Zorica Kondža is coming to Matulji on August 16: free concert as part of the Matulji Summer Evenings
Zorica Kondža will perform on Sunday, August 16, 2026, at the Matulji Amphitheatre, where the concert begins at 9 p.m. The performance is part of the 31st edition of the Matulji Summer Evenings event - "The Tramontana Will Freshen You Up", and according to the official programme of the Matulji Municipality Tourist Board, admission is free. The audience can look forward to a concert by one of Croatia's most recognisable singers, whose repertoire combines pop, rock, soul and a Mediterranean musical sensibility. The announcement particularly highlights the songs "Is Loving a Sin", "You Are My Dream", "There Is a World", "Penance" and "Time of Love", compositions that over the decades have become an important part of her concert identity. In the event of bad weather conditions, the organisers have planned to move the programme from the Amphitheatre to the Matulji School Sports Hall.
Open-air concert in the centre of Matulji
The official programme of the Matulji Summer Evenings for 2026 confirms that Zorica Kondža's concert is scheduled for Sunday, August 16, at 9 p.m. at the Matulji Amphitheatre. It is one of the central musical events of the August part of the festival, which this year also features, among others, Klapa Skalin, Mauro Staraj, the women's klapa Luka and Amira Medunjanin. The Municipality of Matulji states that during June, July and August the programme is held at the Amphitheatre and at several other locations within the municipality, with concerts, theatre and puppet performances, folklore evenings, film screenings and other cultural events. Zorica Kondža's concert fits into the concept of a summer programme that combines established performers with local musical and cultural associations. It is also important for visitors to know that no ticket purchase is required for the performance, as admission to the programmes of this year's edition is free.
In recent years, the Amphitheatre has become the central venue of the Matulji Summer Evenings. The Matulji Municipality Tourist Board states that the event has been held since 1995, while the current Amphitheatre was built in 2016. Before it opened, programmes were held at several locations in the centre of the town, including the area in front of the municipal building and other open spaces. The title "The Tramontana Will Freshen You Up" directly draws on the local familiarity of the tramontana, a wind that can bring refreshment during summer evenings. It is precisely the combination of an open-air stage, a summer schedule and a varied programme that has become a hallmark of the event, which over three decades has grown from a local gathering into a recognisable cultural programme in this part of Kvarner.
Songs connecting different stages of her career
Zorica Kondža's concert repertoire includes songs created during different periods of her musical journey, from her time with the group Stijene to her long-standing solo career. In the announcement for her 2026 Zagreb concert, the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall highlights "You Are My Dream", "Is Loving a Sin", "There Is a World" and "So Easily" among her timeless hits. In its overview of her career, the Croatian Musicians Union additionally highlights "Penance", "Time of Love", "Until My Last Breath", "Captive", "Good Day to You, My Soul" and "Forever", songs associated with important festival appearances and collaborations. Such a repertoire demonstrates how strongly Kondža's discography is linked to songs with powerful melodic lines and vocally demanding interpretations. The Matulji concert is therefore not conceived as a presentation of a single new project, but as an overview of a body of work that has developed over more than four decades.
A special place in that repertoire belongs to "There Is a World", a song from the Stijene period, the group in which Kondža took one of the key early steps in her career. The Croatian Musicians Union states that the song won first prize at the Split Festival in 1982, while "Penance" in 1985 and "Time of Love" in 1986 were also associated with winning festival performances. "You Are My Dream", a duet with Oliver Dragojević, became another important point in her repertoire; in April 2026, HRT recalled that the song was performed as a duet at the Split Festival in 1990 and that it won. In later years, new collaborations followed, including performances with Neno Belan, Tony Cetinski and other well-known performers. For that reason, Kondža's concerts naturally connect several generations of audiences and different phases of Croatian popular and pop-rock music.
From Stijene to a solo path
Zorica Kondža began her musical career in the late 1970s and early 1980s, gaining wider recognition as the vocalist of the group Stijene. In its biographical overview, the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall states that before her solo career she sang in the groups Pirati, Novi Dan, ST and Stijene. It was precisely her period with Stijene that highlighted her inclination towards a stronger rock expression, while her later solo work brought a broader range of ballads, pop, soul and blues. She embarked on her solo path in the mid-1980s; sources associate the beginning of that phase with 1984 and 1985, the period of her departure from Stijene and her first major solo festival successes. During that transition, she did not lose her rock energy, but combined it with a ballad repertoire that over time became one of her trademarks.
Composer and musician Joško Banov played an important role in shaping her solo repertoire. In a biographical article about Kondža, the Croatian Musicians Union states that Banov's songwriting style connected her rock imprint with a ballad expression, while Lisinski points out that many songs from her repertoire were created in his songwriting workshop. Throughout her career, Kondža's voice has been described as having an exceptionally wide range and distinctive timbre. Lisinski associates her style with soul, blues and rock and roll combined with a strong Mediterranean temperament, which explains why she moves equally convincingly between grand ballads and more energetic performances. That combination has remained recognisable in contemporary concert programmes as well, decades after her first major festival successes.
The Split Festival as one of the key stages
The Split Festival holds a special place in Zorica Kondža's career, not only because of the number of appearances but also because of the songs that received a strong public response there. The Croatian Musicians Union states that before her first appearance in Split she performed at the Zagreb Festival in 1980, after which, over the following decades, she became one of the performers strongly associated with the Split festival stage. In its overview of award-winning performances, HGU lists "There Is a World" from 1982, "Penance" from 1985, "Time of Love" from 1986, "Until My Last Breath" from 1994, "Captive" from 1997 and "Forever" from 2006. At the same time, the festival was a setting for important duets and collaborations, among which "You Are My Dream" with Oliver Dragojević is particularly remembered. Kondža's repertoire is therefore difficult to separate from the festival tradition that shaped Croatian popular music for decades.
Collaborations are also one of the important elements of her discography and concert history. The Croatian Musicians Union recorded that Oliver Dragojević, Tony Cetinski and Neno Belan joined her at the major Lisinski concert in 2015, performers with whom she recorded or performed well-known duets during her career. "You Are My Dream", "Good Day to You, My Soul" and "Until My Last Breath" have remained examples of songs in which her voice is placed in dialogue with other recognisable vocalists from the Croatian music scene. Such collaborations further broadened her audience, but did not change the fundamental recognisability of her interpretation. At its centre remained a powerful voice, precise phrasing and an emphatically emotional performance, which is why her songs still regularly appear in concert programmes today.
2026 marked by a major anniversary
The Matulji performance comes in a year in which Zorica Kondža celebrated four decades of her solo career. In April 2026, HRT reported on the celebration of 40 years of her solo work following concerts at the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall. According to HRT, Kondža connected the anniversary with her beginnings in Stijene, her first solo festival victories and her long concert journey, particularly highlighting the fact that members of her family performed with her on stage. Lisinski announced that the concert on March 28, 2026, was sold out, confirming that her repertoire continues to attract strong audience interest even after decades of an active career. The concert in Matulji is thus taking place during a period of heightened anniversary reflection on the songs and collaborations that have marked her work.
One of the important professional recognitions in that long career came in 2015. The Croatian Musicians Union then awarded Zorica Kondža the Status Award for exceptional contribution to Croatian music, and the recognition was presented to her on the occasion of her major concert at Lisinski. At the time, HGU also emphasised the breadth of her repertoire, from original ballads to blues and rock, as well as her long-standing collaboration with musicians who have marked Croatian popular music. A decade later, Kondža continued to perform on major concert stages, while in 2026 she additionally rounded off the anniversary of her solo career. The Matulji concert therefore gains an additional context: the audience will hear the performer precisely in the year in which her career is once again being intensively viewed through four decades of independent creative work.
Matulji Summer Evenings in their 31st edition
The Matulji Municipality Tourist Board announced this year's Matulji Summer Evenings as the 31st edition of an event that has been held since 1995. The programme began in June and runs until the end of August, and is conceived as a series of events of different genres and for different age groups. Alongside Zorica Kondža, Amira Medunjanin is among the prominent names in 2026, while the programme also includes Kerekesh Teatar, local ensembles, folklore and music associations, and open-air film content. The organisers thus maintain a model in which larger guest appearances alternate with programmes presenting the local cultural scene and tradition. Free admission to all events remains one of the fundamental characteristics of the festival.
The scale of interest in the programme is also demonstrated by data from the Matulji Municipality Tourist Board, according to which the jubilee 30th edition in 2025 recorded around 25,000 visitors. During the three summer months, 20 different programmes were held at the Amphitheatre and surrounding locations. The Tourist Board states that the concert by Urban & 4 with strings attracted more than 5,000 visitors, while the screening of Igor Bezinović's film "Fiume o morte" transformed the Amphitheatre into an open-air cinema for one evening. These figures show that the Matulji Summer Evenings are no longer merely a series of individual local events, but a festival capable of attracting large numbers of visitors throughout the season. Zorica Kondža's performance is one of the events through which the organisers are continuing that model in 2026.
The Amphitheatre, tramontana and the summer identity of the festival
The distinctiveness of the Matulji Summer Evenings lies not only in the list of performers but also in the space in which a large part of the programme takes place. The Tourist Board states that after its construction in 2016, the Amphitheatre became the main stage for cultural events in Matulji, located in the very centre of the town. The name of the festival, "The Tramontana Will Freshen You Up", has remained connected to the local language and a weather characteristic of the area: the tramontana wind that can cool a summer evening. This local identity is combined with a programme that includes music, theatre, film, folklore and gastronomic tradition. For the audience at the August 16 concert, the open-air setting of the Amphitheatre will be an important part of the overall experience, provided weather conditions allow the programme to be held outdoors.
The organisers have also provided an alternative in case of adverse weather. The official programme for 2026 states that all programmes planned for the Amphitheatre will, in the event of bad weather conditions, be held in the Matulji School Sports Hall. This means that an indoor backup venue has been planned for Zorica Kondža's concert, reducing the possibility of complete cancellation due to rain or other unfavourable conditions. The official leaflet also states that the organiser reserves the right to change the programme, so visitors can check the latest information on the Municipality and Tourist Board channels immediately before arriving. As this is an event with free admission, there is no stated requirement for advance ticket purchase or reservation.
What you need to know before arriving
- Event: Zorica Kondža concert as part of the Matulji Summer Evenings - "The Tramontana Will Freshen You Up"
- Date: Sunday, August 16, 2026
- Start: 21:00
- Location: Matulji Amphitheatre, Matulji, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Croatia
- Admission: free
- In case of bad weather: the programme is planned to be held in the Matulji School Sports Hall
Matulji is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, in Croatia's northern Adriatic region. Because of its summer date, the concert may also be of interest to visitors staying in the wider Kvarner area, but its programme value lies primarily in the fact that it offers audiences an overview of one of the longest-running and most vocally recognisable careers in Croatian popular music. For Zorica Kondža, the Matulji stage comes after anniversary concerts and the celebration of 40 years of solo work, while for the Matulji Summer Evenings it represents a continuation of the tradition of bringing established performers into a programme open to a broad audience. If the weather permits, the evening of Sunday, August 16 will take place at the Amphitheatre, in the setting for which the event has become recognisable in recent years. If not, the officially planned alternative venue will allow the programme to continue indoors.
Sources:
- Matulji Municipality Tourist Board - official programme of the Matulji Summer Evenings 2026, concert date and time, free admission and alternative venue in case of bad weather (link)
- Matulji Municipality Tourist Board - announcement of the 31st edition of the Matulji Summer Evenings and overview of the programme for 2026 (link)
- Matulji Municipality Tourist Board - history of the event, Amphitheatre, attendance at the 30th edition and data on the 2025 programme (link)
- HRT Radio Split - overview of 40 years of Zorica Kondža's solo career and a review of her 2026 anniversary concerts (link)
- Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall - biographical overview, musical style and concert repertoire of Zorica Kondža (link)
- Croatian Musicians Union - Status Award 2015 for exceptional contribution to Croatian music and an overview of important songs and collaborations (link)