ProfessionalBigBand

Croatian Radiotelevision Jazz Orchestra, formerly known as the Radio Zagreb Dance Orchestra has been in existence for the past sixty odd years and such longevity is rarely seen on a world scale. The RTZ Dance Orchestra, as it was known at the time, was a predecessor of today’s HRT Jazz Orchestra and was founded during season 1946/1947 to meet the needs of the Radio and was made up of best musicians from several ensembles, led by Zlatko Černjul. The Orchestra was later led by several conductors, but Miljenko Prohaska has a special place in the history of the orchestra, as he led it for 30 years. After playing at the Bled Jazz Festival in 1962, the Orchestra enters a new era – it turned to its own repertoire. The person behind the idea was Miljenko Prohaska and he was later supported by many members of the Orchestra. Due to such a type of programme orientation, the Orchestra had created its specific style which differentiated it from other similar orchestras, both in the country and abroad. The Orchestra held its first international performance in Cologne in 1955. This was followed by tours of Bulgaria, Poland, former USSR, as well as concerts at jazz-festivals in Frankfurt and Nagykanizsa and even in Munich in 1972, as part of the entertainment at the Olympics. Numerous world-renowned musicians have played in Zagreb with the Orchestra as soloist.