Sonus op. 8

We present the first publication of the Opus Music Association, a collection of solfeggio examples by Davor Zanoški and Zlata Životić.

The collection can be used as preparation for participation in the Sonus Competition, but also as an aid in regular classes. It is intended for first and second grade students of elementary music schools and corresponds to the Curriculum for elementary music schools. It contains ten written and ten oral worksheets, and at the end of it there are dictations, which supplement the written part. These worksheets form a rounded ensemble that will make it easier for students to master the problems of theoretical, auditory, creative and intonational aspects and offer teachers a better insight into the level provided by the Competition propositions.

The International Competition for Young Musicians Sonus is a manifestation which takes place annually with the contestants from the country and region, along with the prestigious Croatian and, from 2017, foreign music pedagogues as the members of the Competition jury. The music school Albert Štrige Križevci is the co-organizer of the competition and the host. This is the place where the contestants and their mentors always come back to with joy, being the wonderful stage of music ideas, emotions, music future and new ideas. This Competition is specific because every contestant receives not only the numeric grade, but also the descriptive grade which the organizer sends to their teacher/mentor. The descriptive grade represents the praise or remark including the suggestion of the objective and positive listener, with the aim of encouraging the improvement of teacher’s/mentor’s work and the upbringing of the young musicians.

Another specific detail about this competition is that this is the first competition in Croatia where the young musicians of the primary school age also compete in the discipline of percussions. The disciplines piano, solfeggio and percussions are represented every year, whereas all the other instrumental disciplines alternate every two years.

Since 2018, The International Competition for Young Musicians Sonus has been included in Križevci city events program which made the city of Križevci a proud sponsor of the Competition.

Since 2019, the Competition has been held under the auspices of the Ministry of Science and Education.

History of the Competition

The first Young musicians competition Sonus op.1. was held in February 2015 in guitar, piano, solfeggio and tambura discipline, the second Sonus op.2 competition included disciplines in accordion, piano, solfeggio, percussions and violin.

Since the competition is getting bigger every year, Sonus op.3 has become an international competition in 2017 with disciplines in flute, piano, solfeggio, tambura and percussions. In addition to Croatian members of the judging panel, there are also foreign music pedagogues

On Sonus op.4 competition we added another, sixth instrumental discipline, the category for the contestants between 17 and 25 years of age, which has two stages like the fifth category. The Competition included disciplines in accordian, piano, percussions and solfeggio, with 256 competitors.

The fifth edition of the Competition in 2019 was held under the auspices of the Ministry of Science and Education. In the four disciplines of piano, solfeggio, tambura and percussion, 344 competitors from Croatia and abroad competed, which made the fifth edition of the Competition the largest so far.

Sonus op.6 was held in 2021 in the disciplines of piano, solfeggio, tambura, violin and percussion with 254 participants.

Sonus op.7 was held in March 2023, where 355 competitors performed in the disciplines of piano, percussion, tambura, violin and solfeggio .

The sixth and seventh editions of the Competition were held under the auspices of the Ministry of Science and Education.