Dear students and respected parents, welcome to the Zlatko Baloković Music School. On Wednesday, May 17, 2023, the entrance exam for the summer term for enrollment in the 1st grade of elementary music school and preschool programs will begin, school year. 2023/2024. I wish the candidates for the entrance exam and their parents a warm welcome to our School. You can find all the instructions about the entrance exam and registration on our website.

After enrollment, students and parents will receive information related to immediate regular classes from their subject teachers. We will permanently publish important information via the School's website www.balokovic.hr. We will send some important and personal information to students and parents by e-mail. I wish the candidates and their parents success in the entrance exam, good health and much success in their work in the school year. 2023/2024

Best regards, director: Marjan Krajna, prof. Adviser
In Honour of Marjan Krajna - BMus (accordion and symphony conducting), Gnessin, Moscow

Zlatko Baloković - violin genius

Zlatko Balokovićborn in Zagreb on March 21, 1895, received his musical education at the Music School of the Croatian Institute of Music under the famous Czech pedagogue Vaclav Huml, who trained many excellent violinists and founded the Zagreb Violin School. Already at the age of 14, he played at a community concert of the Croatian Music Institute, accompanied by an orchestra, where he performed Dvořák's Violin Concerto and Orchestra in A Minor. The listeners enthusiastically accepted his playing with 12 "encores". In September 1911, Baloković was accepted to a two-year master's study at the Academy of Music in Vienna under the famous Otokar Ševčik, teacher of Vaclav Huml. During his master's studies, he experienced his first international successes performing with the Zagreb Philharmonic in Moscow and Berlin. In November 1913, he held his first solo concert in Zagreb, which was also attended by his lecturers.

The first major international performances began in 1914 with a series of concerts in Cairo. From Egypt he goes to Italy, where he performs in Naples, in Rome in the Vatican hall Pia, Genoa, Milan, Turin. During the First World War, Baloković performed independently with BSG in chamber ensembles. Concerts for the benefit of the International Red Cross were very frequent.
 
In 1918, he performed as the first violinist in a string quartet with his teacher Vaclav Huml, Miroslav Slika and cellist Jura Tkalčić at a dinner dedicated to the works of Dora Pejačević. His Slavonic Sonata, op. 43, the author dedicated it to Zlatko Baloković in 1917. He premiered the work in Zagreb the following year accompanied by Svetislav Stančić, and abroad in 1926.
 

After the war, he played on tours in France, Switzerland and Great Britain. Since 1922, he has been performing in the United States, where he settled after two years. In New York, Baloković met Joyce Borden and married in 1926. From New York, he regularly goes on tours to almost the whole world. In 1927, Baloković and his wife visited the French Riviera. In the small town of Eze Village, they built a castle where they hosted many prominent personalities (Ignacy Jan Paderevski, Fritz Kreisler, Bruno Walter and numerous famous statesmen). During 1931, tours of Australia and New Zealand followed. After the Second World War, Baloković performed on all continents and played with the most famous orchestras under the direction of many famous conductors (Otto Klemperer, Malcolm Sargent, Serge Kussewitzki and many others). In 1938, he celebrated the 25th anniversary of his artistic work with a concert at the Croatian National Theater in Zagreb. At that concert, Baloković performed the Violin Concerto dedicated to him with the orchestra of the American composer John Carpenter Alden Iž 1936.

Zlatko Baloković was a great friend of Nikola Tesla, for whom he played at his funeral on January 12, 1943. According to Nikola Tesla's wish, he first played Scuberto's composition "Ave Marija", and then the folk song "Tamo Daleko". During the Second World War, Baloković focused his activities on organizing all kinds of American aid. He was also the President of the Council of American Croats. He was engaged in this activity even after the war, for which he received decorations. He also held numerous charity concerts. He died in Venice on March 29, 1965. Baloković's King violin, the work of Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù From Cremona (1735), is kept in the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb. (edited by: Andrea Perić, prof.)