Serious Ensemble Zagreb’s second program demonstrated a significant expansion of the ensemble’s artistic vision, emphasizing theatricality, improvisation, and interdisciplinary collaboration. The evening blurred the boundaries between concert and performance, combining live music with video, electronics, and staged elements to create an immersive, multi-sensory experience.

The program highlighted both emerging and established composers, exploring experimental and expressive sound worlds. Helena Skljarov’s Just Conductor opened the concert with a multimedia ensemble piece, while Dora Remenar’s Magic Mushrooms integrated soprano, ensemble, and actor to explore theatrical and sonic interplay. Croatian premieres and contemporary works by Jude Duane, Tamara Laverman, Juraj Marko Žerovnik, Krešimir Klarić, Bracha Bdil, and Nina Perović maintained a consistent dialogue between music, image, and performance, emphasizing improvisation, visual dramaturgy, and audience engagement.

The program reinforced SEZ’s evolving identity: not only as interpreters of contemporary music but as creators of collaborative, immersive experiences that invite reflection, dialogue, and heightened perception. The ensemble’s commitment to innovation, artistic risk, and integration of multiple art forms was evident throughout, marking a decisive step in defining its distinctive voice in the contemporary music landscape.

PROGRAM:

Helena Skljarov: Just Conductor – ensemble, video, and electronics

Dora Remenar: Magic Mushrooms – soprano, ensemble, and actor

Jude Duane: Numb – soprano and piano

Tamara Laverman: The Ravaged Earth – accordion, video, and electronics

Juraj Marko Žerovnik: Walk – ensemble

Krešimir Klarić: Five Balkan Meditations – ensemble and video

Bracha Bdil: The Inner Soul – soprano and piano

Nina Perović: Flood – ensemble, video, and electronics

Highlights