Elis Lovrić
“My Labin Dialect No Longer Has Barriers” - Elis Lovrić
Elis Lovrić is a Croatian contemporary folk singer-songwriter, actress, and poet from Istria, known for her captivating voice, multilingual performances, and promotion of the Labin Chakavian dialect. Blending traditional Istrian sounds with modern influences, she has released acclaimed works like Merika and Kanat od Mora, earned awards for songwriting, and gained recognition at national festivals including DORA and Zagreb Festival.
“This was a concert that changed both me and the audience,” said Lovrić, especially moved by the fact that audiences at every concert sang together in unison: “Je ča je, ča je bilo, bilo je,” meaning that after Brazil and Japan, the Labin dialect resonated through Canada as well.
Labinjonski, the dialect spoken in the town of Labin, is used by only around 10,000 people. But when Istrian musician Elis Lovrić sings in it, the whole world seems able to understand it. This became evident during her concert in the Canadian city of Mississauga, where the singer-songwriter introduced audiences to the innovative InConcert Lyrics format, which allows audiences to follow original lyrics and translations in real time during the concert.
Thanks to the InConcert Lyrics format, developed within the European Commission Creative Europe BELEM project in collaboration with partners such as LyricFind, Deezer and RUNDA, the audience was able to follow translations of her lyrics on a large screen and on their mobile devices during the performance, making songs in the Labin dialect accessible and understandable even to people who do not speak it.
“I know music transcends all languages, but when people started coming to me after the concert and telling me how deeply the lyrics on the screen had moved them and taken them into another dimension of their own lives, I realized this was an exceptional moment after which my Labin dialect no longer has barriers. They repeated lines from the songs to me and shared stories about their lives, situations, friendships, childhood memories… This was a concert that changed both me and the audience,” said Elis Lovrić, particularly touched by the fact that audiences at every concert sang together in unison: “Je ča je, ča je bilo, bilo je,” meaning that after Brazil and Japan, the Labin dialect echoed through Canada as well.
“Imagine this: I’m singing in my Labin dialect, that small language people once told me ‘nobody would understand,’ and now the world understands it. Not later, not tomorrow, but instantly. For me, that is a beautiful victory,” Elis said, while also thanking AMCA Toronto for organizing the concerts, as well as Robert Singerman, Bruno Guillard, the BELEM Lyrics project, and LyricFind for choosing her as the artist representing InConcert Lyrics.
Her lyrics have become a required musical and literary read in schools all over Croatia and have achieved exceptional prominence at poetry festivals such as LiDraNo. The city of Labin honoured her with a staircase bearing her lyrics from the song “Kolor” at the “Mate Blažina” secondary school, and soon after that, in November 2019, Labin Chakavian was declared a protected intangible cultural treasure of the Republic of Croatia. Elis made a major contribution to this, and as early as 2017, the Mayor of Labin proclaimed her the ambassador of the Labin Chakavian dialect.
This represents an important step forward in presenting music performed in minority and local languages to international audiences. Through the InConcert Lyrics project, artists who perform in languages with smaller numbers of speakers can gain a new dimension of concert presentation and audience connection, while preserving the authenticity of their language and artistic intention.
Heartfelt and candid, soaked in childhood memories of her native land and the sea, the music of Elis Lovrić conjures profound emotions by means of her captivating voice and a guitar. This gifted Croatian singer - songwriter, actress and poet explores the rich musical tradition of her native region (Istria, a peninsula located in the North - West of Croatia), blending acoustic guitar, traditional instrumentation, and contemporary production in a deeply personal, evocative sound. Singing in her local Labinian dialect (‘Labinjonski’), but also in nine other languages Elis believes that one language connects us all: it's the language of the soul, expressed through music, poetry and performance.
As part of her Canadian tour, which also included performances in Montreal and Ottawa, Elis Lovrić also presented her double vinyl album “Moja Merika,” which will be released in Croatia in two weeks. During the concerts, she performed alongside acclaimed cellist Danijela Kos, whose parts further emphasized the artist’s theatrical and dramatic presence on stage. Part of Elis’s concerts is also the storytelling through which she introduces her original songs performed in Croatian, French, English, Japanese, and the Labin dialect.
The tour was organized by AMCA Toronto, led by its president Zvonimir Poljak, and supported by the Central State Office for Croats Abroad, the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, Istria County, and the City of Labin.
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