The Croatian Music Information Centre of the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall is pleased to announce that Josip Berend has joined the CMIC staff team, taking on the role of editor advisor. His arrival represents a significant strengthening of CMIC’s professional and creative capacities, and we believe that his knowledge, experience, and professional enthusiasm will contribute to the further development of our work as well as to greater visibility of CMIC within the cultural sector of the Republic of Croatia.

With Josip’s addition, MIC now brings together a team of four dedicated and highly competent professionals — Jelena Vuković (Head of CMIC), Davor Merkaš (Editorial Advisor), Josip Berend (Editorial Advisor), and Ivor Zidarić (Marketing Advisor). United by a common goal, they continue to shape and advance CMIC’s vision as a key institution in preserving Croatian musical heritage and as a central hub for the promotion of Croatian musical creativity across all areas of our work, from documentation and publishing to information services, promotion, and contemporary music practices.

Josip Berend (born 1999 in Gornja Rijeka) began his musical education at the Albert Štriga School of Music in Križevci, where he completed his studies as a tamburitza musician. At the same time, he completed the Ivan Zakmardi Dijankovečki Gymnasium in Križevci, after which he enrolled at the Music Academy of the University of Zagreb.

He completed his studies in Music Pedagogy with a thesis titled Management of School, Amateur and Professional Orchestras, integrating his prior musical and production-related experience. His interest in music production and organization began in 2019, when he worked as an assistant producer at the Sonus op. 5 International Competition for Young Musicians. Since 2023, he has been actively engaged as an executive producer on a wide range of projects.

Among his most notable production engagements are: Svemirski koncert (2023), the concert cycles Tambura pod ljetnim nebom (2023–2025) and Po dragome kraju (2021–2025), concert tours of GTO KŽ in Bratislava (2023), Vienna’s Musikverein and MuTh (2024), the project Križevci kroz zvuke tambure (2021–2023), Šibenik Summer Masterclass (2024), 150 Years of the Tamburitza in Križevci (2024), Tamburitza Summer School on Pag (2024, 2025), the Sonus International Music Festival (2024, 2025), and Optimization of the Production Process – HRT Symphony Orchestra. A concert tour in China with GTO KŽ (2026) is also planned.

Since 2019, Josip has additionally worked as a music engraver and editor of sheet music editions, and his broader skill set includes graphic design, audio and video production, recording, and editing.