Filip Merčep in Osor on August 13 - the Porin winner with a marimba in a medieval church

Filip Merčep performs on percussion at the Church of the Assumption in Osor on August 13, 2026, starting at 9 pm. A solo percussion recital in a medieval church is not a usual combination, and that is exactly why it is worth putting in the summer schedule.

Merčep was born in Zagreb in 1991 and is among the most recognised Croatian percussionists. In 2010 he was a finalist at the Eurovision Young Musicians competition, and since then he has performed as a soloist with domestic and foreign orchestras. He won the Porin award for best classical music performance in 2011, the same year he also received the „Ivo Vuljević” award for best young musician; in 2013 he took second place at the Universal Marimba Competition in Belgium, and in 2015 he received the Zagreb Philharmonic's award. His collection also includes the City of Samobor award, the Yamaha scholarship for the best percussionist at the Zagreb Music Academy, the „Boris Papandopulo” award, and the dean's and rector's awards.

What sets him apart is the position he takes on repertoire. Merčep insists openly that commissioning new compositions is vital, because otherwise the instrument does not live - a real danger for percussion: it does not have three centuries of accumulated repertoire the way the violin does, and depends on whether contemporary composers write for it.

The Osor Music Evenings take place in a church on the island of Lošinj, and that space's acoustics work quite differently for marimba and percussion than a concert hall does. Tickets are sold through entrio.hr.