Petar Čulić
GUITAR
25 – 30 August 2025
Petar Čulić is a Croatian classical guitarist, teacher and composer. He enrolled as an “especially gifted” student before graduating from secondary school at the Academy of Arts, University of Split in the class of prof. Goran Listeš and received his master’s degree in 2008. He won two rector’s awards in the academic year 2005/2006 – for outstanding results achieved during studies and for outstanding artistic achievements. Upon completion of his studies, he received a commendation from the dean for the outstanding results achieved during his studies. He continued his education at the postgraduate study in Koblenz (Germany) at the private academy “Koblenz International Guitar Academy” in the class of prof. Hubert Käppel, and graduated in May 2010 with the highest success, a grade of 1.0, earning a degree of a concert soloist.
At the age of twelve, he started playing solo recitals, and at the same age, he had his first performance as a soloist with an orchestra. He has had numerous performances on six continents, in more than thirty countries, and in cities such as Washington, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Cairo, London, Tokyo, Paris, Sao Paulo, Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, Bogota, Vienna, Perth, Brussels, Brasilia, New York, Cape Town, Madrid and Doha. He has played as a soloist with the Tokyo Sinfonia becoming the first Croatian to have that honor. He has also performed with the Symphony Orchestra of the Brasilian National Theatre Claudio Santoro in Brasilia, Mozart Orchestra, Slovak Sinfonietta, Chamber Orchestra of the City of Curitiba, Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, Rheinische Philharmonie, Croatian Musical Youth Chamber String Orchestra, Croatian National Theatre Split orchestra and others. At the European Week in Brazil in 2018, he represented the European Union and Croatia, and he also performed at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg (France) in 2019.
He has won five first prizes at national competitions as a soloist and three first prizes as a member of chamber ensembles. In addition to winning prizes at international competitions that had no age limit, he is the only Croatian representative who won during the ten years of “Omiš Guitar Fest” (2013). He is the winner of a series of concerts by young musicians “Maestro Vinko Lesić 2013/2014” and guitar competition “Ivan Padovec” held in 2005 in Zagreb.
He is the recipient of the Annual Award from the Croatian Society of Music and Dance Pedagogues for 2021, the Plaque of the City of Omiš in 2021, the mentorship award from the City of Omiš, the award from the Split-Dalmatia County Prefect for the most successful mentors at national competitions in 2021, and the Dugi Rat Municipality’s Annual Award for outstanding achievements in the field of music and cultural creation.
He regularly holds master classes and is a member of the judging panels at competitions in Croatia and abroad. Since 2024, he has been a lecturer at the International Summer School for Young Musicians “Youngmasters” in Samobor.
Eleven of the world’s well-known classical guitar composers dedicated a special composition to him, and the premiere of all 11 compositions was in August 2020 at the international festival called the Omiš Guitar Fest. They included 10 new compositions and 1 remake of a composition that was originally written for a trio (cello and 2 guitars). The composers who participated in the project are Sergio Assad, Dušan Bogdanović, Angelo Gilardino, Ernesto Cordero, Štepan Rak, Vojislav Ivanović, Gerard Drozd, Stephen Goss, Francis Kleynjans, Atanas Ourkouzounov, and Jaime M. Zenamon. Petar has premiered also the compositions written by renowned composers Leo Brouwer and Boris Papandopulo.
In 2021, he was a Croatian member of the jury at the international competition of young musicians of all instruments – Virtuosos V4+. Together with maestro Placido Domingo, he decided which of the Croatian contestants would enter the finals. During the last 3 editions of the show, he was a mentor to the contestants.
In the foyer of the Croatian National Theatre in Split on 16 May 2005, he held a guitar recital and promoted his first musical record. In 2012, he recorded an album with Cantores Maruli vocal group, the late actor Zlatko Crnković and a poet Marina Čapalija as part of “The Story of Marko Marulić” project, as a musical-scenic story about the life and work of Marko Marulić. In November 2014, he released his second solo CD with 12 original compositions (published by Menart), and the promotion took place at the Croatian Music Institute in Zagreb.
From the very beginning of his guitar education, he has also been involved in composing, finding his first major inspiration for composing in “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. In June 2024, as part of the “Lovro pl. Matačić” Edition, he published a remarkable collection of 46 original compositions – 34 crafted for the youngest musicians and 12 written for seasoned soloists, showcasing both his pedagogical vision and artistic depth.
He is an artistic associate at the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek and a teacher at the Music school “Lovro pl. Matačić” in Omiš. His students won more than sixty 1st places on state and international competitions. Petar Čulić is an official representative of D’Addario strings and Accord Case, and he plays a guitar made by Leonardo de Gregorio.