JANE Ensemble was founded in 2004 in Velika Gorica, a town near Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.
The group has 25 members, including tamburitza players who accompany the singers on traditional Croatian instruments. Most of the members are female singers who have been active for many years in several amateur folklore ensembles of the Turopolje region (area around the city of Velika Gorica with a rich folklore tradition), while several girls gained their singing experience in various choirs from Zagreb County.
Songs in their repertoire encompass entire Croatia, and their interpretation emphasizes the great variety and wealth of traditional music expression of their homeland. They show great love and enthusiasm for Croatian cultural heritage and aim to protect traditional folk and church songs from oblivion. The group also performs more recent songs, written by the most eminent music composers of Croatia.
The person deserving the most credit for all of JANE’s success is Mr. Ivan Potočnik, their mentor through all these years, composer and arranger, and a specialist in Croatian folk music.
The group is also led by Alina Haramincic, the group’s president, and all organizational needs, as well as group manager, handled by Danijel Skrbin. Conductor of the JANE Ensemble is Ms. Ana Jaklinović.
The overall impression about the vocal-instrumental group JANE is that their music and appearance make them a distinctive young ensemble that, guided by the love they feel for their homeland, are trying to promote all its beauties, both in the country and to the rest of the world.
JANE proudly present Croatian customs all around the world. Their quality has been recognized by various traditional music specialists and earned JANE remarkable achievements, honors and awards in international and national competitions:
- 2006. Llangollen (Wales) – Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod festival – SILVER MEDAL
- 2007. Barcelona (Spain) – Folksong Choir Festival ‘Europe And Its Songs’ – SILVER MEDAL
- 2008. Graz (Austria) – 5th World Choir Games – GOLD PLAQUE and SILVER MEDAL
- 2008. Ohrid (Macedonia) – Ohrid Choir Festival 2008 – GOLD MEDAL /Winner of the category/ and SILVER MEDAL /Grand prix/
- 2009. Prague (Czech Republic) – 23. Praga Cantat – 2 GOLD MEDALS
- 2010. Shaoxing (China) – 6th World Choir Games – SILVER MEDAL
- 2010. Zagreb (Croatia) – 10th Choir Competition – GOLD MEDAL /Winner of the category/
- 2012. Cincinnati (USA) – 7th World Choir Games – SILVER MEDAL
- 2013. Bratislava (Slovakia) – Slovakia folk 2013 – GOLD MEDAL /A cappella category/ and GOLD MEDAL /Category with instrumental accompaniment/
- 2014. Riga (Latvia) – 8th World Choir Games – GOLD MEDAL
- 2015. Istanbul (Turkey) – 5th International Istanbul Chorus Festival And Competition – BRONZE MEDAL
- 2016. Grado (Italy) – 8th Isola Del Sole International Choir Competition And Festival – GOLD MEDAL
- 2017. Colombo (Sri Lanka) – 4th Asia Pacific Choir Games 2017 – GOLD MEDAL /Grand prix of nations/Category Folklore with accompaniment/
- 2018. Tshwane (South Africa) – 10th Word Choir Games – GOLD MEDAL
- 2019. Batumi (Georgia) – International Folklore Festival Caucasus 2019 – GOLD PLAQUE
- 2022. Florence (Italy) – 4th Leonardo da Vinci International Choral Festival 2022 – SILVER PLAQUE /Grand prix/
