Vjeko Dimter, bugarija/guitar Vjekoslav Dimter was born in Osijek, Croatia, in 1969 and began to play tambura and guitar at the age of 10. He later became a member of the Milica Krizan Folk Dance Ensembler of Osijek; while performing on their 1989 North American tour, he auditioned and was accepted to the Duquesne University Tamburitzans, where he performed as a musician 1989-1993. At Duquesne, he studied psychology and jazz guitar. Over the past 15 years, Vjeko has written more than 50 songs, which have been recorded and performed by tamburaši throughout the U.S. and Croatia, including Jerry Grcevich, Orchestra Boduli, Peter Kosovec, Slanina, Šarmeri, and Gazde. In 1995, Vjeko relocated to Zagreb to work with Šarmeri and Gazde, composing some of their most successful hits, including Sarmeri's Znam Da Me Ne Voliš and Gazde's U Snu i ljubavi. In 1997 the latter song won the Croatian recording industry's Porin award, the equivalent of a Grammy. He received the Porin award again in 2002, for the tune Sve Bi Dao Za Nju he wrote in collaboration with Croatian pop star Oliver Dragojevic. Since 1996, Vjeko has lived and worked in Philadelphia. In 2000, he received the TAA founder’s award. He created the immensely popular www.tamburaland.com website in 2001 and continues to serve as webmaster. Among other things, it has helped tamburaši across the world coordinate on creating and producing contemporary Croatian music. Also in 2001, with Peter Kosovec he produced the CD Kuda idu godine, containing 11 original compositions, including the hit song Selo moje malo. email
	Marko Dreher, brac/violin Marko Dreher was born into a family of Croatian musicians in Chicago in 1983. He began classical violin studies and started sitting in with his father’s tamburica band at the age of four and has played tamburica professionally since age seven. Marko has toured with I Solisti Di Zagreb, as well as with such greats as Zvonko Bogdan and Miro Skoro. He performs regularly with the Jerry Grcevich Tamburica Orkestar and with Otrov and Harmonia. In 1998 Marko was the youngest person to ever receive the TAA founder’s award. Marko has degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and The Cleveland Institute of Music and is on the faculty of the Vamos School of Music. He has served on the staff at the Eastern European Folklife Center (EEFC), which runs internationally acclaimed summer school programs to train Balkan musicians, singers and dancers. In 2004 he taught classes in violin and tamburica. email
	John Huckle, brac John Huckle was born in Pittsburgh in 1977 and began playing jazz trumpet at age seven. At the age of 15, he joined and performed with The City Music Center of Pittsburgh at Duquesne University to intensively study with jazz professors and professional jazz musicians from the city of Pittsburgh. A late comer to tambura, John began playing at the age of 16 with the Duquesne Junior Tamburitzans. He performed from 1995-1999 as a musician and dancer with the Duquesne University Tamburitzans. While at Duquesne John studied Information Technology and graduated with a BS in Business. John is trained in both brac and percussion, and has played for Trubaduri Ensemble (Pittsburgh) and Mark Špišic Tamburitza Orchestra (Mississauga, Ont.). John has also played with the Jerry Grcevich Orchestra and 8601 from Chicago. In addition to musical activities, John is current member of the Duquesne University Tamburitzans Alumni dance ensemble. email
	David Kosovec, berda David Kosovec began playing piano and tambura at age five. At age seven, he joined the Detroit Star Junior Tamburitzans in his first participative tambura experience. As he grew older, he played with other folk ensembles in the Detroit area, including the Detroit Tamburitza Orchestra and Tamburaški Orkestar Momci. He played numerous Eastern European instruments as a musician with the Duquesne University Tamburitzans (1998-2002), with a focus on the tambura. He is music director for the Golden Triangle Junior Tamburitzans in Pittsburgh, where he also is music instructor for Folklore Ensemble Hrvatski Tanac. In 2003, he received the annual TAA founder’s award, granted to a young person who demonstrates an outstanding devotion to the preservation of tambura music and Slavic culture. In addition to Otrov, he plays with the following tambura orchestras: Kumovi, Jerry Grcevich Orchestra, Tamburaški Orkestar Momci, and Mark Špišic Tamburitza Orchestra. He was a founding member of Otrov (2003) and serves as its business manager. email
	Peter Kosovec, prim/brac Critically acclaimed as a composer and one of an amazing crop of young American primaši, Peter Kosovec was born in 1980 into a family of Croatian-American musicians in Detroit and began formal musical instruction at age seven. He created his first CD at age 13, sharing vocals with his mother and sister; the CD sold almost 1,000 copies. By 16, he had mastered all the instruments in the tamburitza family, in addition to receiving formal training on trumpet and piano. Also at 16, he composed the song Sviraj Cijelu Noc that became one of the hits of the 1997 hits of the acclaimed Zlatne Žice Slavonije festival in Požega, Croatia. He used the composition as the title song for his second CD, for which he musically arranged, performed, and recorded all instrumentation in his home studio at age 17. He was a featured vocalist and musician with the Duquesne University Tamburitzans for four years (1998-2002), during which time he traveled and performed across the U.S. His third CD, Peter – Vrati Mi Scre (“Return My Heart”) was recorded during a six-week summer break in 2000. In 2001, he received the annual Tamburitza Association of America (TAA) founder’s award, granted to a young person who demonstrates an outstanding devotion to the preservation of tambura music and Slavic culture. With Vjekoslav Dimter, he composed, produced and released two CDs of original Croatian music: Peter: Kako Da Te Volim (2000) and Kuda Idu Godine (2002). email
	Kruno Špišic, brac/guitar Kruno started his musical training on tamburica and guitar at age 10. In his teens, he took up the guitar and studied rock and blues throughout his high school years, honing his technical prowess and improvisational abilities. It was not until studying Jazz at Duquesne University (1995-1999) that Kruno was introduced to Django-style guitar and began a passionate study of the Gypsy Jazz genre. After graduation, he began playing the Toronto jazz circuit with the guitar trio Swing 53, where he gained an extensive repertoire and a more mature understanding of the gypsy jazz idiom. In January of 2002, Kruno returned to Pittsburgh and formed the gypsy jazz trio, Caravan. While in Caravan, he created a new branch of gypsy jazz by fusing Eastern European folk traditions with Django swing. This new merging of sounds enthralled audiences with its sweet Balkan melodies and hot Gypsy swing. Kruno has performed at folk festivals and jazz clubs all over the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan, bringing his unique blend of swing and folk themes to exhilarated audiences. He served on staff at the EEFC summer program in 2005, teaching classes in tamburica and beginner and intermediate Croatian singing. He is preparing to release his first solo CD in early 2006. In 2006 he is planning a French concert tour with fellow musicians Kalman Magar and Alexander Fedoriouk. email