13th SUMMER MAGIC OF CLASSICAL MUSIC- Hillary Karuza/cello
Summer Magic of Classical Music is a long-standing summer festival of the Split Music Youth that has gradually grown into an important cultural event in the city of Split. The festival aims to enrich the concert and cultural offerings of the city during the summer months, providing citizens and their guests with top-notch musical experiences in ambient spaces in the heart of Split.
As in previous years, this year's thirteenth edition of the festival continues its primary focus - collaboration with young musicians. Additionally, the festival fosters international cultural cooperation and this year collaborates with artists from Austria, Slovenia, Canada, and Norway.
The festival would not exist without the collaboration of the Split Music Youth, the main sponsor, the Tourist Board of the City of Split, and the hosts in the beautiful spaces of the Museum of the City of Split. The program runs from mid-June to the end of September, featuring eight concerts, six in the cellars of Diocletian's Palace, and two in the newly renovated Old City Hall managed by the Museum of the City of Split.
Location: Cellars of Diocletian's Palace Cellars
Date: July 4, 2024, starting at 8:00 PM
Hillary Karuza was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. She began learning the cello at the age of four under the tutelage of Professor Janis Nilsen. After completing high school and studying art history in Florence, she enrolled in the cello program at the University of North Carolina under Professor Brent Wissick, where she graduated in 2002. That same year, she started her postgraduate studies at Pennsylvania State University in the class of Professor Kim Cook, where she earned her master's degree in 2004.
She has honed her skills in masterclasses with some of the greatest cellists of today, including Yo-Yo Ma, Lynn Harrell, Anner Bylsma, and Aldo Parisot. In 2004, she enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, in the class of Professor Brooks Whitehouse. However, after completing her first year, she moved to Croatia, where she was initially engaged as an external collaborator with the Opera Orchestra of the Croatian National Theatre in Split.
Hillary has been a permanent member of the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra and the Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra and served as the assistant principal cellist of the Altoona Symphony Orchestra. Since 2002, she has been increasingly involved with baroque music, participating in the Penn State Baroque Ensemble, and in 2007, she co-founded the Omiš Baroque Ensemble.
She has performed as a soloist with the Split Chamber Orchestra and the Mostar Symphony Orchestra, as well as at major international festivals in Morges (Switzerland), Arezzo (Italy), and Salvador (Brazil).
Hillary has worked as a professor of cello and double bass at the Lovro pl. Matačić Music School in Omiš, and since 2012, she has been teaching cello at the Josip Hatze Music School in Split. Since 2020, she has also been an external collaborator at the Academy of Arts in Split. Her students have won numerous awards at regional, national, and international competitions.