Our History

After attending the Adult Tamburitza Festival in Saint Louis in 2006 a spark was ignited. The bus ride home found several members of the former Saint John Junior Tamburitzans of Kansas City, Kansas wondering why they didn't have a group and whether it would be possible to get one off the ground. The timing seemed to be right. After two round table gatherings the process began. Instruments were secured by March 2007 and the practices started.

Our time together has been more than words can express either in Croatian or in English. We all knew that we had the love of the tambura music in common. What we didn't expect was the wonderful friendships that would develop. Not only from those who had been through the former junior Tamburitza program, but also from those who have joined us as recent immigrants from Croatia.

Although now under the directorship of Rick Mikesic, much of the credit for our musical knowledge goes to Don Lipovac for his lifetime of dedication to and his passion for sharing the Slavic culture.

Thank you to all who have supported this venture. We are about 25 strong with each member contributing their time and talents when they can. There is much to accomplish yet, but we look forward to our journey together as we preserve our Hrvatski Običaj.

Director's Welcome

Whether you are a strong supporter that has heard us many times or a complete stranger, I thank you for visiting our website. Truth be told, we love our music and would play it whether we had an audience or not. But there is a passion we get from playing for a crowd that appreciates our efforts. Please consider this your personal invitation to join us at one of our events. You'll have a good time, I guarantee it!

Rick Mikesic, Director