‘Historic Day’ for the Croatian Academy of Music

The Croatian Academy of Music in Zagreb

The Croatian Academy of Music is one of the three art academies affiliated with the University of Zagreb, along with the Academy of Dramatic Art and the Academy of Fine Arts, and is the oldest and largest college of music in Croatia…

A 13-year project at the Croatian Academy of Music came to an end with the official opening yesterday of the new ‘Croatian Temple of Music’ in Zagreb.

Dean Dalibor Cikojević thanked everyone who contributed to the construction and completion of the “new magnificent building” of the Academy, which will “help put Zagreb on the map of European and world music centers and academic excellence”.

“Today is a significant, almost historical day for our institution. The opening ceremony of the heart of the building in which we moved to exactly one year ago, a hall named after Blagoje Bersa, the great Croatian composer and one of the first professors of the Music Academy which was founded in 1921. He laid the foundations of musical professionalism and raised a number of great Croatian composers,” said Cikojević.

The 300-seat hall is equipped with top of the range acoustic, audio and lighting devices, two grand Steinway and Bösendorfer pianos, and a special lifting platform that allows the stage and auditorium to be reduced or expanding depending on the needs. The hall, which will also be able to be used to record music, will hold concerts, meetings and cultural events and is set to become new recognisable cultural center for Zagreb and Croatia.

“With three smaller halls, recording studios, a multimedia center, library, reading room, 51 classrooms and 35 practice halls, this building can rightly be compared with those at the world’s best colleges,” concluded Cikojević.