Northumberland residents organise online music concert to help Croatia earthquake victims

They have collaborated with Zagreb-based promoter, Branimir Kopecky, to organise an international music event featuring musicians from Croatia, the UK, Bosnia, Serbia, and Canada.

Just before Christmas, much of Croatia was rocked by several earthquakes, centred around the town of Petrinja, about 30 miles south of the capital city, Zagreb.

Several people were killed, and over 24,000 people adversely affected, many losing their homes. Buildings in the town and its surrounding villages remain too unsafe for residents to return to collect their belongings.

Neil works for a company, CloudSense, that has an office in Zagreb, so has got to know and love the country.

“My Croatian colleagues have become friends,“ he said. “They’ve been very warm and welcoming to me when I’ve worked there, so I wanted to give something back to the country.

"Before we moved to Berwick, we regularly put live concerts on in London, so sharing some great music felt the best way we could raise awareness and money for the people affected.”

The contributing artists span a broad geographical and stylistic range including acoustic, Bosnian sevdah, Klezmer, British folk, and classical. Representing the North East of England is Bob Fox, renowned for his role in the West End play Warhorse.

The concert will be on Zoom at 7.30pm on Saturday, February 20. Tickets are priced from £10 and are available from https://tuom.yapsody.com/ All proceeds go directly to charities in Croatia to help the people affected.

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