Valter Primožić, Kršan, 1953-2013

Valter Primožić from Kršan was a true representative of a new generation of instrument makers. He started to be involved with folklore and traditional instruments in the nineties. He is one of the founders of the folk society, "Ivan Fonović Zlatela" where he acted as president for ten years. His merits are the meticulous reconstruction of costumes from Kršan, field research and the collection of documentation on contemporary performing of traditional songs and playing of the Kršan area. As a maker he initially relied on the advice of Martin Glavaš and began studying old copies of Zlatela’s sopele and not hesitating to experiment improved the technical possibilities of the instrument. Eventually he began to build the other Istrian traditional wind instruments, including the almost forgotten diatonic clarinet of central Istria. Valter Primožić started the extremely important project of standardization of Istrian musical instruments, which was left unfinished because of his departure.

Valter Primožić in his workshop. Kršan, 2000. Photo: Robert Bilić. From the documentation of EMI / MEI.