WMU HOME > ABOUT WMU > WMU NEWS Classical guitarist gives concert in Dalton Center Jan. 19, 2005 KALAMAZOO--Classical guitarist Robert Belinic, winner of the 2002 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, performs Tuesday, Jan. 25, at 8:15 p.m. in the Dalton Center Recital Hall at Western Michigan University. General admission tickets for Belinic's performance are $10 and $5 for students and senior citizens and are available through the Miller Auditorium Ticket Office and at the door. Belinic is the first guitarist to join the roster of Young Concert Artists. He was also awarded the Fergus New Artist Prize of YCA and the Beracasa Foundation Prize for an appearance at the Montpellier Radio-France Festival. In 2001, Belinic was the sole winner of the Young Concert Artists European Auditions in Leipzig, Germany. Born in 1981 in Zagreb, Croatia, Belinic grew up in the nearby town of Popova. He played the drums beginning at the age of three. When he was eight years old, he starred in "Tale from Croatia," the first film released in the newly-independent country. Belinic began to study classical guitar at age 11 at the music school in Kutina with Zvonko Susnjar, and continued his studies with Ante Cagalj in Zagreb. Every year since 1995, he has participated in the "International Summer School for Guitar" on the Croatian island of Hvar. He is studying at the Music Conservatory in Augsburg, Germany, with Franz Halasz. Media contact: Kevin West, 269 387-4678, kevin.west@wmich.edu WMU News Office of University Relations Western Michigan University 1903 W Michigan Ave Kalamazoo MI 49008-5433 USA 269 387-8400 www.wmich.edu/wmu/news