Cantus Ansambl was founded in 2001, initially as the festival ensemble of the Muzički biennale Zagreb. The ensemble moved beyond its original festival context later that same year and became fully independent in the 2006/2007 season through its own concert cycle, which remains one of the very few continuous platforms dedicated to contemporary music on the Croatian scene. Yet from that now distant 2001 until today, the ensemble has remained an indispensable part of the MBZ — the most important and longest-running festival of contemporary music and related arts in Croatia and the region.
Over the years, the ensemble has realized numerous projects and collaborations with distinguished soloists and conductors within the framework of the festival, though several stand out in particular.
In co-production with the Hrvatsko narodno kazalište u Zagrebu, the ballet Air by composer Krešimir Seletković was created for the 2011 festival edition. The choreography and dramaturgical concept were conceived by internationally acclaimed Swiss choreographer Martino Müller, while the performance was entrusted to the ballet ensemble of the Croatian National Theatre Zagreb and the Cantus Ensemble under the baton of Berislav Šipuš. The ensemble’s remarkable success in the orchestral pit was confirmed by the Croatian Theatre Award for Best Ballet Production of 2011, while ballerina Pavla Mikolavčić received the award for Outstanding Artistic Achievement in Ballet.
At the following festival in 2013, upon the initiative of the ensemble itself and in co-production with the Zagrebačko kazalište lutaka, two anthology — almost cult — masterpieces of 20th- and 21st-century music were staged within the MBZ: Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire and Pierre Boulez’s Le marteau sans maître.
The beauty of these productions lay in the puppet-theatre direction by Croatian actor, director, and playwright Rene Medvešek, who opted for highly poetic, symbolic, and abstract visual imagery that sought to visually interpret and merge with the sonic elements of the works. The visual concept was created by academic painter Danijel Srdarev, while costume designer Petra Dančević designed costumes for the Zagreb Puppet Theatre ensemble as well as soloists Martina Gojčeta Silić and Martina Matić Borse.
The 2017 Biennale presented the ensemble with another major challenge: An Index of Metals by the prematurely deceased Italian composer Fausto Romitelli. Positioned on the border between rock and experimental music, filled with paraphrases and associations, the technically and performatively demanding work captivated Biennale audiences and remains one of the most frequently discussed productions in recent MBZ history.
In April 2019, as part of a co-production between the 30th Muzički biennale Zagreb, the Cantus Ensemble and Ensemble Icarus (Reggio Emilia), a portrait concert dedicated to composer Ivan Fedele was presented at Lauba – House for People and Art within the Cantus@Lauba concert cycle. The highlight of the project was undoubtedly Fedele’s new work Ex–Tension, commissioned jointly by both ensembles and the festival.
In 2021, when the ensemble celebrated its 20th anniversary, it marked the occasion exactly where it had begun — within the framework of the Muzički biennale Zagreb — with a gala anniversary concert conducted by its principal conductor Ivan Josip Skender. Long-standing ensemble members percussionist Marko Mihajlović and clarinetist Danijel Martinović appeared as soloists. The program featured works by Dubravko Detoni, Antun Tomislav Šaban, Martin Matalon, and Fausto Romitelli, alongside the world premiere of a new composition by young composer Helena Skljarov.
Often described as the “house ensemble” of the Muzički biennale Zagreb, the Cantus Ansambl has continuously developed and reaffirmed its artistic mission within the Biennale itself, systematically presenting works by Croatian and international composers while actively contributing to the shaping and development of the contemporary music scene and the festival program. Through its long-standing presence at the Biennale, the ensemble has become an important bearer of interpretative standards and one of the key protagonists in the international promotion of contemporary Croatian music.
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