Dragan Karolic was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, where he started his studies in flute, voice and piano. Very early he discovered his affinity for early music, and this encouraged him to continue his education in Rome, Vienna and London. After he graduated with high honors, Mr. Karolic participated in numerous master classes, with world-wide famous artists such as (voice) E. Kirkby, D. Thomas, K. Mertens, B. Schlick, H. v. d. Kamp, J. Feldman, I.Poulenard, (transverse flute) L. Beznosiuk, K. Hünteler, W. Hazelzet, B. Kuijken, (recorder) H. M. Linde, C. Pehrsson and N. Hadden.

 

Until 1991, when he permanently moved to live and work in Germany, he was a member of the early music ensembles Renaissance (1979-1991), Musica Antiqua Belgrade (1984-1989) and Barock Consort (1986-1991). During 1989 he cooperated with the Elisabethan Consort, London, under the direction of Robert Spencer. Mr. Karolic was the co-founder of the Belgrade Early Music Festival in 1991, as well as the Studio for Early Music. Between 1991 and 1996 he was a soloist of the Telemann Chamber Orchestra in Blankenburg, Germany. From 1998 until 2008, Dragan Karolic was active as a vocal soloist and a recorder teacher at the Georg Friedrich Händel Konservatorium in Halle. In 1998 he founded the ensemble "Cantare e sonare", with whom he recorded a CD "Bella Italia"(early baroque Italian love songs). Between 2001 and 2002 he was also a member of the Gewandhaus Chamber Choir in Leipzig. He is also a guest soloist of the ensemble New Trinity Baroque, based in Atlanta, USA.

 

Among notable appearances Mr. Karolic sung principal bass role in Stradella's "L'Academia d'Amore", under the direction of Steven Stubbs in 1999 in Bremen. In 2000 he appeared in a Baroque pasticcio opera, at the Court Theater built by Friedrich II "the Great" in Potsdam near Berlin. As soloist and member of ensembles, Dragan Karolic participated in over a thousand concerts in the USA, England, France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Austria, Germany, Poland, Chech Republic, Bulgaria, Israel, Syria and Cyprus. He appeared on radio and television many times, and recorded over a dozen CDs, audio cassettes and videos.

 

Mr. Karolic is also an active composer: among others, his children's opera "Snowhite and Seven Dwarfs" has been successfully premiered in Berlin (2004) with numerous repeat performances. As a musicologist, Dragan Karolic is interested in research and editing of forgotten manuscripts of primarily Baroque composers. Since 2003, he is collaborating on new editions with "Furore" music publishing house in Kassel, and since 2011 is one of the editors of the Mediterranean Press and Makris Foundation in Washington, USA.

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"A la Scarlatti"  by Dragan Karolic

 

This work was created as a homage to Scarlatti by Dragan Karolic, a musician and composer who has played through all his sonatas and is fascinated by his life.

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