PETAR ČULIĆ – Croatian classical guitarist, teacher and composer
- played more than thousand performances on six continents in more than thirty countries in centres such as Washington, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Cairo, London, Paris, Sao Paulo, Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, Bogota, Vienna, Perth, Brussels, Brasilia, Rome, New York and Madrid. At the European Week in Brazil in 2018, he represented the European Union and Croatia, and he also performed at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg (France) in 2019.
- 11 of the world’s well known classical guitar composers dedicated a composition to him, and the premiere of all 11 compositions was in August 2020 at the international festival “Omiš Guitar Fest”. The composers who participated in the project are Sergio Assad, Dušan Bogdanović, Angelo Gilardino, Ernesto Cordero, Štepan Rak, Vojislav Ivanović, Gerard Drozd, Stephen Goss, Francis Kleynjans, Atanas Ourkouzounov, and Jaime M. Zenamon.
- played as a soloist with the Rheinische Philharmonie, the Claudio Santoro National Theatre Symphony Orchestra in Brasilia, the Camerata Antiqua de Curitiba, the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, Croatian Musical Youth Chamber String Orchestra, CNT Split orchestra and others.
- won more than 30 first prizes on national and international competitions
- artistic associate at the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek
- His students have won more than 300 prizes at national and international competitions, including numerous first places.
- He was a Croatian member of the jury at the international competition of young musicians of all instruments – Virtuosos V4+. Together with maestro Placido Domingo, he personally made the decision on who of the Croatian contestants would enter the finals, and that was a TV show that has reached 70 million viewers last year, and this year the guest country was Croatia.
CONTACT INFO:
Petar Čulić
Split, Croatia
infopetarculic@gmail.com
Social Links:
BIOGRAPHY
Petar Čulić was born on 26 June 1986 in Split. He started learning the guitar at the age of seven, and his first teacher was Neno Munitić. He graduated from “Lovro pl. Matačić” Elementary School of Music in Omiš, and after finishing the third grade of “Josip Hatze” Secondary School of Music in Split in the class of prof. Anđela Jerkunica, enrolled at the Academy of Arts, University of Split in the class of prof. Goran Listeš. He enrolled as an “especially gifted” student before graduating from secondary school. He received his master’s degree in July 2008. He won two rector’s awards in the academic year 2005/2006 – for outstanding results achieved during studies and for outstanding artistic achievements. Upon completion of his studies, he received a commendation from the dean for the outstanding results achieved during his studies. He continued his education at the postgraduate study in Koblenz (Germany) at the private academy “Koblenz International Guitar Academy” in the class of prof. Hubert Käppel, and graduated in May 2010 with the highest success, a grade of 1.0, earning a degree of a concert soloist.
At the age of twelve, he started playing solo recitals, and at the same age, he had his first performance as a soloist with an orchestra. He has more than a thousand performances on six continents in more than thirty countries in centres such as Washington, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Cairo, London, Paris, Sao Paulo, Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, Bogota, Vienna, Perth, Brussels, Brazil, Cali, Curitiba, Athens, Rome, New York, and Doha. He has played as a soloist with the Rheinische Philharmonie, the Claudio Santoro National Theatre Symphony Orchestra in Brasilia, the Camerata Antiqua de Curitiba, the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber String Orchestra of the Croatian Musical Youth, the Croatian National Theatre in Split Orchestra, and others. He has collaborated with esteemed conductors Claudio Cohen and Fernando Cordella, and has also performed in prestigious halls such as the Cairo Opera House (Cairo, Egypt), the Palais Ehrbar (Vienna, Austria), the Assembly House (Norwich, UK) and the Capela Santa Maria (Curitiba, Brazil). At the European Week in Brazil in 2018, he represented the European Union and Croatia, and he also performed at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg (France) in 2019.
He has won five first prizes at national competitions as a soloist and three first prizes as a member of chamber ensembles. In addition to winning prizes at all prestigious international competitions for young guitarists in the late nineties (“Andreas Segovia”, Velbert, Germany; “Ana Amalia”, Weimar, Germany; “Kutna Hora”, Kutna Hora, Czech Republic, “Simone Salmaso”, Viareggio, Italy), he has also won approximately twenty prizes at international competitions that had no age limit, most significant of them are first places at the “Gitarrenfestival Gevelsberg” (Gevelsberg, Germany, 2013), “Winter Guitar Festival” (Volos, Greece, 2007) and “Nikšić Guitar Fest” (Nikšić, Montenegro, 2010). He is the only Croatian representative who won during the ten years of “Omiš Guitar Fest” (2013). He is the winner of a series of concerts by young musicians “Maestro Vinko Lesić 2013/2014” and guitar competition “Ivan Padovec” held in 2005 in Zagreb.
He has been an artistic associate at the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek starting from the academic year 2020/2021. He started teaching guitar at “Lovro pl. Matačić” Elementary School of Music in Omiš in 2003 as a high school graduate, and he still teaches at the same school today. He also worked for a while at “Boris Papandopulo” Private Elementary School of Music, “Josip Hatze” School of Music in Split and “Makarska” School of Music in Makarska. So far, his students have won more than 250 prizes at national and international competitions, including numerous first places. He has won three Oscar of Knowledge awards.
He won the award for mentorship by the City of Omiš in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, and 2021, the award of Split-Dalmatia County prefect for the most successful mentors at national competitions in 2021, and the annual award of Dugi Rat Municipality for outstanding achievements in the field of music and cultural creation. He successfully passed the professional exam in 2012 and the mentoring exam in 2018. He holds master classes, and is a member of judging panels at competitions in Croatia and abroad.
In the foyer of the Croatian National Theatre in Split on 16 May 2005, he held a guitar recital and promoted his first musical record. In 2012, he recorded an album with Cantores Maruli vocal group, the late actor Zlatko Crnković and a poet Marina Čapalija as part of “The Story of Marko Marulić” project, as a musical-scenic story about the life and work of Marko Marulić. In November 2014, he released his second solo CD with 12 original compositions (published by Menart), and the promotion took place at the Croatian Music Institute in Zagreb on November 13, 2014.
He participated as an active participant in master classes led by Pepe Romero, Darko Petrinjak, Zoran Dukić, Goran Listeš, Lorenzo Micheli, Fabio Zanon, Judicael Perroy, Marcin Dylla, William Kanengiser, Scott Tennant, John Dearman, Matthew Greif, Pavel Steidl, Aniello Desiderio, Carlo Marchione, Tilman Hoppstock, Costas Cotsiolis, Marco Tamayo, Denis Azabagic, Ana Vidovic, Jaime M. Zenamon, Alexis Muzurakis, Goran Krivokapic, Predrag Stanković, Darko Karajić, Rafael Aguirre, Ramon Carnota Mendez, and many others.
In a new project, 11 of the world’s greatest classical guitar composers dedicated a composition to him, and the premiere of all 11 compositions was in August 2020 at the international festival “Omiš Guitar Fest”. Those were 10 new compositions and 1 remake of a composition that was originally written for a trio (cello and 2 guitars). The composers who participated in the project are Sergio Assad, Dušan Bogdanović, Angelo Gilardino, Ernesto Cordero, Štepan Rak, Vojislav Ivanović, Gerard Drozd, Stephen Goss, Francis Kleynjans, Atanas Ourkouzounov, and Jaime M. Zenamon. A French composer Colette Mourey composed three compositions for solo guitar as Hommage ä Petar Čulić (Sonata Appassionata, Toccatina Barbaresca, Variations Sérieuses).
He was a Croatian member of the jury at the international competition of young musicians of all instruments – Virtuosos V4+. Together with maestro Placido Domingo, he personally made the decision on who of the Croatian contestants would enter the finals, and that was a TV show that has reached 70 million viewers last year, and this year the guest country was Croatia. The show will soon be broadcast on the Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT 1) and on several TV stations across Europe.
From the very beginning of his guitar education, he has also been involved in composing, and he found the first major inspiration for composing in “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. In “Lovro pl. Matačić” edition he published a book with his 70 compositions, 50 compositions for the youngest, 15 compositions for soloists and 5 compositions for chamber ensembles with the guitar. Petar Čulić is an official representative of D’Addario strings, and plays a guitar by Leonardo de Gregorio.
CROATIAN – Životopis
Petar Čulić rođen je 26. lipnja 1986. godine u Splitu. Gitaru je počeo učiti sa sedam godina, a prvi učitelj mu je bio Neno Munitić. Završio je osnovnu glazbenu školu „Lovro pl. Matačić“ u Omišu, a nakon završenog trećeg razreda srednje glazbene škole „Josip Hatze“ u Splitu u klasi prof. Anđele Jerkunice, upisao je Umjetničku akademiju Sveučilišta u Splitu u klasi prof. Gorana Listeša. Studij je upisao u kvoti „posebno nadareni“ prije završene srednje škole. Magistrirao je u srpnju 2008. godine. Dobitnik je dviju rektorovih nagrada u akademskoj godini 2005./2006. – za izvanredne rezultate postignute tijekom studija te za izuzetna umjetnička ostvarenja. Na završetku studija dobio je pohvalnicu od dekana za izvanredne rezultate postignute tijekom studija. Školovanje nastavlja na poslijediplomskom studiju u Koblenzu (u Njemačkoj) na privatnoj akademiji „Koblenz International Guitar Academy“ u klasi prof. Huberta Käppela, a završava ga u svibnju 2010. godine s najboljim uspjehom, ocjenom 1.0, dobivši diplomu koncertnog solista.
Solističke recitale počeo je svirati od svoje dvanaeste godine, a tada je također bio i njegov prvi nastup kao solist s orkestrom. Broji više od tisuću nastupa na 6 kontinenata u više od 30 država u centrima poput Washingtona, Sydneya, Buenos Airesa, Kaira, Londona, Pariza, Sao Paula, Melbourna, Rio de Janeira, Bogote, Beča, Pertha, Bruxellesa, Brasilije, Calija, Curitibe, Atene, Rima, New Yorka i Dohe. Svirao je kao solist s Rheinische Philharmonie, Simfonijskim orkestrom Nacionalnog kazališta Claudio Santoro u Brasiliji, Camerata Antiqua de Curitiba, Simfonijskim orkestrom Crne Gore, Komornim gudačkim orkestrom Hrvatske glazbene mladeži, Orkestrom HNK Split i drugima. Surađivao je s cijenjenim dirigentima Claudiom Cohenom i Fernandom Cordellom, te nastupio u prestižnim dvoranama poput Cairo Opera House (Kairo, Egipat), Palais Ehrbar (Beč, Austrija), Assembly House (Norwich, Velika Britanija) i Capela Santa Maria (Curitiba, Brazil). Na tjednu Europe u Brazilu 2018. godine predstavljao je Europsku uniju i Hrvatsku, a nastupio je i u Vijeću Europe u Strasbourgu (Francuska) 2019. godine.
Na državnim je natjecanjima osvojio pet prvih nagrada kao solist te tri prve nagrade kao član komornih sastava. Osim što je osvojio nagrade na svim prestižnijim međunarodnim natjecanjima za mlađe gitariste krajem devedesetih („Andreas Segovia“, Velbert, Njemačka; „Ana Amalia“, Weimar, Njemačka; „Kutna Hora“, Kutna Hora, Češka Republika, „Simone Salmaso“, Viareggio, Italija), osvojio je dvadesetak nagrada na međunarodnim natjecanjima bez starosne granice od kojih izdvajamo prva mjesta na „Gitarrenfestival Gevelsberg“ (Gevelsberg, Njemačka, 2013.), „Winter Guitar Festival“ (Volos, Grčka, 2007.) i „Nikšić Guitar Fest“ (Nikšić, Crna Gora, 2010.). Jedini je hrvatski predstavnik koji je pobijedio u 10 godina održavanja Omiš Guitar Festa (2013.). Pobjednik je i ciklusa koncerata mladih glazbenika mo. Vinko Lesić 2013./2014. te gitarističkog natjecanja Ivan Padovec održanog 2005. godine u Zagrebu.
Umjetnički je suradnik na Akademiji za umjetnost i kulturu u Osijeku od akademske godine 2020./2021. Gitaru je počeo predavati u glazbenoj školi „Lovro pl. Matačić“ u Omišu još 2003. godine kao maturant, a u istoj školi predaje i danas. Radio je jedno vrijeme i u POGŠ „Boris Papandopulo“, GŠ „Josip Hatze“ Split i GŠ „Makarska“ u Makarskoj. Na državnim i međunarodnim natjecanjima njegovi učenici su do sada osvojili više od 250 nagrada, među kojima su i brojna prva mjesta.
Dobitnik je priznanja za mentorski rad od strane Grada Omiša 2016., 2017., 2019., 2020. i 2021. godine, zatim priznanja župana Splitsko-dalmatinske županije za najuspješnije mentore na državnim natjecanjima u 2021. godini, te godišnje nagrade Općine Dugi Rat za izvanredna postignuća na području glazbenog i kulturnog stvaralaštva. Stručni ispit je s uspjehom položio 2012. godine, a mentorski ispit 2018. godine. Održava majstorske radionice, te je član ocjenjivačkih vijeća na natjecanjima u Hrvatskoj i inozemstvu.
U foajeu Hrvatskog narodnog kazališta u Splitu 16. svibnja 2005. održao je gitaristički recital i promovirao svoj prvi nosač zvuka. 2012. godine snimio je nosač zvuka s vokalnim sastavom Cantores Maruli, pokojnim glumcem Zlatkom Crnkovićem i pjesnikinjom Marinom Čapalijom u sklopu projekta „Priča o Marku Maruliću“, kao glazbeno-scensku priču o životu i djelu Marka Marulića. U studenom 2014. godine izdao je svoj drugi solo CD s 12 autorskih skladbi (izdavač je Menart), a promocija se održala u Hrvatskom glazbenom zavodu u Zagrebu 13. studenog 2014. godine.
Sudjelovao je kao aktivni sudionik na majstorskim tečajevima koje su vodili Pepe Romero, Darko Petrinjak, Zoran Dukić, Goran Listeš, Lorenzo Micheli, Fabio Zanon, Judicael Perroy, Marcin Dylla, William Kanengiser, Scott Tennant, John Dearman, Matthew Greif, Pavel Steidl, Aniello Desiderio, Carlo Marchione, Tilman Hoppstock, Costas Cotsiolis, Marco Tamayo, Denis Azabagić, Ana Vidović, Jaime M. Zenamon, Alexis Muzurakis, Goran Krivokapić, Predrag Stanković, Darko Karajić, Rafael Aguirre, Ramon Carnota Mendez i mnogi drugi.
U novom projektu mu je 11 ponajvećih skladatelja svijeta za klasičnu gitaru posvetilo skladbu, a praizvedba svih 11 skladbi bila je u kolovozu 2020. godine na međunarodnom festivalu „Omiš Guitar Fest“. Radi se o 10 novih skladbi i jednoj obradi skladbe koja je u originalu napisana za trio (violončelo i 2 gitare). To su redom: Sergio Assad, Dušan Bogdanović, Angelo Gilardino, Ernesto Cordero, Štepan Rak, Vojislav Ivanović, Gerard Drozd, Stephen Goss, Francis Kleynjans, Atanas Ourkouzounov i Jaime M. Zenamon. Francuska skladateljica Colette Mourey skladala je tri skladbe za solo gitaru kao Hommage ä Petar Čulić (Sonata Appassionata, Toccatina Barbaresca, Variations Sérieuses).
Bio je hrvatski član žirija na međunarodnom natjecanju mladih glazbenika svih instrumenata – Virtuosos V4+. Odlučivao je osobno s maestrom Placidom Domingom o tome tko će proći u finale od hrvatskih natjecatelja, a radi se o TV showu koji je u prošloj sezoni imao doseg od 70 milijuna gledatelja, a ove godine je država gost bila Hrvatska. Uskoro će se emitirati na HRT 1 i na više TV postaja diljem Europe.
Od samih početaka gitarističkog školovanja bavi se i skladanjem, a prvu veću inspiraciju za skladanje našao je u knjizi „Mali princ“ književnika Antoinea de Saint-Exupéryja. U izdanju edicije „Lovro pl. Matačić“ objavio je knjigu sa svojih 70 skladbi i to 50 skladbi za najmlađe, 20 skladbi za soliste i 5 skladbi za komorne sastave s gitarom. Petar Čulić je službeni predstavnik D’Addario žica, te svira na gitari Leonarda de Gregoria.
