Croatian Baroque Ensemble, Stjepan Nodilo, Laura Vadjon, Mauro Colantonio, Helga Korbar & Pavao Mašić
Biographie Croatian Baroque Ensemble, Stjepan Nodilo, Laura Vadjon, Mauro Colantonio, Helga Korbar & Pavao Mašić
Croatian Baroque Ensemble
is the most prominent Croatian ensemble specializing in historically informed interpretation of early music on original instruments and their replicas. The ensemble was founded in 1999 and consists of esteemed musicians from the younger generation – led by director of the ensemble, renowned violinist Laura Vadjon.
Along with a 20 years-long series of concerts at the Croatian Music Institute with the unique signature thematic programs, the ensemble is a regular guests at numerous national and international festivals such as Varaždin Baroque Evenings, Korkyra Baroque Festival, Zagreb Baroque Festival, Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Split Summer Festival, St. Donat’s Festival in Zadar, Organum Histriae, Concerts at the Eufrazijana, Rovinj Summer Festival, Krk Summer Festival, International Baroque Festival in Melk, Music in old Cracow, Festival delle Nazioni-Citta di Castello, Festival Brezice, Festival of Croatian music in Vienna, Festival of Central European countries in Rome, Tesori Musicali Toscani in Pisa, Missiones de Chiquitos in Bolivia, Havana Baroque Festival in Cuba, Tartini Festival in Piran and other Festivals in Finland, France, Sweden, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy Hungary, Slovakia, Estonia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Argentina, Spain, Portugal….
In their concert programs, the ensemble features prominent international soloists, leaders and conductors; experts in performing of baroque and classical music. They have repeatedly work with Catherine Mackintosh, Herve Niquet, Werner Ehrhardt, Aapo Hakkinen, Laurence Cummings, Richard Egarr, Shalev Ad El, Peter Lonnerberg, Philip Pickett, Mimi Mitchell, David Staff, Theresa Caudle, Enrico Onofri, Alessandro Tampieri, Rachel Brown, Adrian Butterfield, Stefano Montanari, Marcello Gatti, Jaap ter Linden, Jacques Ogg, Andreas Helm…)
Due to their engaged, vivid, passionate and authentic interpretations, Croatian Baroque is considered one of the most interesting Croatian musical group, recognized by the musical critics and followed by wide audience.
Laura Vadjon
is the first ever Croatian baroque violinist, one of the initiators of new stylistic movements and the leading name of early music in Croatia. She is the director and concert master of the Croatian Baroque Ensemble, successful period enseble born in 1999, producing numerous Croatian premieres of works composed by long forgotten composers, as well as those by masters of the Baroque and Classical period. She works with some of the greatest names of the world’s baroque music scene, and has performed with various ensembles in the country and abroad (The Zagreb Soloists, L’arte del mondo, London Handel Players, Florilegium, Le Concert Spirituel…) Laura is a member of the London Handel Orchestra, regularly performing in prestigious halls and churches of Great Britain, particularly in the London Handel Festival each spring. As a solois and a chamber musician, she has participated in numerous concerts and recording projects and is especially recognized as an interpreter of early Italian baroque music and the works of Handel and Mozart. She has a very recognizable and characteristic tone, style and interpretative sophistication and is known for her deliberate performances based on vast knowledge of dramatic and affective features of baroque music. Laura Vadjon plays an authentic historical instrument, built by a famous Italian string instruments builder, Giovanni Battista Guadagnini in 1751. She has won the University Rector and Dean Awards, University Teachers and Scientists Association Award, Milka Trnina and Porin Awards, as well as numerous other professional recognitions in Croatia with Croatian Baroque Ensemble and has performed in about twenty countries of Europe, Russia, Japan, and South America. She has been a professor at the Music Academy in Zagreb since 1995, teaching 17th and 18th centuries chamber music with an emphasis on historically and stylistically informed interpretation. Laura is the director of the successful and unique Korkyra Baroque Festival which is presenting the world’s leading ensembles and soloists specializing in baroque and classical music on historical instruments to the island of Korčula and the Pelješac peninsula. She promotes the original sound of early music, inspiring her coworkers, students and audiences with her enthusiasm.
