Who we are

About the festival

“The creation of the Evenings was inspired by two long-standing wishes of mine: that the churches of St Donat and St Dimitrij become concert venues and that Zadar gets its own orchestra once again.” (Pavlje Dešpalj, conductor and founder of Musical Evenings in St Donat)

Since the initial idea of Zadar’s conductor Pavle Dešpalj and its realization 50 festival years have already passed, making the Musical Evenings in St Donat one of the oldest Croatian festivals. Its quality as well as the ingenuity and concept of its programmes keep refreshing the hot Zadar summer nights each year.
During almost half a century of its existence, Musical Evenings in St Donat as a musical manifestation has undergone many conceptual changes, all of which were successful, as we might say.
During the first festival summers the aim was to bring to Zadar prominent performing artists from all over the world as well as Croatia but also to strengthen local performing forces, allowing them to equally participate in the programme. A radical change was made in 1975 lasting until 1990. The programme focus began relying more intensively and systematically on earlier centuries of music, following novel trends but also starting new ones under the watchful eye of the audience, which either thrillingly accepted the new concept or openly attacked it.
After the dramatic interruption of the festival in 1991 and the even more dramatic festival held under the fire of bombshells in 1992, the Evenings were finally renewed with a fresh concept in 1994. In those days efforts were made to come up with new things under the specified material circumstances and on the basis of what the passed festival years have defined as the true values of the programme.
The selected themes presented their content along accepted lines of music as a unique and wholesome term. The theme content ceased to be oriented towards the rigidly drawn boundaries between old and new music; it was enriched with a musical stage, contemporary Croatian work and Zadar’s performing artists.
The 49th Musical Evenings in St Donat are characterized by fresh impetus and driven by the justified ambition to permanently make our Evenings the most important musical event of the entire Croatian Adriatic.

More about the festival from the arch of:

Dr. Juraj Gracin
A Long-time Leader of the Music Evenings in St Donat

Antun Dolicki
A long time artistic director of the Musical Evenings in St Donat

Jurica ŠOŠA, Director

Zadar pianist Jurica ŠOŠA has graduated and post graduated at the Music Academy in Zagreb. During his studies, he won numerous awards at contests, some of the most important of them being the first prize at the national competition in 2001, Special Award of HDS for best performance of a work by a Croatian author, and Rector's Prize of the University in Zagreb. Some of his most memorable performances include those with the Dubrovnik Sympony Orchestra at the Rector's Palace, where he performed Beethoven's Concerto No. 3, andhis performance of Mozart's Concerto KV 415 with the Zadar Chamber Orchestra. During the most important pianist cycle in Zagreb Piano fortissimo he played Liszt's Concerto No. 1 for piano and orchestra. After a period of performing across Croatia, Slovenia and Austria, he returned to Zadar, where he became chief conductor of the Zadar choir Zoranić, and he also directs traditional men's harmony-singing groups Petar Zoranić and Pakoštane.

Branka Dolički, Producer

Branka Dolički was born in Osijek in 1946. She moved to Split where she learnt ballet with Ana Roje. After finishing Music school Ivan Matetić in Pula, she went to Teacher-Training College in Zagreb. After working in Fažana and Zagreb, she took up a teaching position at the Music School Blagoje Bersa in Zadar, where she taught solfeggio, accordion and orchestra between 1972 and 1996. She conducted children's choirs and orchestras but also created and hosted various children's shows of the educational programme on Radiotelevision Zagreb. She has won some fifteen awards for music teaching, both national and international. She has been working in music production for Hrvatska kazališna kuća (National theatre) in Zadar as a subcontractor since 1992. In 1996 she left her teaching position and started working as a producer and host at the Zagreb Concert Management. Today she still works in music production for Hrvatska kazališna kuća (National theatre) in Zadar, producing the biennial International Choir Contest in Zadar as well as the Musical Evenings in St Donat. She is also the founder of Piu Mosso Cycle, young musicians from Zadar from which the new Zadar ensemble the Zadar Piano Trio has sprung.

IDentitet Ltd.

IDentitet Ltd. is public relations agency focused on marketing and technical production in cultural sector and specialised in classical music. IDentitet Ltd. has been founded byDina Bušić and Ivana Kostešić. They both graduated from the Music Academy of Zagreb and have wide experience in journalism having worked for newspapers as Jutarnji list, Dnevnik, Zarez and for Croatian Radio Programme 3, Croatian Radiotelevison. As music consultants, producers and public relations specialists they collaborate on relevant music projects as the Musical Evenings in St. Donat – Zadar, International Choir Competition – Zadar, International festival Organum Histriae – Umag, International Organ Competition Andrea Antico da Montona, International Percussion Ensemble Week – IPEW, Bjelovar, Musica Aeterna - Dubrovnik etc. Dina and Ivana are intensively operating in classical music promotion and are mostly focused on how to reach the wider audiences.