HARMONIJA DISONANCE ENSEMBLE evolved from the eponymous research and performance project that started at the Academy of Music in Zagreb in 2016. Guided by the idea of bridging the gaps between the worlds of academic and folk musicians, of traditional and art music, the project soon evolved into the lively and stimulating space of mutual learning, experimenting, and music-making of renowned traditional singers and the Academy’s students. Beyond that, the ensemble itself represents an important step: the introduction of traditional music performance into the programs of academic education of musicians and (ethno)musicologists. This broadens the scope of the musical traditions taught and studied at the Academy. It also represents the unequivocal answer to the question of whether the oldest layers of traditional music could be relevant and inspiring to the newest generations of musicians, which are trained in the tradition of western art music.

JAZZ ORCHESTRA OF THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC IN ZAGREB was founded in 2016, following in the footsteps of the renowned Big Band of the Academy of Music of the early 1980s, founded and led by the distinguished professor Stanko Selak. The repertoire of the Orchestra encompasses standard pieces written for big band orchestra that in time became the canonical literature of big bands around the world, as well as works of contemporary composers of art music inspired by jazz. Because of the unique musical and sound features of traditional singing styles performed by the Harmonija disonance Ensemble, the standard rhythm and brass sections of the orchestra were, for this project, extended by a section consisting of flutes, clarinet, and violins. muza.unizg.hr

JOŠKO ĆALETA is an ethnomusicologist and research associate of the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Research in Zagreb. After graduating in Music Studies at the University of Split he received his MA in ethnomusicology from UBC in Vancouver, and a Ph.D. in musicology at the Academy of Music, University of Zagreb (Croatia). His research interests are mainly focused on traditional vocal music of the Coastal and Hinterland Dalmatia (Croatia) and the neighboring Dinaric areas, on intersections of music and tourism, and issues of applied ethnomusicology. He is well-known and respected expert in Croatian traditional vocal music performance, as well as a renowned vocal pedagogue and producer of numerous record releases of Croatian traditional music. He is the founder and artistic leader of the Harmonija disonance ensemble.

ZORAN ŠĆEKIĆ received his B.F.A. in jazz guitar at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria and a post-graduate degree in Composition and Arrangement at the Sibelius Music Academy. He collaborated with numerous musicians and artists in the creation of theatre and film music, participating in music biennals, jazz and free jazz festivals, and composing in standard, graphic and hybrid notation for big bands and orchestras. He developed a special interest towards microtonal work and a microtonal keyboard prototype (Z-board) was built in San Diego after his construction. He is the leader of Adria Microtonalis, a project dedicated to interdisciplinary artistic-scientific approach to traditional music intonation systems of Northern Adria.

SAŠA NESTOROVIĆ +studied saxophone at the Zagreb Academy of Music and continued his studies at the Hochschule für Musik Köln. As a teacher, he taught classical saxophone at the Pavao Markovac Music School in Zagreb, improvisation at the Secondary School of Music and Ballet in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and led seminars at the Summer School of Jazz on the island of Brač and the Summer School of Saxophone in Dubrovnik. As a musician, he has been active on the German, Croatian, and Slovene jazz scene and is currently acting as a leader/conductor of the Croatian Radiotelevision Jazz Orchestra. At the Music academy in Zagreb, he teaches chamber music, jazz improvisation, and leads the jazz orchestra.