Klapa Šufit
Encyclopedia
Klapa Šufit is a cultural - artistic association from Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...

, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

.

It is a group of male singers who perform klapa
Klapa
The klapa music is a form of traditional Croatian a cappella singing . The word klapa translates as "a group of friends" and traces its roots to littoral church singing . The motifs in general celebrate love, wine , country and sea...

 music, a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...

 multi-part singing
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...

, in a special traditional way, typical for Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....

, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

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About Klapa Sufit

In the autumn of 1992 in the attic of Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...

’s 4th Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...

 "Marko Marulić", the young and talented music professor mr. Tomislav Versic gathered a group of students into a small vocal group, in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

  known as “klapa
Klapa
The klapa music is a form of traditional Croatian a cappella singing . The word klapa translates as "a group of friends" and traces its roots to littoral church singing . The motifs in general celebrate love, wine , country and sea...

”. (“Klapa” is a group of male or female singers who perform a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...

 multi-part singing, in a special way, typical for Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....

.)
They named themselves Šufit as they were practising in the school attic
Attic
An attic is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building . Attic is generally the American/Canadian reference to it...

 (Šufit is Croatian dialect for attic). A year and a half later, the students had their first successful appearance at the Festival of Dalmatian vocal groups in Omis, competing as the youngest male vocal group contestant in the history of that, the most important festival of klapa’s singing.

During the time, klapa Sufit has grown into a respectable musical body. Conducted by the experienced bard Dusko Tambaca, klapa Sufit has been nourishing and promoting the singing style of the old Split (the administrative and historical centre of Dalmatia). By its regular appearances at Festival in Omis, klapa reaches the peak of klapa’s singing (in 1999 Klapa won the third award by the votes of the audience). By the end of the same year, klapa Sufit recorded its first album “Good morning, sea”. The album was promoted on various concerts, where the most important of all was the concert in Croatian National Theatre in Split
Croatian National Theatre in Split
The Croatian National Theatre in Split is a theatre located in Split, Croatia. Originally opened in 1893, the theatre is owned and operated by the City of Split and is one of the oldest surviving theatres in Dalmatia.-History:...

, performed in front of the cameras of the national television, with great support of the audience and of the music critics.

Since 2006, klapa Sufit has been conducted by professor Jasminko Setka. Rarely seen synergy of such music pedagogue and conductor and the singers of klapa, brought the unique achievement in the history of klapa’s singing and contesting. Klapa Sufit becomes the absolute winner of the Festival in Omis three years in a row (in 2006, 2007 and in 2008), by the votes of the professional jury and by the votes of the audience. In 2009 klapa recorded its new CD ‘’Ponoc je mila moja majko’’ (It's midnight, my dear mother) with songs that have won many prizes.
Klapa Sufit has achieved success in solo performances in Croatia and abroad, in cooperation with other klapas or stage artists and in other music festivals.

Born in the attic of the highschool, singing the songs from the attic of their grandfathers, klapa has climbed to the top, the attic of Dalmatian traditional klapa’s singing.

Discography

  • The first studio album
    Album
    An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

     Dobro jutro more ("Good morning, sea") was recorded in 1999 and released under the minor local record label "BeSTMUSIC".

  • The second studio album Ponoć je mila moja majko ("It's midnight, my dear mother") was recorded in 2009 and released under the minor local record label "Scardona".
    • Track listing:
    1. Ponoc je, mila moja majko (It's midnight, my dear mother)
    2. Zeleni skoju, dobra duso (Green islet, kind soul)
    3. Spusta se noc (The night falls)
    4. Ruko moja, sto si takla (Hand of mine, her face you touch)
    5. Ako si jubo posla spat (If you have gone to sleep)
    6. Perusce besid (The story of leaves )
    7. Ja odlazin draga (I'm leaving my dear)
    8. Kljuc zivota (Key of life)
    9. Otka' te znam (Since I know you)
    10. Leute moj (My fishing Sloop)
    11. Tuzni snovi, bol prosjaka (sad dreams, the pain of the poor)

Members

During the years the members of the group have changed; since 2006 the members are the following:
  • Igor Jelaska - 1st tenor
    Tenor
    The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...

    ,
  • Jurica Nazlic - 2nd tenor,
  • Teo Bikic- 2nd tenor,
  • Ivan Bratincevic - baritone
    Baritone
    Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...

    ,
  • Kresimir Grgic - baritone,

  • Zvonimir Kovacic - baritone,
  • Nikola Akrap - I bass
    Bass (voice type)
    A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...

    ,
  • Bruno Vucica - I bass,
  • Teo Turk - II bass i
  • Zdeslav Misurac - II bass.

conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

: Jasminko Setka

Awards and acknowledgements

  • "Golden shield with historical emblem of the town Omiš" (2006, 2007, 2008) presented to the most successful vocal group according to the votes of the jury in the finals of the Festival of Dalmatian vocal groups in Omiš

  • "Golden Omiš sloop
    Sloop
    A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....

    " (2006, 2007, 2008) presented to the most successful vocal group according to the votes of the audience in the finals of the Dalmatian vocala groups in Omiš

  • "Golden cherries of Kaštela" (2009) awarded by the jury at the Festival of Dalmatian songs in Kaštela
    Kaštela
    Kaštela is a series of seven towns in central Dalmatia, located northwest of Split, west of Solin and east of Trogir, in Croatia. They are part of the Split-Dalmatia county and are treated as a single city with a population of 38,474 , although they are individually between 3,000 and 7,000...

    .

  • The award for the outstanding contribution in traditional dalmatian singing (2009), given by the Festival of Dalmatian vocal groups.

External links

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