A Christmas concert like no other in Croatia from windows in Vinkovci

(Photo credit: Lokka/Source: Glazbena škola Josipa Runjanina Vinkovci)

Over 150 musicians will take part in a Christmas concert in the eastern city of Vinkovci like no other in Croatia.

The unique Christmas carol concert of the orchestra and choir of the Vinkovci Josip Runjanin Music School from the windows of the gymnasium, is the most attended event of the Bosut Advent and will take place on December 17 at 7:00 PM.

For the tenth consecutive year, young musicians bring an almost angelic sense of Christmas with their performance, giving the city a touch of a major world metropolis during Advent.

(Photo credit: Lokka/Source: Glazbena škola Josipa Runjanina Vinkovci)

The Christmas concert from the windows of the gymnasium, attractive in performance and visually impressive, is the result of successful collaboration between the school, parents, students, and teachers, without which it would not be possible to realise. 

It is a project that is meticulously prepared months in advance and becomes more ambitious every year. The program gets richer every year, and this year there are over 150 participants will take part.

(Photo credit: Lokka/Source: Glazbena škola Josipa Runjanina Vinkovci)

The Christmas repertoire was prepared by five conductors, with maestro Tomislav Majačić, a tambourine professor, leading.

This year, through the mixed orchestra and choirs of the music school and former and current students, over 150 participants are expected at the windows of the Gymnasium under the baton of maestro Dario Glavaš. 

This concert, eagerly awaited by the people of Vinkovci, is the most significant and special content of the Vinkovci Advent.

Vinkovci are rightfully proud of their Music School, which includes a music kindergarten, elementary, and high school, but they are also proud of their distinguished fellow citizen Josip Runjanin, whose name the school carries. 

(Photo credit: Lokka/Source: Glazbena škola Josipa Runjanina Vinkovci)

Josip Runjanin, a native of Vinkovci, was a Croatian composer and officer in the Austro-Hungarian army who set the song “Horvatska domovina” by Antun Mihanović to music, which was declared the Croatian anthem in 1891 under the title “Lijepa naša domovino.”

Young musicians who are growing under the guidance of the professors of the Josip Runjanin Music School, through the Christmas concert from the windows of the gymnasium, and other unique musical projects that enrich the city, spread the word about the school. They also preserve the memory of Runjanin in the best possible way and maintain Vinkovci’s status as a city of music.

It is interesting how some have tried to copy this Vinkovci Christmas concert, but they have not penetrated the secret of how to successfully organise it. Therefore, the Christmas concert from the windows of the gymnasium continues to be the magical specialty of Vinkovci Advent.