{"id":4286,"date":"2025-11-21T23:10:34","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T22:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.katjarestovic.com\/?p=4286"},"modified":"2026-03-12T23:24:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T22:24:45","slug":"tenor-producer-humanitarian-zoran-tomaic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.katjarestovic.com\/en\/multimedia\/tenor-producer-humanitarian-zoran-tomaic\/","title":{"rendered":"Tenor, Producer, Humanitarian: Zoran Tomai\u0107"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Volim Istru \u2013 Music as a Mission<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are artists who build their careers quietly, without noise, yet leave a lasting mark. One of them is Zoran Tomai\u0107 \u2013 tenor, producer, cultural professional and, as many in Istria would say, a man who has turned art into a calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born on April 7, 1969, in Pula, Tomai\u0107 began his musical journey in his hometown, where alongside his regular education he attended the \u201cIvan Mateti\u0107 Ronjgov\u201d Music School, studying the accordion. The true turning point came in 1992, when he enrolled in solo singing studies at the \u201cAgostino Steffani\u201d State Conservatory in Castelfranco Veneto. In the class of Maestro Osvaldo Alemanno, collaborator and friend of the legendary Mario Del Monaco, he graduated and later earned his master\u2019s degree as a tenor, mastering the bel canto technique of the renowned Italian vocal tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From Sacred Masterpieces to the Greatest Stages<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a concert singer, he has performed with numerous orchestras, including the Zagreb Philharmonic and the Croatian Radiotelevision Symphony Orchestra, performing a repertoire that ranges from sacred music and opera arias to Neapolitan songs and Croatian traditional melodies. A special place in his work belongs to sacred compositions such as Mozart\u2019s Requiem and Haydn\u2019s Theresienmesse, which he has performed throughout Italy and Croatia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his ten-year stay in Italy (1992\u20132001), he gained valuable experience in organization and cultural management, which would later shape his work in Istria. During the Croatian War of Independence, he organized \u201cConcerts for Peace,\u201d connecting Croatian and Italian audiences through music \u2013 at a time when music meant far more than art alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cVolim Istru\u201d \u2013 A Project That Became a Movement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a producer of major cultural events, Tomai\u0107 has left a strong mark through projects such as \u201cEvviva Milotti\u201d and \u201cVolim Istru.\u201d The latter, in cooperation with Caritas of the Diocese of Pore\u010d and Pula, grew into one of the largest humanitarian initiatives in the region, raising significant funds to support families in need and to equip the General Hospital in Pula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, his engagement extends beyond the stage. Since 2023, he has been working at HRT \u2013 HR Radio Pula as an author, editor, and host of the program \u201cVolim Istru,\u201d where every Sunday from 3 to 4 p.m. he welcomes distinguished artists and cultural figures from Croatia and abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Singing as Prayer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In one interview, he expressed a thought that perhaps best describes his relationship with music: \u201cSinging is like prayer, like the presence of God beside the singer.\u201d This sentence is more than a poetic image. It encapsulates his artistic and spiritual journey \u2013 from a boy singing in a church choir to a tenor performing in basilicas, cathedrals, and concert halls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A Meeting That Last<\/strong>
<\/strong>
<\/strong>As Katja Restovi\u0107 emphasizes, Zoran Tomai\u0107 is not only a singer with a powerful voice, but also a man of deep social responsibility. His work shows that art is not an end in itself \u2013 it is a bridge and a way for a community to breathe fully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet every professional story also has its personal side. Restovi\u0107 says their acquaintance has lasted for more than fifteen years. They met at a time when she was working at the Public Open University of Pore\u010d, organizing a classical music festival in the Euphrasian Basilica in Pore\u010d. One day he appeared at a rehearsal \u2013 without distance, simply among the musicians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was not a meeting between a \u201cgreat tenor\u201d and an organizer. It was a meeting between two people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was immediately struck by his openness. He was sociable, warm, cordial \u2013 someone who speaks just as naturally with the audience, colleagues, and the technical crew behind the stage. That first impression never faded. Over the years, they continued to meet through projects, concerts, studios, and conversations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their collaboration intensified especially after Tomai\u0107 began working at the radio station in Pula. There, in the studio, their encounters gained a new dimension \u2013 more intimate and creative. It is rare, Restovi\u0107 concludes, to meet an artist who retains such simplicity and openness. He simply \u201cembraces\u201d you with his warmth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Volim Istru \u2013 Music as a Mission There are artists who build their careers quietly, without noise, yet leave a lasting mark. One of them is Zoran Tomai\u0107 \u2013 tenor, producer, cultural professional and, as many in Istria would say, a man who has turned art into a calling. Born on April 7, 1969, in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4284,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,66],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4286","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-multimedia","8":"category-causes"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.katjarestovic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.katjarestovic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.katjarestovic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katjarestovic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katjarestovic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4286"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.katjarestovic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4291,"href":"https:\/\/www.katjarestovic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4286\/revisions\/4291"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katjarestovic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.katjarestovic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katjarestovic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katjarestovic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}