On Tuesday, July 28, 2026, the program of the 16th International Classical Music Festival Art Novi will continue at the Church of St. Philip and St. James with a performance by the OKTOS Ensemble.

The OKTOS Ensemble is a chamber group consisting of six young musicians. A shared love of chamber music has connected them since the beginning of their musical education during their studies in Osijek, and later at the Academy of Music in Zagreb. Their long-standing story with this ensemble now receives its long-awaited continuation. The aim of this unique ensemble is to bring music closer to a wider audience, especially young people, and to perform the most beautiful works of past centuries in rarely heard arrangements.

The members of the ensemble are all professional musicians holding leading positions in Croatian orchestras (Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, Croatian Radiotelevision Symphony Orchestra, Zagreb City Theatre Komedija, Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb) and are also teachers at music schools and at the Academy of Music in Zagreb: Ivana Vukojević – flute, Dunja Čolić – oboe, Zvonimir Krpan – violin, Tajana Škorić – viola, Iva Ilakovac – cello, Domagoj Gušćić – piano.

They gave their debut concert titled Le début in January 2020 in front of a large audience at the Small Hall of the Croatian Music Institute. Despite the difficult pandemic conditions, they held their second concert in early 2021 titled Strings & Winds. Important performances followed in March 2021 as part of the City of Osijek concert series “9th Osijek Music Wednesday”, and in September 2021 at the 12th MAG Festival in Split. In November 2021, they marked the 190th anniversary of music education in Osijek with a concert for their home audience.

The ensemble also encourages young Croatian composers to create new works for this unusual instrumentation and has already collaborated with two young Croatian composers (Tihomir Ranogajec and Josip Prajz), whose works were written specifically for OKTOS.

Free entry!