Instructors
John Morovich
Artistic Director
John Morovich grew up in Seattle's sizable Croatian community. Since 1973, he has studied, taught, and performed traditional music and dance of Croatia and other parts of Southeastern Europe. He was awarded the Washington State Arts Commission Folk Arts Fellowship for 2001.
He is a featured soloist with the Sinovi Tamburitza Orchestra, artistic director of the Seattle Junior Tamburitzans, and Klapa Ruzmarin; and past conductor of the Jele Croatian Women's Choir.
For the last 10 years he has been a guest choreographer/music arranger for several Croatian folk ensembles in Western Canada and has performed with Vela Luka Croatian Dance Ensemble, Ruže Dalmatinke, Kultur Shock and Balkan Cabaret.
Joanne Abdo (Morovich)
Dance Instructor
Joanne began her Seattle Junior Tamburtizan journey in 1980, and performed as a dancer and prim musician for seven seasons. From 1987 to 1998, she danced with the Vela Luka Croatian Dancers based out of Anacortes, WA.
From 2000 to present, Joanne has been a dance teacher, choreographer and costume manager for the Seattle Junior Tamburitzans. Along with her fellow instructors, she has lead the SJT's to CFU Junior Festivals in Zagreb, Chicago, Anaheim, and Orlando.
Joanne is also a member of the SJT alumni band - Kišobran - which was formed in 2012. She has been a guest performer for the Radost Folk Ensamble in Seattle, Jele in Vancouver, and Orchestra T-Rroma in Chicago, as well as playing tamburitza for three performances on the Narodil Croatian Cantata under the direction of Mary Sherhart. She has been a regular attendee of the Tamburitza Association of America's annual music festival since 1982, and she hopes to keep the songs and traditions of Croatia alive through the youth in our community.