Sections

Leader: Stjepan Juriša – Stjepan Juriša was born on September 11, 1956, and he began to live a folklore life in 1972 when he became a member of the KUD “Milica Križan”, where he is still an active member. He began his folklore work in KUD “Tena” in 2002 by taking over the leadership of two children’s ensembles – FE “Zvončići” and FE “Pčelice”. Special mention should be made of his work on restoring forgotten customs in Slavonian villages, the most important of which is the “babe i starci” custom in Vukojevci near Našice, where he (literally with his own hands) restored masks for the elderly and encouraged young people in the village to return to Vukojevci streets. Within his choreographic work, the following works should be highlighted: „Bijele koke s neba pale“, „Jedan krug jaje“, „Jedno jaje sladoled“, „Crvena kraljica jedan, dva, tri“ and „Hopa cupa skoči“.

Leader: Stjepan Juriša – Stjepan Juriša was born on September 11, 1956, and he began to live a folklore life in 1972 when he became a member of the KUD “Milica Križan”, where he is still an active member. He began his folklore work in KUD “Tena” in 2002 by taking over the leadership of two children’s ensembles – FE “Zvončići” and FE “Pčelice”. Special mention should be made of his work on restoring forgotten customs in Slavonian villages, the most important of which is the “babe i starci” custom in Vukojevci near Našice, where he (literally with his own hands) restored masks for the elderly and encouraged young people in the village to return to Vukojevci streets. Within his choreographic work, the following works should be highlighted: „Bijele koke s neba pale“, „Jedan krug jaje“, „Jedno jaje sladoled“, „Crvena kraljica jedan, dva, tri“ and „Hopa cupa skoči“.

Mentor: Ivana Nikšić. Ivana became a member of the “Tena” cultural and artistic group back in 1998 and since then she has gone through all the children’s sections to become a member of the “Slavonske kraljice” in 2002. From the very beginning, she has stood out as a budding singer and an exceptional vocalist. Nezna’s vocal performances at Tena’s concerts have left few people unprepared. Since 2009, she has become a significant member of the “ŽVS Đakovčanke”. After attending several Pannonian zone folklore seminars, she tried her hand as a leader of the “Veseli Šokci” cultural and artistic group from Punitovci. In 2022, she became the leader of the oldest children’s group, “Dukati”

Mentor: prof. dr. sc. Enrih Merdić. Enrih Merdić was born on December 30, 1962, and from the age of nine he began to spend his free time in cultural and artistic societies. He spent the most beautiful time of his youth in the KUD “Milica Križan” as an active dancer from 1971 to 1989. He got his first chance to pass on the folklore tradition to new members in 1981, and since then he has led KUDs in Josipovac, Ernestinovo, Čepin and Osijek (FE “Biseri Slavonije” and HKUD “Željezničar”). Since December 1985, he has been the artistic director and choreographer of RKUD “PIK Đakovo”, later renamed KUD “Tena” FE “Slavonske kraljice”. Along with leading, he is also engaged in choreographic work, for which he was educated at various seminars and folklore schools. The basic purpose of the whole school was to send candidates to the village to collect folklore material at the source. Thus, since 1986, Merdić has been intensively collecting folklore material from which a multitude of Slavonian and other choreographies have emerged, such as: „Kumova grana“, „Ajmo žito pokupiti pa ćemo kolo zaigrati“, „Savom vodom od Davora do Šamca“, „Slavonske kraljice“, „Baranjski svatovski adet“, „Zelen Juraj došal je“, „Posavčica od glave do pete“ and many others. Although most of his choreographies are performed in KUD “Tena”, he is often invited to share his choreographies with other societies. Only some of them are Strawberry Hill CFA, Kansas City, USA, Miroslav Krleža Fellbach, Germany and HKUD “Željezničar”, Osijek. His experience in working with cultural and artistic societies and field research work was recognized early on. He was a lecturer at the seminars of Croatian folklore in Zagreb in 1994, and in 1996 he was a permanent lecturer at the regional seminar of Slavonia, Baranja and Srijem. As a leader of good societies and a choreographer, he became a member of the Board of Directors of the Society of Folklore Leaders and Choreographers of Croatia.

Vocal Mentor: Mia Mandić mag. mus. She was born in 1994 in Široko Polje. She has a master’s degree in flute at the Academy of Music in Split. She has been working as a vocal leader since 2022.

Mentor: prof. dr. sc. Enrih Merdić. Enrih Merdić was born on December 30, 1962, and from the age of nine he began to spend his free time in cultural and artistic societies. He spent the most beautiful time of his youth in the KUD “Milica Križan” as an active dancer from 1971 to 1989. He got his first chance to pass on the folklore tradition to new members in 1981, and since then he has led KUDs in Josipovac, Ernestinovo, Čepin and Osijek (FE “Biseri Slavonije” and HKUD “Željezničar”). Since December 1985, he has been the artistic director and choreographer of RKUD “PIK Đakovo”, later renamed KUD “Tena” FE “Slavonske kraljice”. Along with leading, he is also engaged in choreographic work, for which he was educated at various seminars and folklore schools. The basic purpose of the whole school was to send candidates to the village to collect folklore material at the source. Thus, since 1986, Merdić has been intensively collecting folklore material from which a multitude of Slavonian and other choreographies have emerged, such as: „Kumova grana“, „Ajmo žito pokupiti pa ćemo kolo zaigrati“, „Savom vodom od Davora do Šamca“, „Slavonske kraljice“, „Baranjski svatovski adet“, „Zelen Juraj došal je“, „Posavčica od glave do pete“ and many others. Although most of his choreographies are performed in KUD “Tena”, he is often invited to share his choreographies with other societies. Only some of them are Strawberry Hill CFA, Kansas City, USA, Miroslav Krleža Fellbach, Germany and HKUD “Željezničar”, Osijek. His experience in working with cultural and artistic societies and field research work was recognized early on. He was a lecturer at the seminars of Croatian folklore in Zagreb in 1994, and in 1996 he was a permanent lecturer at the regional seminar of Slavonia, Baranja and Srijem. As a leader of good societies and a choreographer, he became a member of the Board of Directors of the Society of Folklore Leaders and Choreographers of Croatia.

Mentor: Luka Juriša – Luka Juriša was born on November 17, 1998. in Osijek, and lives in Đakovo. He has been educated in the field of music all his life – primary music school in Đakovo, secondary music school in Požega, and is currently in the second year of graduate tamburitza at the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek, after completing his undergraduate studies and obtaining the title of univ. bacc. mus. Throughout his schooling, he participates in regional, national and international competitions where he achieves notable results by playing brac-solo with piano accompaniment, in a quartet, chamber ensemble and philharmonic. He regularly wins first prizes at national and international competitions, and one of the most notable public appearances is the performance in 2015 at the “Šokačka rapsodija” in the Vatroslav Lisinski Hall in Zagreb, where in addition to playing brothers in the orchestra, he also performed as a soloist on the tambourine solitary confinement. . Among other awards, the Oscar of Knowledge awarded to him by the Agency for Education for excellent results and winning first place in the national competition in the academic year 2019/2020 stands out. He has been a member of KUD “Tena” for many years, and from 2021 he will also become the leader of tamburitza players. He gained experience in teaching knowledge in the field of tambourine (except at the faculty) as a lecturer of a group of singles at the “Seminar of Folklore of the Pannonian Zone” in Vinkovci (2017-2021).

Mentor: Luka Juriša – Luka Juriša was born on November 17, 1998. in Osijek, and lives in Đakovo. He has been educated in the field of music all his life – primary music school in Đakovo, secondary music school in Požega, and is currently in the second year of graduate tamburitza at the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek, after completing his undergraduate studies and obtaining the title of univ. bacc. mus. Throughout his schooling, he participates in regional, national and international competitions where he achieves notable results by playing brac-solo with piano accompaniment, in a quartet, chamber ensemble and philharmonic. He regularly wins first prizes at national and international competitions, and one of the most notable public appearances is the performance in 2015 at the “Šokačka rapsodija” in the Vatroslav Lisinski Hall in Zagreb, where in addition to playing brothers in the orchestra, he also performed as a soloist on the tambourine solitary confinement. . Among other awards, the Oscar of Knowledge awarded to him by the Agency for Education for excellent results and winning first place in the national competition in the academic year 2019/2020 stands out. He has been a member of KUD “Tena” for many years, and from 2021 he will also become the leader of tamburitza players. He gained experience in teaching knowledge in the field of tambourine (except at the faculty) as a lecturer of a group of singles at the “Seminar of Folklore of the Pannonian Zone” in Vinkovci (2017-2021).