The International Music Center of America,
Croatian Ministry of Culture, and the City of Dubrovnik
___________________________________________________
Press Release
DATE: July 12, 2007
CONTACT: Cynthia Macdonald, Managing Director
International Music Center of America (IMCA)
Ph. (916) 861 0025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
E-MAIL: office@imca.us
http://www.imca.us/DSO/US_tour/index.htm Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra
to take American tour November 1-12, 2007  Washington, D.C. The DUBROVNIK SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (www.dso.hr), one of Croatia's most prominent professional ensembles, will be touring the United States' East Coast November 1-12, 2007 with performances scheduled for Hagerstown (MD), Baltimore (MD), Harrisburg (PA), New York City (NY), and Washington D.C. The orchestra will perform works by contemporary Croatian composers Pero Šiša (currently composer in residence and General Director of DSO), and Boris Papandopulo, as well as a late Mozart symphony. DSO Music Director Zlatan Srzic will lead the orchestra; Prominent Polish percussionist Jan Lotko will be the featured soloist. The tour is sponsored by Croatian Ministry of Culture, the City of Dubrovnik, and the International Music Center of America (IMCA; www.imca.us). This is DSO's first tour to the United States in thirty years, and the latest in a series of international performances that have taken the orchestra from the abject poverty and obscurity created by the devastation of the recent Balkan war to the limelight of many prominent European concert halls. In the last two years alone the orchestra has taken seven tours of Europe, performing to capacity audiences in Italy, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Slovenia, and various parts of their native Croatia. Their performances have been met with great enthusiasm by audiences and critics alike, praising the orchestra for its clear sound, energy, and verve. As a full-time professional symphony, DSO is considered a cultural treasure of the City of Dubrovnik and of Croatia. This tightly knit, Classical-size ensemble of about 40 consists almost exclusively of players grown locally and educated in Croatia's and Europe's finest music schools. DSO produces some 90 concerts a season, commanding a vast symphonic, operatic, and concerto repertoire that ranges from Baroque to modern. The cosmopolitan environs of Dubrovnik contributes significantly to the Orchestra's wide world-view: DSO regularly performs for international audiences who flock to the city which is considered one of world's finest tourist destinations (www.dubrovnik.hr). This international flavor is also felt in DSO's choice of collaborators. The Orchestra has been engaging many fine guest artists, including some of world's most renowned conductors and soloists. For all of these reasons, the Dubrovnik Symphony has become one of the most sought-after orchestras of Southeastern Europe.
 DSO's tour repertoire includes a combination of uniquely Croatian literature as well as well known classics. The tour's core repertoire consists of Pero Šiša's Konavoska Svita, Boris Papandopulo's Concerto for Xylophone and String Orchestra, and Mozart's Jupiter Symphony (Symphony No. 41). Šiša's Konavoska Svita is a short tone poem in the Romantic vein describing the activities and the countryside of the Konavle region, the very place of Dubrovnik's location. Šiša is a prolific, still-living composer of highly listenable music which shows the influence of local folklore. He has written in just about every major genre including symphonic works, opera, concertos, and songs. Pero Šiša is also largely responsible for taking Dubrovnik out of obscurity and putting it back on the road to becoming a prominent artistic voice of Croatia - the stature that Dubrovnik proudly held some 30 years ago. Boris Papandopulo, sometimes referred to as "Croatia's Stravinsky" is a luminary of the late 20th-century. His many compositions are work of high inspiration, spicy and effervescent, often demanding a high level of technical facility. Case in point is his Xylophone Concerto that puts both the orchestra and the soloist through demanding bravura passages, syncopated, angular rhythms, and rich, Slavic-spiced harmonies. The program concludes with Mozart's extraordinary Jupiter Symphony (Symphony No. 41) which is meant to demonstrate DSO's ability to execute great standard repertoire with agility and panache. The Dubrovnik Symphony tour is sponsored by the Croatian Ministry of Culture, various Croatian-American organizations, the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Washington D.C., the City of Dubrovnik, and the International Music Center of America. IMCA, the organizer of the tour, who specializes in development of artistic organizations and projects, has enjoyed a close working relationship with DSO for nearly three years. They have jointly produced many projects locally in Dubrovnik and internationally. Tickets to the performances will be available through local ticket outlets and the concert halls where the performances will take place. For more information please contact IMCA: Cynthia Macdonald, IMCA Managing Director at Tel. (916) 861-0025 or Tour Manager Ira Poberezhnaya at (405) 255-2959.
______________________ Pronunciation guide: The following are approximate English transcriptions of Croatian names
~ DSO's Music Director Zlatan Srzic is pronounced as "Zlahtahn Srzich"
~ Pero Sisa is pronounced as "Pehro Shisha."
~ Boris Papandopulo is pronounced as "Boris Pahpandopuhlo."
~ Konavoska Svita is pronounced as "Konahvoska Svitta."
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