summary of a public lecture delivered by Mr. Miro Gavran in Zagreb, organized by the Embassy of the Republic of India and by the Croatian-Indian Society.
Dr. Vesna Bosanac 1949-2022 Croatian hero of the city of Vukovar
Dr. Vesna Bosanac was born in 1949 in the city of Subotica, and her family moved to the Borovo Naselje near Vukovar when she was less than 1 year old. Her grandmother was Bunjevci Croatian. Since July 1991, during the Serbian military aggression on Croatia, she was emolyed as the director of the famous Vukovar Hospital. Until the end of 1991, during the most savage bombing and shelling of the city, The Vukovar Hospital took care of about 4000 people. About 2250 people underwent difficult and long term operations. Each day approximately 700 (seven hundred) granades was falling on the building of the hospital.
Miho Demovic 1934-2023 distinguished Croatian music historian and St Paul's shipwreck on the island of Mljet
Miho Demović, Croatian priest, defended his PhD in Germany (Koeln), dealing with the history of Croatian music in the city of Dubrovnik. He is best known for his numerous musicological studies and monographs dealing with Croatia, especially with Dubrovnik. He initiated scholarly studies of the problem of ubication of the well known shipwreck of St Paul in the 1st century AC (described in the Acts of Apostles of the New Testament), that showed that it occured near the island of Mljet near the city of Dubrovnik, and not on Malta.
Elizabeth Kera recipient of Croatian Women's Network Award
Members of the Croatian Women’s Network are successful women from around the world, who share Croatian heritage and ancestry and come together to celebrate achievements, to inspire, champion and mentor younger generations. The aim is to connect like-minded members around the world. The Croatian Women’s Network was founded by Caroline Spivak in Canada in 2015. One of the recipients of the Croatian Women’s Network Award for 2020 is dr. Elizabeth Kera (on the photo) from New Jersey, USA, who is a specialist in the field of neuropsychology.
Yoko Nishii distinguished interpreter of pianistic works by Croatian composer Dora Pejacevic
On 5th March 2023, the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Tokyo celebrated 30 years of unwavering diplomatic ties between Croatia and Japan. The esteemed presence of H.I.H. Princess Tsuguko of Takamado and other distinguished guests who have contributed significantly to our relations made the event even more special. The celebration was further enhanced by a wonderful performance of Japanese pianist Yoko Nishii (on the photo), paying tribute to the legendary Croatian composer Dora Pejačević on the 100th anniversary of her passing on the same day in 1923.
Marija Miletic Dail 1934-2022 filmmaker from "Zagreb Film" Croatia to her "Animation Cottage" USA
Maria Miletić Dail started at “Zagreb Film” in Croatia, continued as animator in Canada and Hollywood, worked upward into the position of director and producer. She was interested in meaningful filmmaking using original ideas. Worked in own “Animation Cottage” studio with twenty artists on ABC network series of specials. Tried to keep all work inside USA. She lectured at UCLA, CalArts and CCLA on animation. For her film “Think Earth” she won Presidential award in 1992. Her husband Sukhdev S. Dail (from India, Sikh) she prepared a few films dealing with Indian themes.
Miroslav Blazevic 1935-2023 legendary Croatian football trainer
Miroslav Ćiro Blažević was a legendary trainer of Croatian football representation. Under his leadership, it won sensational thrid place at the 1998 FIFA World Championship in Paris. Due to his leadership, Croatian football representation became universaly known. Under his baton, his team was composed of world class sportsmen such as Davor Šuker, Zvonimir Boban, Slaven Bilić, Robert Jarni, Robert Prosinečki, Igor Štimac, and others. His successor Zlatko Dalić, also born in BiH, considers himself to be a student of Ćiro Blažević.
Dubrovnik gets a new sister city – Sorrento in Italy due to an initiative of Ivana Marija Vidović
The Charter on twinning and cooperation between the City of Dubrovnik and the City of Sorrento was signed on Feb 5, 2023, by two mayors, Mato Franković on behalf of the City of Dubrovnik and Massimo Coppola on behalf of the City of Sorrento. The Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra and the Sorrento Dubrovnik Festival, as well as the Dubrovnik pianist Ivana Marija Vidović and conductor maestro Paolo Scibilia, are the most responsible for the intensification of cooperation between the two cities.
Paul Bradbury: Life as a Croatian Postman on the island of Hvar
Of all the interviews and feature stories that Paul Bradbury has done on his Total Croatia News internet project over the years, few were as much fun as an impromptu interview with his local postman over a beer in the town of Jelsa one day in 2016, as he explained to him the incredible Dalmatian GPS system they used to deliver mail on island of Hvar, Croatia. Mr. Bradbury lives in Croatia since 2003. He has published more than two thousand articles about various aspects of culture, life and bussiness in Croatia.
Joginder Singh Nijjar recipient of an Indian state recognition for streghtening links with Croatia
Mr Joginder Singh Nijjar, Croatian citizen of Indian origin, received the presitigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award 2023 in recognition of his contribution in the field of Art & Culture/Education. Mr. Singh was awarded during the Valedictory Session of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention 2023 on 10 January 2023 by the President of India Mrs. Droupadi Murmu, also in the presence of Mr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, serving as the Minister of External Affairs of the Governement of India. The ceremony took place in the city of Indore, capital of the state of Mhadya Pradesh in central India.