12. 07. – 20. 07. 2025.
ETHNO CROATIA
Ernesto Calderón Dondero /CHI/, Lucija Maroević /HR/
Ethno Croatia is a project of JMI where young people learn about traditional music from each other and with the help of mentors, deepening and expanding their knowledge of their own traditional musical culture as well as the heritage of other cultures represented in this international camp. By learning about the musical traditions of others, young people gain insights into equality, tolerance, and democracy.
Ethno Croatia is a Jeunesses Musicales International project, a music camp where young people learn about traditional music from one another and with the guidance of artistic mentors. They expand their knowledge of their own traditional musical culture and the heritage of other cultures whose representatives participate in this international camp. Through learning about the musical traditions of others, young people gain a deeper understanding of equality, tolerance, and democracy. The learning process at Ethno camps employs methodologies of informal music education, learning by ear, and peer-to-peer learning.
From July 12 to July 20, 2025, Ethno Croatia will bring together young musicians from around the world at the International Cultural Center of the Croatian Music Youth (HGM) in Grožnjan. After workshops filled with music, dance, and socializing, participants will have the opportunity to showcase their newly learned material to a wider audience, including a performance at the Jazz is Back - BP 2025 festival in Grožnjan.
We are proud to introduce this year’s artistic mentors: Ernesto Calderón Dondero (CHI) and Lucija Maroević (HR), outstanding and experienced musicians who will teach participants, assist them in learning, arranging, and creating music.
Ernesto Calderón Dondero was born in Valparaíso in 1984, and graduated from the Instituto de Música of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Chile, with a degree as a Music Teacher in 2006. Following his passion for Folk Music, in 2007, he lived in Scotland and studied accordion with folk musician Sandy Brechin. He continued his accordion studies in 2010 in Chile with Ignacio Hernandez and in 2011 in France with Frederic Deschamps. In 2016, he specialized in the “Rhythm with Signs” conducting method by studying with his creator, Santiago Vázquez, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He resumed these studies in 2022, also studying percussions and composing.
Ernesto has represented Chile as a performer and composer in the Folk Music Camps Ethno Scotland (2010), Ethno HistEria (Slovenia, 2011), Rila Music Exchange (Bulgaria, 2013), Ethno Croatia (2014), Ethno Flanders (2014), Ethno Germany (2014), and as an Artistic Mentor in TradInEtno (Croatia, 2015), Ethno Flanders (2015), Ethno India (2016), EthnoFonik (France, 2016), Ethno Croatia (2017), Ethno Denmark (2018). He was also the Music Coordinator in the first Ethno Mentors Think-up (Spain 2022), a Trainer at the Artistic Mentor Training (Greece 2023), as well as Artistic Mentor at Ethno Uganda and Ethno Solomon Islands (2024). Since 2015, he has been working as the Artistic Director of the International Folk Music Camp “Ethno Chile”, and in 2022, Ernesto joined the team of tutors in the Folk Music Camp “Burwell Bash” (2022), which has been running for around 30 years in Cambridgeshire, UK.
From 2012-2022 he worked as a composer and conductor with the Ensamble Transatlántico de Folk Chileno, a folk orchestra dedicated to composing and performing music based on folk rhythms present in the Chilean tradition. He worked intensively with the band, performing in Brazil, USA, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Croatia, the Czech Republic, UK, Denmark, Sweden, India, China, and Japan, giving concerts and workshops. During 2021-2022, he worked as a music teacher at the ARCOS Arts Institute in Viña del Mar, Chile, teaching the subjects of Conducting and Ensemble Music. His compositions, such as “Hoppa” and “El Gran Norte” have been played by many groups and ensembles worldwide. He has been a finalist twice in the Chilean National Contest of Composition “Luis Advis,” with the songs “Jallalla” (2013) and “Quema tus Naves” (2018).
Lucija Maroević was born in Zagreb, and has been involved in music since childhood, primarily singing in choirs. She studied Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology as well as German Language and Literature at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb. During her studies, she discovered the Ethno camp concept, with which she has actively worked for the past seven years.
Lucija has participated in several Ethno camps across Europe and beyond (Ethno Germany 2018, Ethno France 2019, Ethno Croatia 2019 and 2020, Ethno India 2020) and similar events (TradInEtno 2017-2019, Folktrepó 2018 and 2019, Crescendo: Music of Change 2019). In 2021, she attended Ethnofonik, a training program for artistic mentors.
Her musical work primarily focuses on preserving and reinterpreting traditional music through organizing and leading vocal workshops, working with Ethno and world music ensembles, and as the artistic director of the choir Domaćigosti. She is also the founder and artistic director of MVA Kitice. Since 2022, Lucija has been the organizer, project coordinator, and resident artistic mentor of Ethno Croatia, and since 2024, she has also served as the Co-Chair of the Ethno Committee under Jeunesses Musicales International.
GENERAL INFORMATION
The participation fee for seminar participants who register one month before the seminar starts is €390. The seminar fee for later registrations is €440. The participation fee includes the cost of meals and accommodation.
Application link: https://www.mubazar.com/en/opportunity/ethno-croatia-2025
Payments should be made to the bank account of HGM:
IBAN: HR 9424840081100792293 / OIB: 30457432092 / Reference number: 307
Your arrival is expected in the afternoon on July 12, 2025. If you do not have organized transportation to Grožnjan, the nearest locations accessible by public transport are Buje (bus line Zagreb-Buje) or the Ponte Porton stop (bus line Zagreb-Umag via Vižinada), where a vehicle from the Center will pick you up. For other destinations, a transportation fee may be required.
For bus schedules, we recommend checking the Obeo app: www.akz.hr/obeo-app/480
Upon arrival in Grožnjan, please report to the Center office. For registration, you will need to provide a passport or ID card, the original application form with your signature, and proof of payment. Accommodation is provided at the Center's premises, and you only need to bring personal items (towel, instrument, any necessary medication...).
Ethno Croatia is just one of many Ethno camps in the growing Ethno family under Jeunesses Musicales International.
For more details on other Ethno camps, visit: https://ethno.world/
Follow us on Facebook & Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/ethno_croatia/
https://www.facebook.com/people/Ethno-Croatia/100069739388786
For any questions, feel free to contact us at croatia@ethno.world.
For more info please contact: groznjan@hgm.hr