THE HISTORY OF THE STRINGS ONLY! PROJECT

FROM MASTER CLASSES TO FESTIVALS
When the internationally acclaimed violinist Maja Despalj - Begovic and cellist Valter Despalj, professors at the Zagreb Music Academy, founded the STRINGS ONLY! master classes fourteen years ago, they realized their vision of bringing together talented young musicians to study masterworks of string literature during the late summer. Grožnjan, the Cultural Center of the Federation of Jeunesses Musicales, not only provided the ideal atmosphere for study but also for public concerts to crown the two weeks of intense collaboration between talented young string players and their mentors.

The initial response was unexpectedly large. Not even the war raging in Croatia during 1992 prevented the talented musicians from gathering in Grožnjan, and their numbers increased with every season. STRINGS ONLY! alumni include the most distinguished Croatian string players of the young generation: the violinists Ivan Novinc, Miriam Pusticki-Kunjko, Vlatka Peljhan and Laura Vadjon; the violists Edita Fabek and Kresimir Petar Pusticki; the celllists Jadranka Gasparovic, Martin Jordan, Kresimir Lazar, Monika Leskovar, Karmen Pecar, Branimir Pusticki and Pavle Zajcev, as well as the bass player Žorž Drausnik. In 1993, under the mentorship of Valter Despalj, the cellist Monika Leskovar and the guitarist Ana Vidovic, little girls at the time, prepared a recital in Grožnjan for a tour of Israel that received great critical and public acclaim as well as extensive media coverage, the first cultural contact between Israel and the Republic of Croatia.

The fourth season of STRINGS ONLY! was marked by a final gala concert honoring the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Grožnjan International Center. The following year, the string players acquired a new home - Trakoscan - but not for long.

Zadar is the city where the Despaljs, a family of musicians, lived for many years and left a deep artistic imprint. It was, therefore, quite natural for STRINGS ONLY! to move permanently to Zadar. Support from the municipal authorities, splendid working conditions in a hotel complex located in the vicinity of Zadar, the openness and eagerness with which the city awaits the string players every year and attends their concerts, and no less important - concert stages of rare acoustics, beauty and historical significance, were all crucial factors in attracting STRINGS ONLY! to Zadar and allowing the project to evolve into a genuine festival. For seven years in a row, within the auspices of the Despalj Music School, Zadar has been a late summer gathering place for young string players and a city of chamber music. The Rotunda of St. Donatus, the ruins of the Church of St. Anastasia on Borik the Church of Our Lady of Loreto in Arbanasi and the church of St.Ambrosius in Nin, echo with the classical music performed by the young string players as soloists or members of chamber ensembles. Attendees of STRINGS ONLY! - Ivan Novinc, Martin Drausnik, Lucija Brnadic and Neva Begovic, students of the Zagreb Academy of Music under Maja Despalj - Begovic, Valter Despalj and Milan Cunko - founded the Porin Quartet, which has received prestigious Croatian awards Radio Podium and the Darko Lukic Award, and was chosen to represent Croatia at EXPO 2000 in Hanover).

STRINGS ONLY! is also a "testing site" for rehearsing the cello ensemble repertoire. The concerts known as Cellomania have proven to be a special attraction. This ensemble has been included in the program of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival and the Ljubljana Festival, the elite concert series of Saturday at the Lisinski Concert Hall in Zagreb, and appeared with great success in Graz and Vienna.

The young string players (sometimes joined by guitarists, singers and harpists) work with distinguished artists. In addition to the mentorship of the founders of STRINGS ONLY!, Maja and Valter Despalj, the leaders of the solo and chamber master courses during the past nine years have been eminent musicians - the violinists Latica Honda - Rosenberg, Barbara Gorzynska and Orest Shourgot; the violists Yossi Gutman, Walter Kussner, Matthias Maurer, Tanja Schneider and Milan Cunko; the cellists Dmitry Ferschtman, Reinhard Latzko, Kresimir Lazar and Rudolf Leopold; the guitarists Alexandar Sergei-Ramirez and Goran Listes; and Michael Steinkuhler, an expert in the interpretation of baroque music. In past years, STRINGS ONLY! attracted young string players from Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Italy, Greece, Austria, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Rumania,Yugoslavia, Canada, the USA, Australia, China, Japan, Korea and Brazil. Many returned to STRINGS ONLY! year after year, so that the quality of the interpretation has grown, providing new string players with an atmosphere in which their talent can truly develop.

The festival concerts in the Church of St. Donatus are a celebration: the Zadar public, including many young people, rewards the performers (students and professors) with genuine ovations because STRINGS ONLY! concerts bring the summer cultural season in Zadar to a splendid conclusion. There is more! The STRINGS ONLY! project continues past the summer. The best performances are presented throughout the year as part of the Music from Zadar Concert Series at the Croatian Music Institute in Zagreb.