On Saturday, August 18, the Sinj Music Evenings, organized by the Tourist Board of Sinj with the support of the Ministry of Culture of Croatia, the City of Sinj and the Tourist Board of Split-Dalmatia County, saw a magnificent concert held under the stars with Dunja Knebl, composition Kololira, and ethno-composition Veja.
For the first time in the unique and beautiful ambiance of the southern walls at the foot of the City Fortress, a true acoustic spectacle was witnessed under the starry sky – the virtuoso performance of the genuine guards of Croatian traditional music – Dunje Knebl with Kololira and Veja.
Dunja Knebl began performing in public in 1993 with a repertoire of little-known Croatian folk songs. The songs are handled in collaboration with their accompanying composition Kololira. She has performed on numerous television and radio shows, live or with recorded videos, always promoting the notorious or forgotten Croatian musical heritage. She has performed several times in the framework of the International Folklore Festival in Zagreb, as well as at the traditional Međimurje song event in Nedelišće – Međimurske popevke, at the Kaštela Festival in 2002 and at the ethno-music festival in Solin in 2005, 2007, 2013, 2015. and 2016. In addition to Croatia, she has performed in Ireland, the Netherlands, the USA, Slovakia, Sweden, Hungary (at the PEPSI ISIGET festival), Bulgaria (EBU Festival in Varna), Slovenia (TRNFEST festival), Italy (CIRCOM festival), Macedonia, Switzerland, Germany and the South African Republic.
Dunja Knebl has so far recorded 14 solo albums and has participated in numerous compilations. London’s WORLD MUSIC The Rough Guide (VOLUME I) in 1999 recommends Dunja’s album to get acquainted with the ethnomusic of Croatia.
The success of Dunje Knebl with the Kololira group in the past few years has mostly affirmed what is practiced for almost a quarter of a century, and these are folk dances from Croatian traditional heritage. They have performed at numerous festivals and have been praised, and the album Tamo is on the compilation of London’s Roots magazine. In addition, Dunja was listed in the top 20 best ethno albums (July and August 2014) of the renowned WMCE (World Music Charts Europe), and in December 2014, she was praised by Kim Burton, a respected writer, journalist and ethnologist, and contributor to the London world music magazine Songlines.
Veja was founded by Goran Farkaš in 2007, when he began exploring Istrian traditional music. The ensemble then began playing at local events, and depending on their possibilities, the band’s members changed.
Ethno group Veja comes from Pazin and is involved in exploring Istrian folk music and performing it in modern arrangements using various traditional instruments from all over the world. Thus, in their performances, they use the diple, gaida, kaval, violin, accordion, guitar, bass guitar and cajon in various combinations. They are inspired and motivated musicians who fulfilled the lives of their ancestors by giving them new energy. So far they have often played to both domestic and foreign audiences. They attended the Ethnoambient Festival in Solin, the TradInEtno Festival in Pazin, the FolkHistria Festival in Koper (Slovenia), and the Viljandi Folk Festival in Viljandi (Estonia). During their tour of France, in 2012, they performed in one of the most famous “New morning” jazz clubs in Paris, where they were highly acclaimed by the audience and praised by the media. In 2013, they participated in the Archeo project in which they performed in Croatia, Greece, Albania and Italy. This was not Ethno group Veja’s first performance in Sinj. Namely, they performed as part of the Days of Istria event in October 2016. “Valley of Mills” is the debut album of the Veja group, released in 2014. It contains 10 pieces of which two are authored and the remaining eight are traditionally modified.
Numerous domestic and foreign audiences could enjoy a truly unique musical spectacle at the foot of the City Fortress, along with another unusual performance that took place at the same location organized by KUS – Sinj, “Alka – the Dance of Freedom” performed by Marija Šćekić, Historie Nova, and CMRS.
Photos by Branko Čović
