Ave Maria (for soprano and piano; for soprano and organ; for baritone and piano; for baritone i organ; for mixed chorus and piano; for mixed chorus and organ; for soprano, mixed chorus and piano; for soprano, mixed chorus and organ)

Composer, conductor and teacher Karlo Kraus (1940) graduated from the piano program at the Music Academy in Zagreb in 1963 and the conducting program in 1965. In 1967, he completed the third-level conducting program at the Ljubljana Music Academy. He further studied conducting with Franco Ferrara in Venice and spent several years as an associate to one of Croatia’s greatest conductors, Lovro Matačić. Karlo Kraus’s work as composer is mostly related to the music theatre: he composed around 100 music pieces for theatre and television, including the Website Story musical to Luko Paljetak’s lyrics. His Ave Maria for soprano and organ was composed in 1997 and has since seen numerous performances in various versions (for vocal and organ, for vocal and piano, for vocal, mixed choir and organ, for vocal and guitar) around Croatia and abroad (France, Italy, Slovenia, US). The most remarkable performance of the composition was in Los Angeles, California at the Shepherd's Grove church (also called the Crystal Cathedral) on November 27, 2016. The solo part was performed by soprano Joslyn Sarshad, the Hour of Power choir was conducted by Don Neuen, while Željko Marasović played the organ. The performance was recorded by one of the largest Christian TV networks Hour of Power.