What's Klapa? A tutorial and workshop Mario

Would you like to learn about the traditional a cappella singing of Croatia through a great maestro from the little island of Trogir on the Dalmatian Coast?

Click the booking button and you'll receive an email with a link to an audio and PDF file with Mario Markovina BOOK NOW 

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Like many people (in the majority of the world) working in the arts, Mario is unable to get out and perform or teach and so is without income. If you would like to contribute to him in exchange for his tutorial please click here >>

What's Klapa?

It's an integral part of life in Croatia. As Wikipedia states: The word klapa translates as "a group of friends" and traces its roots to littoral church singing. The motifs in general celebrate love, wine (grapes), country (homeland) and sea. Main elements of the music are harmony and melody, with rhythm very rarely being very important. In 2012 klapa was inscribed in UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.Back in 2017 on our first Singing and Sailing trip in Croatia with Stuart Davis, we were fortunate to hear a wonderful local 'Klapa' group that really stood out. Apart from singing these gorgeous romantic Dalmatian songs about the life on the islands, this group sang songs from the hinterland that were completely different and recognisably Balkan music as I knew it with nasal sounds. But what really struck me that night was how some songs were so familiar and sounded like the sounds of pacific islander music... I closed my eyes and listened, although the words were Croatian, the sounds transported me to Samoa. That got me chatting with their lead singer and director Mario Markovina.

Mario impressed me greatly with his velvety rich baritone voice and chatting to him I found he has extensive knowledge of music as an ethnomusicologist. Soon after meeting him I was to discover that he is well known and is highly respected amongst many 'klapa groups along the Dalmatian Coast and a true 'maestro', above all, he is a delightful and charming person. It was an obvious choice to invite Mario to teach us some Croatian songs for our Singing and Sailing in 2019.

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