Klape at the Minoriti

Klapa Dalmari

Klapa Dalmari operates as an independent section within the oldest Croatian association in Slovenia – the Croatian Cultural Association in Maribor. The founder and artistic director of the klapa is Marko Mandir from Zagreb. The group was established in 2009 at the initiative of Croatian and Slovenian lovers of klapa singing in Maribor. The name of the klapa is derived from a wordplay meaning “Dalmatia in Maribor.”

The klapa cultivates authentic a cappella singing and performs as an independent ensemble. They have appeared seven times at the Festival of Dalmatian Klapa in Omiš. At the 56th festival, they received the Audience Third Prize. At the 57th Festival of Dalmatian Klapa Omiš 2023, they won two Second Prizes (awarded by the professional jury and the audience), earning the Silver Shield with the historic coat of arms of the Town of Omiš and the Silver Omiš Leut. They repeated this achievement at the 58th Festival of Dalmatian Klapa, once again winning both Second Prizes (jury and audience) and receiving the Silver Shield and the Silver Omiš Leut for the second time.

Last year, they performed at the 59th FDK at the Evening of New Compositions, where they presented the song “Ja ti u snu plačen.” The composer, Vlasta Vrandečić Lebarić, received the Jury’s Second Prize for the piece.

The klapa preserves traditional a cappella singing, which they have only recently enriched with guitar accompaniment in order to further appeal to discerning audiences.

Klapa Pinguentum

The male klapa Pinguentum began its journey in 1994, when the singers spontaneously gathered, united by their love of singing. As they say themselves: “The pleasure of a spontaneously harmonized chord in the intimacy of a tavern was hard to compare with anything else.” They later formalized their activities under the auspices of the century-old Music Society “Sokol” from Buzet. Since 2005, they have performed in their current line-up.

The seven members – above all friends and true enthusiasts of klapa singing – have crowned their dedication with numerous awards, receiving a total of 40 to date. They are multiple winners of the Festival of Klapa of Istria and Kvarner, winners of the first Omiš Superfinal, and the first – and so far the only – Istrian klapa to win the Festival of Dalmatian Klapa in Omiš.

The klapa is recognized for its outstanding performances of traditional klapa songs, as well as for nurturing Istrian folk songs interpreted in four-part klapa harmony, thus paying tribute to their homeland. At the end of 2014, Klapa Pinguentum released a double album titled “U mom kraju.”

The artistic director of the klapa is Sanjin Radović.

Klapa Armorin

Female klapa Armorin was founded in 1999 and brings together singers from various parts of Croatia. For more than twenty-five years, the ensemble has attracted attention on both national and international stages, confirming its artistic excellence through numerous awards.

At the Festival of Dalmatian Klapa in Omiš, Armorin has won a total of 19 awards, including five First Prizes from the professional jury, two overall victories in the female klapa category, and the award for Best Performance of a New Composition for Jubi si me u sakreto. This impressive collection of top prizes also includes awards from competitions of Croatian traditional vocal music, the Klape Gospi Sinjskoj festival, and the Večeri dalmatinske pisme festival in Kaštel Kambelovac.

The ensemble is particularly proud of its participation in recording music for the short animated film Tišina mora (2010) and the biographical feature film Dražen (2024), thus bringing the distinctive sound of klapa singing into the world of cinema. Among its many projects, special mention should be made of the organization of the concert series More, ti si čežnja, which gathered some of the finest Croatian klapa groups in the heart of Zagreb, as well as the co-organization of the newly established Zagreb Klapa Cycle, held several times a year and bringing together Zagreb-based klapa ensembles.

To date, the klapa has released three albums: Stegla me je mladost (2011), Dite (2019), which was nominated for the Porin Music Award in 2020, and Slipo srce (2024), presented at the ensemble’s 25th anniversary concert held in Zagreb in November 2024.

In addition to performances throughout Croatia, the klapa has appeared internationally (Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Morocco, Switzerland, Norway, USA), consistently guided by the mission of promoting Croatian cultural heritage.

The artistic director of the klapa is Davor Capković.
Members:
Paulina Đapo (1st soprano),
Marija Vuletić, Marija Blažević (2nd sopranos),
Maša Maradin (1st alto),
Saša Marinović, Gabriela Paradžik, Kata Silić (2nd altos).