Karin Kuljanić page on istrianexperience.com

Karin Kuljanić made her debut at MIK in 1994, with the beautiful song “Zami me sobun sakamo”. As I watched the video cassette of that festival I was thinking: This voice is something else! I hope it's here to stay. Luckily for MIK fans, it has.

This was the beginning of a beautiful sequence of Karin's MIK appearences and successes, with songs about love, Quarner, and love for Quarner. In a brief break from these themes, at MIK 2007, she decided to sing a song about mother's love, or more precisely, about mother's hands. „Materine ruke“ represented a slight detour from her style as well, the style that got her so many fans and awards at the preceding 12 MIK's. She didn't know how this change would be accepted at the Festival, but there was no doubt in her mind that "Materine ruke" was what she wanted to sing. And the reward came sooner then expected. „My heart is full when Gea (her daughter) sits next to me, takes my hands and says: These are mother's hands. With this, I have already achieved more then I ever expected.“ Karin said in the days ahead of the Festival.

That's how she is, passionate about her songs, putting in them all the beauty of her voice and all her soul, and thus making a spontaneous connection with the audience and delivering an unforgettable musical experience and story about life in her beautiful corner of the world. During the concert in Kraljevica in the Summer of 2005, as she was announcing the upcoming song - about beauties of Quarner of course, the tears appeared in her eyes and the voice choked. But being a professional, as she is in everything she does, she quickly put herself together, apologized for the tears and said: "The show must go on", and motioned to Robert Grubišić on the keyboard to start the music for the next song.

Karin never forgets the support from the audience. At the award presentation following the 2006 MIK concert, she seized the moment between her award and the one for the first place to thank the audience of Rijeka for making her #2 in their vote. A few days later, when I told her how much my family enjoyed MIK concerts, she replied: I am glad you enjoyed it and participated, and supported out beautiful „Ča”.

In Spring of 2007, when I learned about her upcoming MIK song being different in style from the previous ones, my first reaction was: I hope the song is in dialect and has your beautiful soft “ć” in it. Karin replied with a quick reassurance: Not much has changed. The song is in our dialect. I’ll always be me!”

This was a relief - of sort... even knowing that any song would turn out beautiful when she sings it. Being herself also meant that once off the stage, Karin is a cheery and amiable... and a great friend. At the MIK rehearsal she cheered her “competitors” and consoled them when they were concerned about something. And at joint performances, when others sing she joins the audience in singing along and cheering from behind the stage.

Outside of MIK Karin often appears at cultural and benefit events - for which she somehow finds time between work with patients and students, research, and and taking Gea swimming, ice skating, etc. Many examples of that charitable work and medical research work can be found with a web search. Asked on a TV show whether she would quit her medical career if she could make a living by singing alone, Karin readily replied: No ...and added: this work shaped my life and helped me become what I am. And, the very fact that she continues to pursue her career in health care, while singing out of love of music and her native soil, says a lot of what she is.

F. P.

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MIK APPEARANCES AND AWARDS

In 1994, as MIK entered into its 4th decade, its stage opened the door to another local young singer. Karin Kuljanić sang "Zami me z sobun sakamo" and was awarded 3rd place by the MIK's audience. The star was born! In 1997 Karin received probably the longest applause in the history of the Festival when she sang "Nisi zavridel" at the final concert in Rijeka. No doubt, she had already conquered the hearts of music lovers in the "Chakavian Capital".

In 1995, as she was picking up most votes on MIK's route through Istria and Quarner, Novi list reported the news under the title "Za publiku rojena" (Born for the Audience). The end result was her 2nd MIK victory. The first one was in 1999, shortly after she became a mother, for the song "Neka jubav moja sa". Quite appropriately, the song talks about mother's eternal and unconditional love for her child. This message was completed at MIK 2007, in Karin's song "Materine ruke" (Mother's Hands). In 2002 Karin and Đani Maršan sang about Adriatic's magical sunsets, and won 1st place with "Večeri boje naranče". Karin then repeated the success in 2004, when she sang in another duo, this time with Mirjana Bobuš, and "reminded" us that we need more singing in our lives. The winning song was "Tribalo bi zakantat".

YEAR	SONG TITLE	AWARDS
1994	Zami me z sobun sakamo	3^{rd place}
1995	Moj Palitu (with Klapa Krk)
1996	Va sne
1997	Nisi zavridel (possibly longest applause in MIK history)	3^{rd place}
1998	Hodi z manun	2^{nd place}
1999	Neka jubav moja sa	1^st^place
2000	Hvala ti
2002	Večeri boje naranče (with Đani Maršan)	1^st^place
2003	Lokarini ti kantaju
2004	Tribalo bi zakantat (with Mirjana Bobuš)	1^st^place
2005	Za te rojena	1^st^place
2006	Pokora ljubavi (with Alen Vitasović)	2^{nd place}
2007	Materine ruke
2008	Srce mi je blagoslov dalo
2009	Štorija od života
2010	Tvoj slatki grih