Franco Ferrera Cvitanović is a member of the Croatian Government’s Council on Croatians Abroad. He has recorded two rock albums, composed music for the Šibenik-based Laudantes band and is active in the work of folklore ensembles in Santiago de Chile, including the Domovina Association. He led the Klapa Zvijezde women’s vocal ensemble and the Klapa Južno More men’s ensemble.
The Split branch office of the Croatian Heritage Foundation organised a July 13 concert featuring guitarist Franco Ferrera Cvitanović at the Split premises of the Alliance Francaise. Mr Ferrera Cvitanović played his own compositions for the Split audience. He was born in Chile and has ancestors of Croatian extraction. His grandfather Ivan Cvitanović was born in Trogir in 1873 and later migrated to Chile.
Franco Ferrera Cvitanović has recorded two rock albums, one of which was nominated for the APES (Chilean Association of Entertainment, Art and Culture Journalists) 2007 Best New Band Prize. He is currently working for EMI Music creating music for television programmes. His Croatian roots saw him active in the work of folklore ensembles in Santiago de Chile, including the Domovina Association. He led the Klapa Zvijezde women’s vocal ensemble and the Klapa Južno More men’s ensemble. This year he is working with his own ensemble, Jadranski Biser, performing traditional Croatian music.
An interesting fact is that he composed music for the Šibenik-based Laudantes band that won them first place at the Frama Festival in Herzegovina. In 2011 he wrote music for verse by Dinko Škevin, performed by the Klapa Neverin women’s vocal ensemble. He is currently active on the Araucanto project, which delves into the Spanish conquest of Chile, and with the Los Alfiles Negros group for which his father and uncle also wrote. He is also creating a doomsday rock opera through which he hopes to raise awareness of the need for environmental preservation and universal love. Franco Ferrera Cvitanović is a member of the Croatian Government’s Council on Croatians Abroad.
Text by: Branka Bezić Filipović