AnaVidovic

Ana Vidovic

Raised At The Knee Of The Classics

by Dean Bonzani

9.29.04

From the small town of Karlovac, Croatia, a new star has risen.

Classical guitarist Ana Vidovic, a prodigy who gave her first public performance at the tender age of 7, is rendering audiences breathless with her stunning fretwork as she tours the globe.

Vidovic took up the guitar at the age of 5, and at 13, was the youngest student ever to be admitted to the Musical Academy in Zagreb, where she studied with Professor Istvan Romer. She recorded her first album in 1994, and has recorded four more albums since then. She’s given concerts in twenty countries, and has performed in such cities as Budapest, Warsaw, Salzburg, Rome, Tel Aviv, London, Paris, Baltimore, Vienna, Toronto, Oslo, Copenhagen, Dallas and San Francisco. She has performed in her native Croatia with the Zagreb Soloists, the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, and with the Symphony Orchestra of the Croatian Radio and Television. She’s also been featured in three television documentaries by eminent Croatian film director Petar Krelja.

Now 23 years old, she has been winning musical competitions worldwide, including first prizes in the Albert Augustine International Competition in Bath, England, the Fernando Sor competition in Rome, Italy and the Francisco Tarrega competition in Benicasim, Spain. She’s won top prizes in the Eurovision Competition for Young Artists, the Mauro Giuliani competition in Italy, the Printemps de la Guitare in Belgium and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York.

She currently attends the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, MD, where she studies under world renowned guitarist Manuel Barrueco.

Known for her dazzling technique, flawless execution, and unbelievable grace, fluidity, speed and elegance, Ana Vidovic is taking her place among the greats of classical guitar, and bowling critics over worldwide.

In October, the Grand Canyon Guitar Society will present the young virtuoso in an intimate concert at the Museum of Northern Arizona.

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Ana Vidovic in concert at the Museum of Northern Arizona’s Branigar-Chase Hall, Mon., Oct. 11th.

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Ms. Vidovic had just finished teaching class, and was waiting for a ride to the airport, when I caught up with her by phone in Atlanta, Georgia. Despite any cultural and language barriers, and the fact that, due to a persistent flu, I spoke with Croatia’s national guitar treasure from deep inside a Nyquil® haze, we had a pleasant chat.

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Dean Bonzani: As you’re traveling around performing, how much of the places that you visit do you actually get to see?

Ana Vidovic: Well, not so much. Usually I travel, then I spend a day or two in the city and then I move on and go somewhere else. There is not a lot of time to just look around and do some sightseeing. I see everything from a car or a plane, you know? That’s about it.

DB: You’ve been doing this for quite some time.

AV: I’ve been doing this for almost ten years, since I was young.

DB: Do you ever want to take a break?

AV: It’s my passion— I always love playing and performing. Traveling— getting on a plane is not a very...so much fun. Once you get on the stage and connect with people, it’s great, it’s all worth it. It’s why I do this, I’ve always loved music. So, I’ll just keep going. Sometimes, off course, I get tired. But, you know, I take breaks. I’ll take breaks for a week or two, or sometimes even a month, but if I’m on the road I’ll be on the road for a long time.

DB: Do you recall the first time that you gave a musical performance?

AV: I started playing when I was five. My whole family are all musicians. My father is a musician, my older brothers, they’re musicians, too. We always used to play in the house. They’re older, so they would always practice, and I would listen to them, and that’s how I got into teaching music, and that’s how I got into guitar. But, you know, we used to play for our friends, or I used to play for my father all the time. Every night we’d have a little concert going on in our house. Later on...I think I had my first performance when I was 7 or 8.

DB: At the age of 23, do you feel that you bring more maturity to your interpretations of the pieces, or do you feel that there’s not a lot of difference from when you were playing them, say, five years ago?

AV: Well, I hope that I’m bringing more maturity than a couple of years ago. I hate to, like, listen to some of my CD’s that I used to record. It just sounds like a very young person playing— I’m trying to make a transition from sounding young. Improve my musicality more than technique. I hope it’s coming out. With age, you realize certain things, and it comes out in your music. I’m trying to live life and put that all in my music.

DB: Are there images in your mind that you associate with the pieces? As you’re playing a certain piece, do you see certain imagery? Does a story unfold in your mind?

AV: Yeah, yeah— it happens a lot. Like, for example, if I’m learning a new piece, I will imagine certain things— a story or a picture—something that reminds me, a venue or a certain thing that happened to me. It’s like a memory. Sometimes that happens when I perform, I just have, like, pictures in my head. Yeah, it happens, but it’s very rare. Because when you perform, you’re just very concentrated on the music. You’re music doesn’t wander around, it’s all about the notes, the music. But when it happens, it’s very precious, you know?

DB: So it’s not very common.

AV: It’s not very common. Like, when I practice, I’ll do that. But on the stage it’s a different thing. You have to be really into the music, really concentrated.

DB: Are you feeling the emotions of the music as you’re playing? Does it effect you?

AV: It’s all there in the music. Many times I’ve found myself, after the concert, just being sort of drained. All the feelings come out, because music is all about who you are and what you’ve been through in your life. It’s not just about the notes. That aspect is very important.

DB: Do you have a favorite part of the world where you like to play?

AV: I always try to put out the same effort and approach every venue the same way. Yes, there are places where I felt a really good connection with the audience and all that. I perform in Europe a lot: France, Italy, England. It’s sort of different the way audience approaches you than here in the states. Here, they’re very warm and they expect a lot. But there is a point when you reach the connection with an audience. It’s very moving. That’s a successful concert.

DB: Are you working on a new CD?

AV: I am, actually. We’re doing something right now. We’re recording very much and so it should be done quite soon. We’re going to have a different style of music there, a little bit of everything— baroque, romantic, modern and contemporary.

DB: Do you compose?

AV: I tried. (Laughs sweetly.) I try, but it doesn’t really come out very well. You know, I think maybe one day I’ll just spend more time writing. You also need a lot of experience for that. It’s also a process, so I think that the experience of performing helps a lot— just to make the music. I get inspired sometimes, I want to write, but you kind of have to focus on that. Maybe one day, I don’t know. I don’t want people to...you know...put earplugs in their ears when they hear my music. (Laughs.)

DB: You’re going to stick with the well known stuff for now.

AV: I think so. I think I’m going to stick with performing. It’s kind of what I like to do, and I feel comfortable doing it. When I feel ready, I’ll write.

DB: Being on the road so much, do you have time for friends and family?

AV: Well, I try to have enough time. I have a lot of good friends in Baltimore, and my boyfriend’s there. My family’s in Croatia, though. My friends in Baltimore, I always take time to hang out with them. It’s so much fun to be with them. We do simple things like go out, go to movies or shopping or whatever. Those are very precious moments. Whenever I have a free moment, I’ll call my friends and we’ll go out. When I’m on the road, I talk to them on the phone, so my phone bill is pretty bad.

DB: What’s the last movie that you saw?

AV: “Cellular.” It’s a new movie with Kim Basinger.

DB: Did you like it?

AV: It was a pretty good movie. Lots of suspense and all that. We always disagree on which movie to see. Everybody wants to see something else. So we said, “Let’s just go see ‘Cellular.’ Whatever!” It was okay. It was fun. With your friends, it’s fun.

DB: Did you see Lord Of The Rings?

AV: Actually, no. I’ve seen the last Harry Potter movie. Actually, not the last one— the second one. I usually don’t watch Harry Potter, but my boyfriend likes Harry Potter, so I watched it with him.

DB: The second one’s interesting, because it has Alexander Putin in it, as Dobby The House Elf.

AV: I thought the second one was better than the first.

DB: How are things in Croatia?

AV: Things are fine. Things are better. I went there this June for a month. I was there in the summertime and saw friends. It was a lot of fun. It was too short, though. But enough, you know? I think things are getting better— after what had happened there, the war and all that. At some point, it was really bad, especially in 1991. We had a lot of fighting going on. It was pretty bad, but it’s over, finally. Nine years, it never really goes away completely. People feel bad about it, but we’re going to get there again.

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