ZAGREB SOLOISTS - were formed in 1953 within the Zagreb Radio, on the initiative of violinist Stjepan Aranjoš, and under the leadership of Antonio Janigro, a distinguished cellist and conductor. The first public concert took place on January 5th, 1954 in Bjelovar. Under Janigro's leadership, the ensemble became well-known in the world of chamber music. From 1967 till 1996, the orchestra was led by Tonko Ninić as its musical director. During the years, it has received the highest notes and awards, holding well over 3000 concerts on all continents, in places like the Musikverein (Vienna), the Royal Festival Hall (London), the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, the Tchaikowsky Hall (Moscow), the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Santa Cecilia (Rome), Carnegie Hall (New York) etc. The ensemble also regularly performs at festivals like the ones in Salzburg, Prague, Edinburgh, Berlin, Dubrovnik etc. Some of the most distinguished soloists have performed with the ensemble: Henryk Szeryng, Christian Ferras, Aldo Ciccolini and many others. Its broad repertoire includes the works from baroque, classical, romantical and contemporary periods, while it also focuses on Croatian composers. The ensemble has recorded more than 50 CD-s and records for record companies such as Vanguard, EMI, ASV, Aurodisc, Melodia, Hispa-Vox, Pickwick and Croatia Records. It has also received many awards and prizes, among which were the 1st Prize in Mar del Plata, Pablo Casals Medal, Elisabeth Sprague Coolidge Medal, Vladimir Nazor Award, the City of Zagreb Award (twice),the Porin Award (four times) and so on. Most of Croatian more distinguished string instrumentalists have performed with the ensemble for different periods. http://www.huoku.hr/slike/zgsolisti.jpg Članovi ansambla / Musicians: Karlo Slobodan Fio, Laura Vadjon, Vladimir First, Sergej Evseev, Mislav Pavlin, Vladimir Sverak, Bojan Čičić, Ivan Martinec, Krešimir Pustički, Hrvoje Philips, Ernest Zornjak, Zlatko Rucner, Mario Ivelja http://www.huoku.hr/htm/zagrebackisolisti.htm.