Published on 12/10/2010

Maestro Zdravko Šljivac is conducting the Little Stars choir from Zagreb, which will participate the International Holiday Concert Let us sing Croatian Christmas together - Pjevajmo zajedno hrvatski Božić, organized by the Harmony For Peace Foundation. The concert is held in the Lincoln Center, Sunday, December 19, 2010, 3:00 PM Avery Fisher Hall. Also participating are Drago Bubalo & Angel Voices & Bells of St. Aidan, Reagan Stone, Klapa Astoria.

Sunday, December 19, 2010 3:00 PM Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center

Maestro Zdravko Šljivac, conductor of Little Stars - Zvjezdice choir, Zagreb

Little Stars - Zvjezdice singing with the Zagreb Soloists

International Holiday Concert at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center

On December 19th, welcoming the internationally acclaimed girls choir “Little Stars” from Croatia, The Angel Voices and Bells of St. Aidan will present a medley of Holiday Songs - from traditional Croatian Christmas songs to the Holiday Classics - at Avery Fisher Hall in New York. Also performing will be the members of Herricks High School Chamber Orchestra and Choir, who will share the stage along with the military band and South Shore Brass!

The concert will create a festive sound of unique international proportions by these leading youth groups. The concert will be a festival of joy for families and friends to support the important message of world peace and to raise the awareness of friendship between nations.

Sunday, December 19th at 3 PM (Door opens at 2:30 PM)

ZDRAVKO ŠLJIVAC & ZVJEZDICE (Little Stars), Croatia
ZVJEZDICE Website

Dragan Ivanov Bubalo
Angel Voices and Bells of St. Aidan

Reagan Stone, Soprano
KLAPA ASTORIA

Robin Maddox
Louise O’ Hanlon
Herricks High School Chamber Orchestra and Choir

South Shore Brass

Program Highlights:
Josipovic: Djevojacke Vede
Dobar Vam vecer gospodo

Croatian and American Christmas Songs arranged for symphony orchestra, soloists and choirs:

Durufle: Tota Pulchra Est
Mozart: Ave Maria
Johann Strauss: Anen Polk
Vinson: Silver Bells
Christmas Fanfare
Joyeous Alleluia
Byrd Allegro
Vivaldi: Winter
Da Pacem Domine
“Peace Prayer”
Jingle Bell Rock
Handel: For Unto Us a Child is Born
... and many others.

Cooperation:

Croatian Church of Sts. Cyril and Methodius

Permanent Mission of the Republic of Croatia to the UN
Croatian Consulate General in New York
LINGUA-SOFT d.o.o. (www.lingua-soft.hr)

Ticket Information
Orchestra $65-$45 , Tiers $35- $25

You can purchase the tickets online
Click here to purchase tickets!

Contact:
Tel. 484.885.8539

Source
www.zvjezdice.hr

Cardinal Vinko Puljić, Sarajevo archbishop, Bosnia and Herzegovina, with Dragan Ivanov Bubalo, conductor

Little Stars - Zvjezdice, biography

“Zvjezdice” Girls’ Choir is one of the most representative music ensembles in Zagreb and Croatia. It was founded in 1985 and forms part of the Youth Music Centre in Zagreb. The members of the choir are all outstanding students of primary and secondary schools in Zagreb.

In more than two decades of its existence, the choir has developed a strong cooperation with the most prominent Croatian ensembles and performers, as well as with many conductors – from both Croatia and abroad.

Let us mention some of the best-known projects the choir has participated in: the performance of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater in cooperation with Zagreb soloists and magnificent Croatian artists such as Ruža Pospiš Baldani and Dunja Vejzović, Symphony No. 3 and Symphony No. 8 by Gustav Mahler, cantata Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, concert performance of Wagner’s Parsifal and Zajc’s Mislav, concert performance of Boito’s Mefistopheles, oratorio The Translation of St. Domnio by J. Bajamonti, scenic oratorio The Representation of the Soul and the Body by E. de Cavalieri, music melodrama Persephone by Igor Stravinsky, appearances in operas Carmen by G. Bizet, Fire by Blagoje Bersa, Werther by J. Massenet, The Child and the Magic Spells by Maurice Ravel, Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo and Mirjana by Josip Magdić, the War Requiem by Benjamin Britten, oratorio Jean d’Arc au Bucher (Joan of Arc at the Stake) by A. Honegger, oratorio Fidelissima advocata Croatiae by J. Magdić, Messe in G major by F. Schubert, concert performance of the opera Hansel and Gretel by E. Humperdinck, Missa apostolica by Gerald Wirth, etc.

The choir has performed alongside the Zagreb Soloists, the Symphony Orchestra of the Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT), the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, the Croatian Chamber Orchestra, the Zagreb Wind Trio, the Windstrings string orchestra, the Opera Orchestra of the Croatian National Theatre (HNK), the Croatian Army Symphony Wind Orchestra, the Tamburica Orchestra of the HRT, etc.

Furthermore, the choir has performed under the direction of many renowned conductors such as P. Dešpalj, K. Ono, M. Horvat, N. Bareza, M. Belamarić, R.F. de Burgos, A. Rahbari, F. Shipway, V. Kranjčević, M. Tarbuk, M. Bašić, I. Kuljerić, P. Gotovac, M. Prohaska, S. Britvić, Z. Juranić, A. Bjelinski, etc.

The choir’s wide range of activities inside Croatia also includes a cappella performances at the International Children’s Festival in Šibenik (1990) and Dubrovnik Summer Festival (2000). The “Zvjezdice” choir filled the audience with enthusiasm in Norway, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Russia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, etc.

The two United States tours should especially be mentioned. First came the highly successful tour in 2003 (New York, Pittsburgh, Dayton, Northern Kentucky), when the choir received a major acknowledgement and December 12 was declared the “Zvjezdice” Day in New York, and December 19 was declared the “Zvjezdice” Day in Dayton. The other, equally successful tour took place in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York in 2004, and included the concert in the Church of the Holy Family at the United Nations Chapel in New York under the high patronage of Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See at the UN. In 2006, the tour to Australia and Malaysia (Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, Kuala Lumpur) followed, and the tour to Canada took place in 2009.

Many works by the leading Croatian composers have been dedicated to the “Zvjezdice” choir, most notably The Four Seasons by Davorin Kempf, Orion, Venus, Andromeda by Milko Kelemen and Djevojačke vede (Maiden Vedas) by Ivo Josipović.

The “Zvjezdice” choir has received many national and international awards and some of the most notable are: two awards for best performance at the International Choir Festival in Llangollen, North Wales (the International Musical Eisteddfod), the outstanding performance awards at the Sligo Choir Festival, Ireland and Stavanger, Norway, the award for the best performance of a contemporary composition at the International Youth Choir Festival Celje. Along with Dunja Vejzović, Ruža Pospiš-Baldani and Zagreb soloists, the choir received the Ivan Lukačić Award for performing Stabat Mater by G. B. Pergolesi at the Varaždin Baroque Evenings in 1991.

The choir has an impressive discography list, consisting of several hundreds of recordings, a series of independent releases such as the CD Ave Mundi Gloria, double CD titled Zvjezdice (released for the choir’s 15th anniversary) and Christmas editions realised in cooperation with the Zagreb Soloists, the Zagreb Wind Trio, the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra and the Croatian Army Orchestra, and the recent CD: Zvjezdice – 20 years.

Zdravko Šljivac, conductor

A versatile musician, composer, producer, conductor, music teacher, editor and associate of the Croatian Television.

He is the founder of the Zvjezdice Girls’ Choir and has been acting as the choir’s permanent conductor for the past 22 years. Under his direction, the choir has won many national and international awards (two awards for the best performance at the International Choral Festival in Wales, awards for an outstanding performance in Norway and Ireland, the award for the best performance of a contemporary composition at the International Youth Choir Festival Celje, etc.)

He is a multiple winner of “Porin”, the Croatian discography award, in several categories (the best production of classical music, the best production of Croatian traditional music, the best production of children’s music, etc.), the Varaždin Baroque Evenings award and the Croatian Composers’ Society award.

Zdravko Šljivac has composed music for a number of television films and series and theatre plays. He is the artistic director and the originator of numerous music projects and festivals. He was an associate and the conductor of the World Children’s Choir in Paris and has nurtured young talents through his outstanding work in music education. He is a member of many music juries, the president of the Croatian Association of Conductors and Choirs.

Šljivac has collaborated with the Zagreb Soloists, the Symphony Orchestra of the Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT), the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, the Opera Orchestra of the Croatian National Theatre (HNK), the Croatian Chamber Orchestra, the Croatian Army Symphony Orchestra, the Tamburica Orchestra of the Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT), etc. He is a regular member of the Croatian Composers’ Society and has been appointed the cultural ambassador of the Republic of Croatia by the European Federation of Choirs of the Union.

Source www.zvjezdice.hr

Zvjezdice (Little Stars), all girls' choir, founded in 1985 in Zagreb, conducted by Mr. Zdravko Sljivac, became two-times world champions of the Llangollen International Music Festival of choir music (Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod), Llangollen, Wales, UK, in 2001, and Outstanding Prize at Sligo Choral Festival in Ireland. They are often compared with the Vienna Boys Choir. Little Stars were elected as Cultural Ambassadors of the European Union Parliament. They had very successful concerts in Norway (Oslo, Stavanger), France (Paris, Nantes, Auxerre), Italy (Milano, Riva del Garda), Switzerland (Zürich), Germany (Füssen), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo), Austria (Salzburg), USA (New York, Pittsburgh, Dayton, Northern Kentucky, Cincinatti, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Chicago), etc. You can listen to their singing of Croatian Christmas Songs. Maestro Zdravko Sljivac conducted also the World Children Choir in Paris.

Examples of Croatian Christmas carols :

Radujte se narodi (Rejoice, peoples) [mp3]
Svim na Zemlji mir veselje (Peace and joy to all on the Earth) [mp3]

Source www.croatianhistory.net

Zvjezdice, W.A.Mozart, Misa brevis u B-duru, KV 275 / Credo

Zvjezdice J S Bach Badinerie iz Suite u H molu

Ban Ki Moon na hrvatskom božićnom koncertu u New Yorku...opsirnije

Formated for CROWN by prof.dr. Darko Žubrinić
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