I have hit the ground running and there is a lot going on.
1) Branding Hrvatske 2 is the second seminar aimed at outstanding candidates in Croatia. This year it will be held in Zagreb. I have been invited to speak along with Mate Rimac, Ivan Mažuranić, Ante Mandić, and my dear friend Daniel Kolak, There are still spots for candidates available. Read on for more information about the seminar and how to register.
Croatia as a Brand?
Zagreb March 11-12, 2016
Branding Croatia 2 is a professional seminar in public diplomacy adapted for entrepreneurs, artists and successful managers of state companies and agencies. It will be held in the multimedia hall of Hrvatska Matica Iseljenika (Croatian Heritage Foundation) located on Trg Stjepana Radića in Zagreb, along with exclusive access for the top 30 candidates from all over the Croatia.
Guest speakers: Nenad Bach, New York (USA), Mate Rimac, Zagreb (Croatia), Ivan Mažuranić, Geneva (Swtzerland), Ante Mandić, Zagreb (Croatia) and Daniel Kolak, New Jersey (USA).
Organizers: Petar Ćurić Agency and Croatian World Network (CROWN) in partnership with Hrvatska Matica Iseljenika (Croatian Heritage Foundation) and sponsored by the City of Zagreb.
BRANDING HRVATSKE 2 je stručni seminar iz javne diplomacije prilagođen poduzetnicima, obrtnicima i uspješnim rukovoditeljima državnih tvrtki i agencija. Događaj će se održati u MULTIMEDIJALNOJ DVORANI Hrvatske matice iseljenika, Zagreb, Trg Stjepana Radića, uz EKSKLUZIVAN PRISTUP 30 najboljih kandidata iz čitave Hrvatske.
Gosti-predavači: Nenad Bach, New York (USA), Mate Rimac, Zagreb (HR), Ivan Mažuranić, Geneve (CH), Ante Mandić, Zagreb (HR) i Daniel Kolak, New Jersey (USA).
Organizatori:Petar Ćurić Agencija i Hrvatska svjetska mreža (CROWN Croatian World Network) u partnerstvu sa Hrvatskom maticom iseljenika i pod pokroviteljstvom Grada Zagreba.
2) We have launched a petition drive to demand direct flight to Croatia from the United States!
Dubrovnik, Zagreb, New York and Split are world's most vibrant and entrepreneurial cities but DO NOT have an overseas direct non stop flights which could connect our cities in just over 8 hours. Through our petition we can show the Airlines there's strong demand for a direct New York - Dubrovnik - Zagreb flight, providing essential market research on how profitable the route could be.
4) For those of you following presidential politics check out this video my dear friend Victor Zimet made for the Bernie Sanders campaign featuring my song "I Will Follow You". Look for it on TV or watch it here on YouTube!
The Nenad Bach Band is: Nenad Bach: lead vocal, piano, acoustic guitar Joe DeSanctis: keyboards, backing vocal, melodica Richard Lindsey: bass, backing vocal Michael O’Keefe: drums, backing vocal Al Orlo: guitar
Here is a blast from the past found while cleaning the office: A never-before published photo of Nenad speaking with Princess Diana and Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran taken on September 12, 1995 in Modena, Italy backstage of Pavarotti and Friends. You can see the brim of his hat in the upper right hand corner. Photo taken by Danny Schechter.
Finally, there is a rumor is that Nenad will be performing this year in Sibenik, Dubrovnik, Zagreb, Jerusalem, , and Buenos Aires. Updates to follow in upcoming newsletters.
2015 was an exciting year to say the least. Let the Winter Peace roll in, and I would like to wish everyone a belated merry Christmas and happy Hanukkah let's all work for world peace in one hour in 2016!
1. Mia Slavenska. Scoring a documentary film about Croatian most prominent ballerina. See the atmosphere at the recording session at Ante Gelo's studio in Zagreb. Film Mia, A Dancer's Journey will be distributed in 2016. Featured Klapa Nostalgija.
Starring: Blythe Danner as the voice of Mia Featuring interviews with Mitzi Gaynor, Edward Villella, Frederic Franklin, dance historian Lynn Garafola, dance critics and former Ballet Russe dancers. Genre: Feature Documentary. Directed By: Maria Ramas & Kate Johnson. Produced by Brenda Brkusic http://www.miasfilm.com
Photography magazine devoted to creative photography published as a PDF e-zine and read in over 200 countries worldwide.
3. Clown Magazine reviewed my EP.
"Golden Slumbers is a total reworking of The Beatles song, which shows the high caliber that Nenad Bach has as an artist, with his band who are just as talented."
We are featured on the front page: www.clownmagazine.co.uk (go down to the Music eXtra section)
4. 15 years ago I met Jamie Cohen backstage at Saturday Night Live and we stayed friends since. In the meantime Jamie became one of the most prominent and progressive teachers. I was a part of the virtual classes from Kuala Lumpur and Toronto...includes my meetings with U2... etc. Here is what I wrote on Amazon about the book:
Let me start with the statement: Jamie Cohen is a brilliant man. This is not just a book, because it has links to many videos, films etc. This is not just a manual for teachers although every single teacher and a student should read it. This is not just an Autobiography of a man who is in search of his own creativity. This is all above. A new form of literature that combines a practical advice in education that reads like a novel with the touch of glamour, struggle and so much needed solution. Jamie found his home, his domain, his passion and his nobility that only the greatest can find it. It is an easy read with a lot of descriptions that defines that inner space between words and emotions. It is intriguing almost like a thriller deeply rooted in Human Rights issues as well. This is the way all student should be taught in 21st century to unleash their own creativity. If Jamie could be the teacher to all the students in the world, The World would be much better place, with no wars and more justice and happiness for all.
"Can Music Change the World?" - A Grade 9 English Classroom SOLE (Self Organized Learning Environment) by Jamie Cohen and Nenad Bach, TanenbaumCHAT Independent high school, Toronto, Ontario, Canada https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiidKbxUnS4
In the acknowledgements:
"To Nenad Bach, whose friendship, creative collaborations across three continents, and support has been invaluable to my growth both personally and creatively. Our Self-Organized Learning Environment music classroom projects were amongst the most rewarding classes I have ever taught."
Description of the book:
What's the one trait students universally say they want in a teacher?
A sense of humor. This practical and entertaining book shows teachers how they can specifically bring more humor into students' lives because when they're laughing, they're learning.
In Jamie Mason Cohen's super, easy-to-read and entertaining style he applies the stories from his time at Saturday Night Live to his decade-long award-winning teaching career. He is aTED-Huff Post International Teaching Award recipient and TEDx speaker. It is a book that inspires yet is grounded in actionable strategies.
The author has drawn on his fascinating contacts in the world of comedy, magic, human rights and psychology to make applicable connections that can transform not just any classroom, but also the mindset of any teacher.
Humor in a class equals increased student engagement, less stress on the teacher and student, and better overall results. Jamie Mason Cohen shows that any teacher can add more light, fun and creativity in their classroom through strategies tested for years and backed by real data.
The Nenad Bach Band is: Nenad Bach: lead vocal, piano, acoustic guitar Joe DeSanctis: keyboards, backing vocal, melodica Richard Lindsey: bass, backing vocal Michael O’Keefe: drums, backing vocal Al Orlo: guitar
Always illuminating and exciting to read about your adventures, Nenad. I remember fondly your time in Dubuque during 2015, creating so many precious memories for me and so many others. I am so thankful to have you as a friend. And just to have you in this world, which you improve immeasurably just by being your sweet self.
[Due to technical problems, we are delayed with postings. Big apologies].
October 8, 2015
Dear All,
Several months passed like a wink and here we go into another Fall or should I say Autumn of 2015.
There is no perfect moment to start a family, build a home, produce an album or finish the Newsletter... I am trying to finish this Newsletter for the last few weeks and finally today is the day. I will try to remember at least 5% including a performance with the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra and visit to the Emergency Room in Croatia.
I am searching for boredom but can't find it. Here are few Events I would like to share with you.
Dubuque Symphony Orchestra
Danny Schechter Memorial
Branding You Seminar in Pula, Croatia
Dr. Daniel Kolak Essay: A Good Morning with Nenad Bach
Mia the Dancer, a new film produced by Brenda Brkusic
Radio interview with the legendary Goran Pelaic Strelkov for Radio Split
Documentary Everything Is Forever gets another great review at Croatia Week
The Band's acceptance speech at the 1994 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
If you are looking to other ways of supporting your passion, ask me about it.
Started working on a New Album, with the working title Northern Star
1. Dubuque
My favorite city in America, since I first visited Dubuque, Iowa in April of 2012. Dear friend and my agent Cynthia Nelms Byrne organized this performance with the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra. See videos done by Digital Dubuque. Conductor was William Intriligator. Just look at the photo and see intensity and passion of this great man. Orchestral arrangements for these three songs done by Olja Desic in record time. Place: Botanical Gardens of Dubuque, in front of 1500 - 2000 people. The rain stopped just few hours before the performance. On June 28th 2015 at 6 PM.
My dearest friend Danny Schechter died on March 19th 2015. His Memorial was held on June 27th 2015 at 1:30 PM at the Judson Memorial Church. I played Everything is Forever on a piano. Danny was one of my best friends and one of the most important independent journalists in the world. I miss him dearly.
In an essence to make it to Dubuque on time I had to catch a plane after the memorial, but the traffic was horrible and I missed the plane. Few dramatic hours and I ended up taking the last plane from Newark, New Jersey to Chicago where two young man (Filip Zadro and his brother) gave me a ride to Dubuque - arriving at 3 am. Rehearsal with Symphony Orchestra at 10 am.
Concert in Dubuque went beyond my expectations. Had a breakfast with David Byler, Cindy and Bob Byrne and went on a plane to Chicago, New York. Next day to Zagreb via Amsterdam. Thank you all of you who supported a crowd funding campaign for me to be able to perform in Dubuque for the 3rd time in little over a year time.
3. Branding You Seminar
Held a seminar for 18 people in Pula. Matica Hrvatska, with a great bunch of talented and entrepreneurial folks. The seminar lasted the whole day, the 21st of July 2015. Ending with our presence in the Live TV Show - Shushur. Played the piano. All of the participants stayed in touch with each other, helping each other. New friendships and old renewals. Yes I ended up in the Emergency Room with the heat and exhaustion. That day it was 100 -105 Fahrenheit (over 40 Celsius). Yes, dramatic and fun at the same time. In the second part Sasa Cvetojevic and Stjepan Hauser (2cellos) joined us.
Evo jedne fotografije s tek održanog, iznimno uspješnog stručnog seminara NENAD BACH: "Branding Hrvatske u svijetu - Branding YOU!" u Puli, u organizaciji Udruge "Slavni u Istri". Na osnovi dostavljenih životopisa selektirano je 18 ponajboljih kandidata iz svih krajeva Hrvatske koji su imali sreće pohađati ovaj seminar. To su bili: MARKO KELEMEN iz Zagreba, IT specialist, poduzetnik i vlasnik nekoliko firmi; MIRNA BRKANOVIĆ iz Munchena, filmska režiserka; SONJA TUDOR iz Zagreba, kulturni turizam, direktorica turističke agencije; DANIEL MIKULACO sa Raba, živi i radi u Puli, Sveučilišni profesor i predsjednik Matice hrvatske - ogranak Pula; PATRIZIA MILANI iz Pule, dugogodišnja uspješna direktorica privatne građevinske firme, predsjednica Lions kluba za Pulu te vlasnica branda ženskih torbica; IRENA VUKMANOV ŠIMOKOV iz Rovinja, predsjednica prve hrvatske Fair Trade udruge za promicanje pravedne trgovine; BORIS BELAMARIĆ iz Šibenika, vlasnik tvornice mobilnih telefona, EU fondovi, poduzetništvo u sportu; ASTRID KULJANIĆ iz Rijeke, živi u New Yorku, područje glazbeno-scenska industrija; GERMANO FIORANTI iz Vodnjana, zubotehničar i vlasnik ambulante zubne tehnike te voditelj umjetničke galerije, zdravstveni turizam; IVICA BADURINA s Paga živi u Bakru, skladatelj, autor nekih od najpoznatjihih hrvatskih klapskih hitova svih vremena: "Vilo moja", "Croatio iz duše te ljubim", "Nedamo te pismo naša", "Da te mogu pismom zvati"; LJILJANA SOVIĆ BRKIČIĆ iz Zavidovića živi u Zagrebu, farmaceutika i menadžment u zdravstvu, ZRINKA VLAŠIĆ iz Višnjevca kraj Osijeka, vlasnica Air Panonia tvrtke za poduku pilota, predavačica na ekonomskoj i stručnoj školi u Osijeku; VLADIMIR MIHAJLOVIĆ iz Osijeka, suvlasnik i glavni urednik časopisa „Poduzetnik“; BRUNO KRAJCAR iz Pule, predsjednik Hrvatske glazbene unije za Istru, radijski voditelj i urednik te glazbenik/skladatelj; ANA BEDRINA iz Pule dugogodišnja predsjednica Hrvatske matice iseljenika za Istru; ROBERT SCHENK Pule, vlasnik nekoliko poduzeća, izgradio globalnog market-leadera iz područja sanduka i kutija za glazbene instrumente. Pokretač eko-naselja kraj Topuskog + poseban gost iznenađenja SAŠA CVETOJEVIĆ (osnivač Zagrebačkog inkubatora poduzetništva i član hrvatske mreže poslovnih anđela-ulagača) koji nam se pridružio poslijepodne, a za ručkom je s nama bio i STJEPAN HAUSER.
4. Brilliant philosopher Dr. Daniel Kolak's essay.
A GOOD MORNING WITH NENAD BACH
I’ve known some great musicians and have had the good fortune to play with a few legendary ones—from Charlie Byrd and Dizzie Gillespie to Frank Zappa and Jordan Rudess—among whom I find Nenad Bach closest to my soul. Anyone who might think it’s only because we’re both Croatian-Americans would miss the nature of the connection in which time and space, cul-ture and backgrounds don’t matter. Nenad Bach the man and the music are universal—the direct expression of a talent and genius as much a part of every particular individual and place in which the World Spirit takes root. Nenad has that rare ability of being an artist of a particular place in which one discovers the universal in the individual, the ideal in the real. Of this I was reminded yet again just the other day, after yet another magical and long overdue “hang.”
Nenad’s nickname for me is “Tanker,” which I also have taken to calling him—a term he came up years ago (neither of us remembers any more how or where we first met) to describe folks like us who tend to be doing so many “heavy” things all the time, so loaded up with creative emersions in the world that we tend to pass each other like tankers in the night. So lately we’ve been missing each other. He called me as he happened to be passing by my house along the Palisades in New York, having taken his Tesla car for service in Jersey! Quite the perfect context for a summit between a musician and a philosopher, no? Like little kids sharing a new toy, we scurried up the mountain with him flooring it (I was worried we’d take off and leave our kids orphans) in his $90,000 Tesla that uses no gas, is completely green, all the while explaining breathlessly the engineering, design, efficiency, the way we rave about musical instruments! A joyride up the mountain in a Tesla – that is Nenad Bach!
Then, the moment we were back at the house he makes fast for my music room, no invitation needed, gets up on the stage (ignoring the drinks I’d brought by the sofa), sits at the piano and starts playing all my favorite hits of his, then trying out his new one which had me in tears and stitches. Now this too is just so Nenad Bach! I don’t know how many professional or famous rockers you’ve had drop by your house, but typically trying to get them to play at all is not so easy, and to get them to play their standards is like pulling teeth! Not with Nenad. Never mind that he’d recently played a major concert and was getting ready for his next Really Big Show in Dubuque (with a full orchestra backing up his band!). (Question: what do Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Chicago, and Dubuque have in common? Answer: Nenad Bach!) Moreover, each song—and this is just really almost too easy to miss—he played with the same intense innocence, an almost Heisenbergian uncertainty, the notes and words emerging out of some hidden quantum entanglement for the first time, waiting for the chords to lift them higher, seeking to match each sound with the bon mot. The notes, the words, the expressions, all present themselves as if out of nowhere to exist. This to me is one of the most amazing qualities of any artist in any medium, to retain that kind of mystical connection with your own creation (think of how often we are the most careless with our immediate family members, our children who are after all our creations most intimate). Nothing smug, cavalier, jaded about Nenad Bach. He is always fresh, beautiful, moving. Unlike some musicians I know who have lost this sort of childlike intimacy with themselves and their art, Nenad remains ever connected, plugged in, a totality in tonality! Each note, each phrase, you feel it because he too feels it afresh, awash in unabashed innocence. I felt during this impromptu private concert as if the whole world were there in my own music room listening, the significance of a tour for the tens of thousands! Timeless, undiffused with any sense of past or future, an esthetic cosmos in which “everything is forever” yet “nothing feels the same,” in itself an ode expressed in the unique key signature sound of Nenad Bach.
Many more things deserve to be said about his music, about who and what he is and has accomplished as a man, an artist, a musician. Much has already been said by others and needs no repetition from me. But what I feel moved to add now, for the record, are just a few more thoughts, not as a friend, not as fan, not as a musician—but as a philosopher.
The great 19th century German idealist Arthur Schopenhauer, a neo-Kantian and a great lover of Bach—that’s right, Bach!—described the innermost reality of Being as numinous and unreachable by the human intellect; Schopenhauer likened reality as it exists in itself as being an impenetrable fortress . . . to which he claimed there exists a secret passageway, a tunnel for our consciousness. And that tunnel, this great German genius shows, is none other than music.
When we experience music, whether the sorrow of the soul or the uplifting of the spirit, we are experiencing directly the very heart of being, reaching and ascending beyond ourselves. This to me is what great musicians like Nenad Bach achieve not just for themselves but for all of us; no mere entertainment, this, the creation of spiritual passages reaching into yet throughourselves beyond the limits of our own intellectual and emotional limits into each other to universal truths of the sublime that connect us all. How Nenad Bach achieves this in notes, rhythms, and words is itself I think a signature expression of the Croatian Spirit, freedom trying to realize itself anon whether in moonbeams across the rooftops of Zagreb, the sun drenching itself into the stones of Dubrovnik, or the crepuscular waves along the shores of the majestic Mississippi in Dubuque! In that unique accent of Nenad’s voice I hear the ancient lore of the Adriatic refreshed in the spirit of freedom that is America, part John Lennon and part Arlo Guthrie, the plainsong of ordinary folk fearlessly expressed with crystal clarity. Nenad Bach, a powerful rocker against the illusory idolatries of isolation, bigotry, violence, advances the liberation esthetic of humanity, sings hymns to which all nations, all peoples, should aspire . . . to go higher!
From morning into the afternoon we played, we talked, we teased each other and we laughed. A joyous lunch of Croatian smorgasbord—wine, beer, cheese, salami, olives, making pigs of our-selves! We dreamed and schemed the way we always do when we are together, exactly as I im-agine we both played as little boys, hanging out with our best friends.
I hope these pictures show a bit of the extraordinary in the ordinary that can be found between old friends after a joyride up the mountain in a Tesla, but maybe, just maybe, among old and new friends all across the globe . . . a Good Morning with Nenad Bach!
Dr. Daniel Kolak Director, Liberal Studies Professor, Department of Philosophy William Paterson University of New Jersey (WPUNJ) Affiliate, Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science (RuCCS) Member, International Institute of Philosophy, Paris Editorial Board, Synthese: International Journal of Epistemology, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science
I highly recommend this project about Mia Slavenska. Produced by Maria Ramas and Brenda Brkusic. See the IndieGOGo video and help as much as you can. Some perks are my CDs and Victor Zimet | Stephanie Silber movie Everything is Forever. Mia Slavenska is a Croatian and a World cultural heritage. Be part of it, honoring the legendary dancer.
6. Radio interview with the legendary Goran Pelaic Strelkov for Radio Split, while in Split and at the celebration of 300 Years of Sinjska Alka + The 20th Celebration of the Victory in the Homeland War - Operation Storm, Knin 2015
7. Documentary Everything Is Forever gets another great review
‘Everything is Forever’ – A Cinematic Journey Through War & Peace, & Rock N’ Roll
“He is like a Croatian John Lennon that has this pop mastery going on and also lyrics that are meaningful to humanity,” is how Michael Landy, owner of Siam Records, describes musician Nenad Bach in the engrossing, gripping and heartfelt documentary ‘Everything Is Forever’…
Everything Is Forever, directed by Vic Zimet and co-produced by Stephanie Silber, is a fascinating cinematic journey through war and peace, and rock and roll profiling the charismatic Croatian musician.
Bach left a thriving musical career in Croatia in 1984 to go to America where he became a worldwide ambassador of peace, spreading his message of goodwill by meeting and performing for heads of state and appearing with fellow musicians such as Bono, Pavarotti, and Garth Hudson of The Band.
The film, which has won special jury awards at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival and Starigrad Paklenica International Film Festival, also follows the tireless Bach to Croatia and traces how he successfully got the first Croatian ‘klapa’ group an international contract. This ‘human’ documentary is from the heart and is definitely worth watching if you are a music fan or not.
8. Just few weeks ago I discovered this video on YouTube. Watch Rick Danko's face when Garth mentions my name. I was and am honored. Set at the same table with The Band, next tables with Elton John, Eric Clapton, Paul and Linda McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Bono, Chuck Berry and so on... after a whole night partying at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City, Rick and Garth went with me to Irvington NY where I lived with my family. Rick went with me to wait for my son Ivo and his school bus. What a class act (The whole group The Band)
9. If you are looking for a business opportunity, please contact me and I will send you details.
The sky above Charlotte, North Carolina
10. Just started working on a new album Northern Star. It will be a new sound for me and my band. Very exciting time and process of creation. If you are interested in the process and want to preorder the vinyl, download or CD, send us an email.
This was the longest Newsletter, but it is only a small portion of what happened. Stay warm and dry.
The Nenad Bach Band is: Nenad Bach: lead vocal, piano, acoustic guitar Joe DeSanctis: keyboards, backing vocal, melodica Richard Lindsey: bass, backing vocal Michael O’Keefe: drums, backing vocal Al Orlo: guitar
My Tesla parked in front of the Croatian Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Nenad I enjoy your music very much, I found your News Letter very interested and informative , I specially enjoy the close friendship that you share with your dear fiend, Dr. Daniel Kelak "Tanker ", I sincerely wish you all the happiness in the world and may God continue to guide your foot steps, your friend
