In the proud, knightly town of Sinj, where history and music interweave to create a special story, the Kamičak Fortress becomes the epicenter of musical magic. This summer, prepare for an unforgettable experience of several unique musical evenings where many renowned jazz musicians will be presented – starting with the “Obradović-Tixier Duo”.

Artist’s biography

Lada Obradović is a Croatian jazz drummer and composer. She earned her bachelor’s degree in jazz drums at the Kunstuniversität Graz and her master’s degree at the University of Bern in Switzerland. Together with French pianist David Tixier, she leads the multi-award-winning project “Obradović-Tixier Duo”. In 2018, they won first prizes in competitions such as the Jazz À Vienne, the Jazz Au Phare, and the Colmar Jazz Festival, while by unanimous selection of a twelve-member jury at the La Défense Jazz Festival in 2019, Lada won the first prize in the category “best soloist”. Within her career, Lada performed in Croatia, France, Spain, Luxembourg, Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Montenegro, Latvia, Italy, Greece, Austria, Philippines, the USA, and Uruguay.

She recently engaged herself in humanitarian work, initiating the “StartAs You Are” humanitarian project, which sells sneakers she designed herself. In early 2020, she founded an international non-profit organization called “SAY.R”, which, aside from “StartAs You Are”, leads “Shelter At Your Reach”, a new humanitarian project set up in collaboration with various associations for abandoned and abused animals across Europe. She is contracted by “TAMA Drums”, as well as “TRX Cymbals”, for whom she designed the first jazz series of cymbals. In 2019, Lada was hired for a project by Netflix, where she worked with Oscar winner Damien Chazell (La La Land, Whiplash), Emmy Award nominee Alan Poul, and the multiple Grammy Award-winning composer Glen Ballard (Michael Jackson, Alanis Morissette).

Lada’s early fascination with the drums led her to dedicate her life to music. She soon began preparing for the entrance exam at the jazz academy with professors Robert Jambrušić and Branimir Njikoš at the “Pop-Rock Academy” in Zagreb. After graduating from school, she enrolled in the jazz drums program at the Kunstuniversität Graz, where she studied in the class of Professor Howard Curtis. Within the four-year undergraduate program, she met, worked, and performed with great jazz musicians such as Billy Hart, Jeff Ballard, Bill Stewart, Jimmy Cobb, Don Menza, Fay Claassen, Curtis Fuller, John Hollenbeck, Benny Golson, Carla Bley, and Steve Swallow, among others. In 2016 she joined the “David Tixier Trio” and performed across Europe. In July 2016, they reached the finals of the Vannes Jazz Competition within the Jazz en Ville festival in Vannes, France. In August, they participated in the final of the Jazz Avenir competition within the Jazz En Baie festival in Mont St. Michel, France. The Trio was selected from among 403 registered competitors to be one of the 16 bands in the semi-finals of the renowned international Mattmut Jazz Orchestra Price festival. In the same year, they entered the semi-finals of two competitions: the 7 Virtual Jazz Clubs and the Belgian Be-Jazz. In 2017 the “David Tixier Trio” recorded their first album in the Bunker Studio in New York, USA, with American guitarist Mike Moreno and singer Sachal Vasandani. A month later, Lada recorded the first CD for the “Lada Obradović Project” in Hard Studios, Switzerland, Winterthur, supported by the “Swiss Radio and Television Production” and financially sponsored by the Swiss foundations “Die Mobiliar” and “ABPI”.

The music evenings at the Kamičak Fortress are organized by the Tourist Board of Sinj, with support from the Town of Sinj, the Tourist Board of Split-Dalmatia County, the Split-Dalmatia County, the Croatian National Tourist Board, the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, and Kamičak d.o.o.

We look forward to hosting you! See you in Sinj, on the Kamičak Fortress.

Entry to the concert is free!