Meet the amazing 16-year-old Croatian cellist, winner of the prestigious classical music competition

Hana Rabadan (Photo credit: Marin Rabadan)

16-year-old Hana Rabadan is the talk of the Croatian classical music scene today. She literally dazzled on the stage of the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall in Zagreb, effortlessly performing a challenging program at the 12th “Papandopulo” Music Artists Competition and emerged victorious.

She was the youngest competitor in this prestigious event, where in mid-February, violinists, violists, and cellists up to 30 years old competed. When it comes to the cello, she is undoubtedly a true virtuoso.

She effortlessly navigated through three extremely demanding stages to reach the finals in a short period, but behind that lay very difficult preparations, intense practice, and constant rehearsals to execute the two-hour mandatory program flawlessly. In addition to all this, sixteen-year-old Hana had to balance her school commitments in the third grade of X. Zagreb Gymnasium “Ivan Supek”. 

She also completes two courses at the Vatroslav Lisinski Music School – music theory and cello under the guidance of Professor Dalibor Crnogorac, who has been an unconditional support to her at every moment.

Hana Rabadan (Photo credit: “Papandopulo” Music Artists Competition)

An excellent student, yet very modest and composed, Hana has Dalmatian roots; she hails from Kaštela, but is growing up in Zagreb in an artistic family. Her mother, Tea, is also a cellist, her father, Marin, is a trombonist and composer, and her brother, Matija, attends singing lessons, plays the trumpet, and guitar.

“The competition was strong, and it was an honor to participate and compete with colleagues whom I deeply respect and follow their work. I did not expect to win, and it greatly delighted me. It is a confirmation of my previous work but also an additional boost and encouragement to be even better and more successful,” says Hana.

Music is her life; she enjoys playing, and she hasn’t parted from the cello since she was seven years old. She has won numerous national and international competitions, attended seminars by renowned professors such as David Grigorian, Kajana Pačko, Branimir Pustički, Pavle Zajcev, and Gustav Tavares. 

She has perfected her skills with Istvan Varga, Krešimir Lazar, and Monika Leskovar, and last summer, she was selected to participate in the Youth Classics seminar in Switzerland, in the class of Professor Thomas Grossenbacher.

Hana Rabadan (Photo credit: Marco Blessano)

She adores Bach, Ligeti, Piatti, Shostakovich, Papandopulo, Haydn, and Elgar; it was their works that she played at the competition accompanied by artistic collaborator Professor Krešimir Popović. 

As the winner, she received not only a cash prize but also a solo concert accompanied by the Symphony Orchestra of the Croatian Radiotelevision and a solo concert in the Young Musicians Cycle at the Croatian Matrix.