Stjepan Večković

I was born on 16 October in Zagreb. I spent my childhood in a place called Mihovljan in Croatian Zagorje, one of the last places in the world where, deep in the woods and hidden valleys, good fairies and forest dwarfs still live.

I have been painting and drawing since childhood. Even as a small boy I knew how to make pipes out of dandelion stems. During my high school days I played the clarinet in the brass band of Mihovljan. I then enrolled in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Zagreb. Toward the end of my higher education I began to paint intensively, completing about 100 oil paintings. Some of these works are in Australia, Denmark, Austria, Germany and the United States.

In 1991, I became a member of the Cultural and Artistic Association I. G. Kovačić, where for the first time I encountered old traditional Croatian instruments. Since 1995, I have been a member of the National Folk Ensemble LADO. Also in 1995, I began my collaboration with the ethno group LEGEN and Lidija Bajuk.

By playing old traditional Croatian instruments, I have travelled almost the entire world (Australia, New Zealand, India, South America, Mexico, USA, Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, France, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Malaysia, Japan, Columbia, etc.).

I have worked with many famous Croatian and foreign musicians. I also write short stories and articles on old instruments for a variety of magazines. I make and play almost all of the traditional Croatian wind instruments. In addition, I conduct seminars, folklore schools and workshops throughout Croatia and abroad. I have reconstructed and restored many instruments that have almost disappeared (duda, strančica, trstenica, gunge and others).

I won the award of the Croatian Music Union as the most prominent instrumentalist on traditional instruments in 2000 and in 2002. In
2003, I published my first solo CD titled ''The Wind that Touches the Reed''.

I represented Croatia at the Eurovision Song Contest for two consecutive years, in 2005 as a member of the team "Boris Novković Featuring Members of LADO" in Kiev and in 2006 as a member of the team of Severina Vučković in Athens.
I am the editor and head of the radio show, Hrvatsko Narodno Blago (Croatian National Treasure), which is broadcast live for five years, every Saturday between 8:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. on Croatian Catholic Radio (HKR).

I am the founder and leader of the Center for Croatian Traditional Instruments, the Croatian Bagpipe Orchestra, and the ethno group Vilingora.