Dunja Knebl, a leading Croatian folk singer, is going to perform in South Africa next week.
She was born in Zagreb but in addition to her homeland Croatia, she lived in the US, Indonesia and Russia.
Though she started singing and performing early in her life, music was just a hobby until she discovered that many traditional Croatian folk songs were no longer sung in her birth country. She began her professional performing career in 1993.
Dunja has been a leading force of the Croatian ethno music revival since the '90s.
Born and bred in the city, she has popularised traditional folk music among young urban Croats.
She loves the old songs, arranges them for voice and guitar, and then records them with the help of multi-instrumentalists.
Dunja has mentored many folk singers and groups and has performed and recorded with almost all of the leading folk singers and performers in her homeland.
The core of Dunja's repertory are the characteristically sweetly sad songs from northwestern Croatia, sung in an old dialect.
Her wide repertory includes several hundred Croatian folks songs in addition to songs from elsewhere.
She has performed in a number of countries, including the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Slovenia, and the UK.
This is the first time, though, that Dunja will sing on the African continent.
The 1999 edition of the World Music - the Rough Guide recommends her album, Iz globline srca (From the Bottom of My Heart).
Knebl will perform in Pretoria at the State Theatre, Rendezvous Theatre on Saturday, November 25 at 7pm. Tickets are available at R30 from the Embassy of Croatia. Tel: Mr Raos on 012-342-1206 or 072-302-4103, or at Computicket.
Her next performance will be in Johannesburg, on Wednesday, November 29 at The Blues Room, Village Walk, Sandton, from about 8.30pm. Entrance is R60. Bookings can be done through The Blues Room on 011-784-5527 or see www.bluesroom.co.za - Tonight Reporter