Dear colleagues and friends, esteemed partners,

It is our great pleasure to inform you that Croatian composer Dr. Ivo Josipovic has been elected President of Croatia on 10th January 2010.

After obtaining the largest number of votes among 12 candidates in the first round, Ivo, who was the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), received the support of more then 60% of the voters in a runoff against the independent candidate Milan Bandic, the mayor of Zagreb.

Therewith, the Croatian people voted for a man of education and culture and made him one of the very few artists and the first composer as a head of state in history. Ivo Josipovic will have the privilege to lead Croatia towards the full EU-membership in 2012.

In his former artistic, business and political career, Ivo did great achievements for the benefit of culture, arts, music and authors’ rights in Croatia.

Dr. Ivo Josipovic was born in Zagreb in 1957. He pursued parallel careers in music and law, obtaining a degree in composition at the Zagreb Music Academy in 1983 and a doctorate in law. He is a leading Croatian expert in criminal law and international law. At the focus of his activities were war crimes and human rights. He is a professor at the University of Zagreb Law School. His compositional oeuvre comprises around 50 works for orchestral, chamber, solo and vocal ensembles, some of them being prized in Croatia and at international competitions.

Ivo worked as the Secretary General of the HDS Croatian Composer Society (ECF member) between 1987 and 2000 and contributed greatly in transforming it to a modern and efficient society. He is stil a Board member of HDS. Further he was developing the Croatian collecting society for musical copyright protection. Josipovic is a member of Croatian Parliament since 2003. Snce 1991 Josipovic has been as well the head of the Zagreb Music Biennale.

We wish Ivo Josipovic good luck and great success in his new highly important position and all the best for contemporary music and culture in Croatia and in Europe.