For the jubilee 50th edition of the Samobor Music Festival, the Cantus Ensemble has been invited, as a long-time partner, to present a concert that goes beyond an ordinary evening of music – a fusion of outstanding contemporary works and award-winning compositional visions.
On Sunday, 28 September 2025, at 8 p.m., the Parish Church of St. Anastasia will become a stage where four Croatian composers’ voices meet the winning piece of this year’s 14th International New Note Composers Competition.
The successful collaboration between the Cantus Ensemble and the Samobor Music Festival, which began back in 2006, has for nearly two decades created new opportunities for young musicians and composers, encouraging the creation and promotion of contemporary Croatian music. Since 2011, alongside the Ferdo Livadić Competition (for young musicians), the International New Note Composers Competition has been established. This year, it attracted as many as 59 submissions from around the world, with the jury – Berislav Šipuš, Sara Glojnarić, and Srećko Bradić – unanimously selecting the winner.
In the spotlight is the award-winning work by American composer Andrew List, The Gargoyles of Notre Dame, a piece inspired by the nocturnal life of the mysterious stone figures of the Paris cathedral. With playfulness, color, and rhapsodic flow, List’s music invites listeners into a fantastical world between dream and reality, bringing the gargoyles to life through musical imagination.
Alongside the winning piece, the Cantus Ensemble presents four works by Croatian composers:
Mladen Tarbuk (4 Estancias for accordion and ensemble), Olja Jelaska (Morning at Sea for violin and ensemble), Vjekoslav Nježić (Koha për kangë, a meditation for guitar and chamber ensemble),
Zoran Juranić (Spiritus ludens, quasi concertino for piano and ten instruments).
Under the baton of Berislav Šipuš, the Cantus Ensemble will perform with top soloists: Ivan Šverko (accordion), Matej Mijalić (violin), Petrit Çeku (guitar), and Ivan Vihor (piano). A special detail worth noting: all of these soloists are former laureates of the Ferdo Livadić Young Musicians Competition.
In this brilliant union of prizewinning and renowned talent – both composers and performers – we can look forward to a fantastic start to autumn, just ahead of the Cantus Ensemble’s first concert of the season.
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