Prohaska 100

With the Prohaska Big Band
Lana Janjanin, conductor and artistic director

Trumpets: Antonio Geček, Zvonimir Bajević, Tomaž Gajšt, Branko Sterpin; trombones: Marin Ferketin, Matija Mlakar, Hrvoje Štefanić, Jure Urek; saxes: Mario Bočić, Vojkan Jocić, Mihael Gyoerek, Miro Kadoić, Blaž Trček; piano: Borna Pehar; double bass: Jošt Lampret; drums: Janko Novoselić

Programme: Always Running, Darka, Encore, Hand Rummy Bop, Intima, Koncert br. 2, Kvartet, Na svoj način, Nina, Obsession, Opus 900, Par-nepar, Sketches for HGM Big Band

Miljenko Prohaska 
(Zagreb, 17 September 1925 – Zagreb, 29 May 2014)
A Croatian composer, music arranger, conductor, music pedagogue, violinist and double bassist, Miljenko Prohaska’s prolific body of work left a lasting imprint not only on the Croatian music history but also Slovenian jazz.

Honouring the enduring legacy of the great conductor, the Prohaska Big Band was formed on the centenary of the legendary composer’s birth. It was founded by Lana Janjanin, composer, pianist, conductor and until recently artistic director of the JazzHR Festival, together with the Maestro Prohaska family. The newly formed ensemble is an "all-star big band", composed of top-tier Croatian and Slovenian musicians, members of the two orchestras with which Miljenko worked closely, the orchestra today known as the Croatian Radiotelevision Jazz Orchestra and the RTV Slovenija Big Band. Under the baton of Lana Janjanin, the Prohaska Big Band made its debut in March 2025 in the Vatroslav Lisinski Small Hall.

From 1954 until his retirement, Maestro Prohaska worked as composer, music arranger and principal conductor of the Radio Zagreb Dance Orchestra (today's HRT Jazz Orchestra). With Prohaska at the helm, the orchestra achieved great international renown, a success relying on Maestro’s dedication to original music, composing and writing. Miljenko took this commitment early in his career, following the advice of the Modern Jazz Quartet leader John Lewis, who was a decisive influence on Prohaska's individuality. Under his guidance, the Radio Zagreb Dance Orchestra evolved a distinctive orchestral colour, sound and style, which was recognised and rewarded abroad; for example, in the 1960s Prohaska and his orchestra ranked 11th in the Downbeat critics annual poll of best big bands, and in the 1974/1975 season, Prohaska himself took 3rd place in Jazz Forum’s best jazz conductor list. He was also included in The Encyclopaedia of Jazz in the Sixties, and the celebrated radio broadcaster Willis Conover, the longtime host of the Music USA program on the Voice of America, dedicated two of his regular programs to Prohaska and his music. The Maestro drew inspiration from some of the greatest contemporary music artists, most notably Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie and Duke Ellington.

A Croatian jazz pioneer, Prohaska was a member of the Zagreb Jazz Quartet and the Zagreb Jazz Quintet under Boško Petrović. Later he founded and led his own bands and orchestras and played with many notable musicians, including John Lewis, Johnny Griffin, Ted Curson, Lucky Thompson, Art Farmer, Slide Hampton and Art Taylor. He was a member of the international jazz groups in Montreux under Gerry Mulligan and Clark Terry and played in The War Stars sextet. As a member of the David Gazarov Trio, Prohaska performed numerous concerts and toured locally and internationally. As a guest conductor, Prohaska led the Bavarian, Danish and Flemish Radio Orchestras, the RTV Slovenija Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Slovenian Armed Forces Orchestra. Particularly notable was his collaboration with the New Swing Quartet in the new millennium, as was their joint concert in Maribor in 2005.

He conducted the celebrated Don Ellis Orchestra at the Monterey Jazz Festival, performing his own compositions with soloists Dizzy Gillespie and James Moody. His 1965 work, Concertino for Jazz Quartet and Strings, was premiered by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in the company of the Modern Jazz Quartet, a combo hailed as the finest ensemble in the century-long history of jazz.

In 1961, Miljenko Prohaska achieved a real breakthrough with his Big Band, challenging the prejudices of the community and proving with his original jazz compositions that production should go hand in hand with reproduction, i.e., that one should evolve one's own style. A lover of ethno music, Prohaska coupled its themes with jazz rhythms.

Sung by prominent Croatian vocalists Višnja Korbar, Zdenka Kovačiček and Dunja Skopljanac, many of his tunes became jazz evergreens. He also conducted orchestras at five Eurovision Song Contests (London – Vice Vukov 1963 and Dubrovniški trubadurji 1968, Dublin – Krunoslav Kićo Slabinac 1971, Madrid – Ivica Krajač and 3M in 1969 and, after Croatia gained independence, Prohaska conducted the orchestra accompanying Tony Cetinski in Dublin in 1994).
Professionally, he was a staunch advocate for the music profession and the music authors, whether as President of the Croatian Association of Light Music Composers or the Croatian Composers’ Society, or as director of local music festivals such as Zagrebfest. He is a recipient of the highest national awards for merit and lifetime achievement.

He also worked as a score composer for theatre, film and iconic TV series, as well as a dramatist and playwright. He wrote humorous miniatures and painted under the pseudonym Millard Preston. Even at the advanced age of 89, he would still sit down at the piano every day to compose music.


In cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Slovenia and with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia.