MAIN CONCERT PROGRAMME - Serbian National Theatre - Saturday, 17th November 2012.
HARRI STOJKA BAND
 HARRI STOJKA – guitar
JELENA KRSTIĆ – vocals
CLAUDIUS JELINEK – guitar
PETER STRUTZENBERGER – bass
HEIMO WIEDERHOFER – drums
TURGAY UÇAR – goblet drum
HARRI STOJKA
Harri Stojka is an Austrian composer and musician of Roma origin. He got his first small guitar from his father at the age of six. It was not long before he got his second present, another guitar from his father which went together with a piece of advice: "You must practice all the time. Practice until the guitar starts letting out smoking." Soon after that, Harri said to his father, "Dad, I practice, and I practice, but there is no smoke coming anywhere?!" This is the attitude Harri has preserved for another forty years, and the music by virtuosos such as Pet Martino, Georg Benson, Joe Pass and more that anyone by Django Reinhardt took care of his motivation. Harri’s musical career started in 1970, with the band Jano+ Harri Stojka at the Viennese Arena. Harri started playing the bass in the band "Gipsy Love" with Karl Ratzer, and the guitar in the band "Wolf’s Objektiv Truth Orchestra" with Perer Wolfs. After the split-up with the band, Harri founded his own band "Harri Stojka Express", the only Austrian band to share the stage with Jimmi Cliff, Eric Burden, Van Morrison and Carlos Santana at the Open Air Festival at the Viennese Prater Stadium. A number of invitations for engagements followed soon after, among which are the Montreux Festival, the jazz musicians’ ‘Mecca’.  At the Montreux Festival he appeared with Larry Coryell within the "Guitar- Summit". The ovations and great critical acclaim from the Montreu Festival placed Harri among the leading Austria’s jazz musicians. Harri has had performances all over the world, in every country of Europe, and at a number of festivals, such as: Montreux Jazz Festival, where he gave two concerts at the audience’s request, Kahmoro Festival, Sziget Festival in Budapest, Django Reinhardt - Memorial Festival in Augsburg, Graz Jazz Festival, Salzburg Jazz Festival, Jakarta Jazz Festival, Yogyakarta Jazz Festival where he was the King’s guest. During his Indian tour which lasted for a month, a documentary film was made about Harri entitled "Gipsy Spirit- Harri Stojka, a Journey" which received Austrian ROMY in 2011 as Best Documentary (www.gypsyspirit.at). Harri’s musical philosophy is to simply enjoy the music and playing. Although there is a rich discography behind him, live performances take priority in his artistic activities.
www.harristojka.at
JELENA KRSTIĆ
Jelena was born in 1980 in Kovin. She comes from a musical family, so it came as no surprise that her musical education started at the age of three. At the age of four, she already had her first public appearance. After the primary music school in Smederevo, she continued her education in Belgrade at the Music High School (theory of music and singing). 1999 saw her taking a more decisive step in her love for music when she started studying at the prestigious Music Academy in Graz, Department of Singing. Upon graduating from the Graz Academy in 2002 she took her studies further to the Music Conservatorium of Vienna, Department of Composition and Theory of Music, graduating in 2007.
Thanks to her vocal abilities and unique stage appearance, Jelena is considered one of the most valued artists of the Austrian scene today. She proved it when, in 2005, she won the competition for the best Austrian singer THE VOICE. Jelena participated in a number of theatrical productions in Vienna and Graz. She has performed in New York, Washington, the Caribbean, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Serbia and other countries.
Her successful collaboration with Harri Stojka started in 2008.
www.jelenakrstic.com
CLAUDIUS JELINEK
Claudius graduated in 1983 from the Viennese Conservatoire, Department of Jazz Guitar, and the same year he started teaching guitar at the Viennese Conservatoire "Prayner". In 1988 he went to teach at the Music High School Bruck/Leitha, where he still works. During his career he has performed with a number of Austrian musicians in their early formations, as well as in the theatre: Harri Stojka, "Good News" project with the violin player Rudi Berger, Mario Lima, Soul-Project with Christian Radovan and Bumi Fian, and many others.
www.myspace.com/claudiusjelinek
PETER STRUTZENBERGER
Peter was born in Vienna in 1957. He showed interest and talent for music at an early age by producing sounds and playing on all possible household objects. Through the guitar, he came to E-bass, and the transition from electrical bass to double bass didn’t take long. Since his days at the Music University of Vienna and after the graduation his reference list has been extended with names such as Axel Zwingenberger, Big Jay Mc Neely, Red Holloway, Hank Thompson, Larry Garner, Dana Gillespie, and Howard Alden among others.
www.strutzi.net
HEIMO WIEDERHOFER
Heimo graduated from the prestigious Music Academy in Graz, Department of Jazz and Classical Music, in class of Manfred Josel, Kurt Hammer, August Zebla and Gerald From. During his successful musical career, he has shared the stage with Sheila Jordan, Albert Mangelsdorff, Bill Dobbins, Jimmy Knepper, Ron McClure, Marc Murphy, Andy Bey, Jarmo Savolainen, Phil Markowitz, Ed Neumeister, Karl Ratzer, Gustavo Bergalli, Fritz Pauer, Steve Gut, and Boško Petrović among others. The tours have taken him all over the world and to various international jazz festivals from India through Belgium, Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, England, Malta and Poland, to Cuba, South Africa, Germany, Austria and former Yugoslavia.
www.myspace.com/heimowiederhofer
TURGAY UÇAR
Turgay, a Roma musician of Turkish origin, took up the clarinet at the age of nine, following the wishes of his father, who was also a musician. Back in 1991, the talented teenager performed with various famous Turkish artists throughout Turkey. A European tour in 2003 took him to Vienna where he stayed, living and working with Austrian musicians such as Harri Stojka, Alexander Wladigerof, Mansur Bildik, Südbahnhof, Fatima Spar, Kadero Rai and Özlem Bulut. In 2008 he was awarded the prestigious Austrian "World Music Preis" with Kadero Rai and Özlem Bulut.
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