Washington DC: On March 26th the Croatian Embassy of in the nation’s capital held a concert performed by world renowned pianist Mia Elezović, violinist Vlatka Peljhan, and their guest, tenor John A. McGuire. The concert was well attended by the local Croatian Americans in the DC area, Ambassador Pjer Šimonović, and special guests from the Apostolic Nunciature.
Wednesday evening filled the embassy with delightful and intriguing performance of classical music by Croatian composers like Dora Pejačević and Dubravko Detoni. The musicians also played masterpieces by Beethoven and Brahms.
Mia Elezović is a well-known pianist in the European and world music sphere where she was involved in various performances in modern and contemporary music. She is of Croatian Japanese roots and graduated and received a master’s degree in piano at the Vladislav Lisinski Music School in Zagreb and earned a masters in Hochschule fur Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Austria and the Musikhochschule in Frankfurt, Germany. She continues to perform contemporary and chamber music ensembles with world-renowned pianists and chamber musicians and has won various awards and recognition for her musical talents around the world.
Vlatka Peljhan is a violinist at Synchronos Contemporary music Ensemble, Concertmaster at Croatian National Opera and Assistant professor at the Chamber Music faculty at the Croatian Academy of Music. She performed with the Croatian Baroque Ensemble that specializes in historically authentic interpretations of Baroque instrumental and vocal music. Like Mia, Vlatka too graduated from the Lisinski Music School in Zagreb and received and completed her masters in violin and viola at the Codarts University of the Arts in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Mia, Vlatka, and John during a performance
Croatia is home to many fantastic music composers and has a rich classical musical heritage that dates to the 10th century. Vlatka and Nia introduced the DC audience to the amazing works of Dora Pejačević (1885-1923) who was a well-known composer of the Croatian late-romantic era. Named the “matriarch of Croatian composers” her most prominent composition was her magnum opus Symphony in F-sharp Minor written between 1916 and 1917.
Violinist Vlatka Peljhan with pianist Mia Elezović
Dubravko Detoni (1937- is another important name in Croatian classical music and is a well-known pianist and composer of contemporary and avant garde during the Yugoslavian era. He is known for writing contemporary compositions like Zaboravljene muzike written in 1981 and several electronic and experimental music.
The evening concert was also organized by the Croatian American Club Hrvatska Ura (HURA). HURA is Washington DC based organization founded in May 2010 by Croatian Americans in the DC metropolitan area. It was organized to preserve and promote Croatian heritage identity and culture and serve as a networking tool for the local Croatian American community, friends and visitors in the area. The goal is to build cultural, economic, scientific and personal bridges with Croatian and energize the U.S. diaspora by focusing on specific topics and projects. HURA events usually take place in the Croatian Embassy as a space and infrastructure to support the local Croatian community.
Mia Elezović performing a Detoni arrangement using a melodica and Vlatka Peljhan accompanying with the violin.
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