Dunja Knebl (born 1946) is an acoustic/folk singer from Croatia.
She was born in Zagreb, Croatia, but has also lived in the USA, Indonesia. and Russia. After completing the studies of English and Russian, she worked most of her life as a translator and language teacher. Her favorite hobby was learning folk songs from the countries she lived in and singing them to her friends. She began performing professionally in 1993, and released her first solo album in 1994, an MC with 12 songs collected by the Međimurean poet, singer and folk song collector Florijan Andrašec, one of the people she often mentions as having a great influence to her music.
In 1997 she was nominated for the music award Porin, the Croatian equivalent of Grammy, in the Best singer category, and subsequently she has had a number of Porin nominations in various categories. In 2008 she was awarded with the Porin prize and the Index prizes for her album Kite i kitice.
Her album “Svilarica svilu prede” (with Roko Margeta), self-released on Bandcamp (2019) was charted January 2020 by Transglobal World Music Chart.
The majority of the songs she sings are from Croatia (especially the region Međimurje), but also from USA, England, Russia, Indonesia. In the 1998 edition of the London-based A Rough Guide to World Music her music is recommended as an introduction to ethno-music from Croatia, as is her album Iz globline srca.
The songs she sings are slow, mellow and often sad and melancholic. Most of all she likes to record songs she has never heard and she arranges them on basis of notes and lyrics she finds in books.
Why I Became a Folk Singer at 47 or The Fear of Cloning
She promotes traditional folk songs in many ways as, for instance, with her biographical monodrama Why I became a singer at the age of 47 or the Fear of Cloning performed by the singer many times since 1997, and with her musical performance/show Oj ti tožni človek based on Croatian murder ballads where she is the narrator, singer and is supported by participants/singers/musicians coming from her workshops. Her album 33 balade released in 2017 contains some ballads recorded during the show.
Dunja Knebl is noted for her very simple music arrangements, often only with improvised instruments or even without any. She performs with other musicians.
In 2024 she recorded “Bilo je sada”, a successful album with Nina Romić and Jelena Galić, calling themselves – Dunije.
As of 2025 she has released 24 studio albums (CDs, MCs).
Discography:
Albums
1. Čuješ, golub, čuješ, MC, 1994., Morje kak Međimorje
2. …jer bez tebe nema mene, MC,CD, 1996. ORFEJ https://dunjaknebl.bandcamp.com/album/jer-bez-tebe-nema-mene
3. Croatian Folk Songs from Međimurje, MC, 1998., Trottel Records, Budimpešta
4. Iz globline srca, MC,CD, 1998., Dancing Bear
5. Četiri frtalji, MC,CD, 2000., Dancing Bear
6. Da sam barem guska, MC,CD, 2002., Dancing Bear
7. Polje široko, nebo visoko, CD., 2005., Dancing Bear
8. Kite i kitice, CD., 2007., Dancing Bear
9. Dođe Božić, oj koledo, CD, 2008. Dancing Bear
(with Nina Romić, Tomo Sombolac, Damjan Čakmak)
10. Spevala mi papiga, CD, 2009., Dancing Bear
11. Jelen pase, CD, 2010. Dancing Bear (suradnik: Tomo Sombolac)
12. Tamo doli, (Dunja Knebl & Kololira), CD, 2013; Dancing Bear
13. I Mara i cvetje, (Dunja Knebl & Kololira), CD, 2015; Kopito Records >https://dunjaknebl.bandcamp.com/album/i-mara-i-cvetje
14. From over There to Over Here 1 USA & England (2014) https://dunjaknebl.bandcamp.com/album/from-over-there-to-over-here-1-usa-england
15. From Over There to Over Here 2 – Indonesia (2014) https://dunjaknebl.bandcamp.com/album/from-over-there-to-over-here-2-indonesia
16. From Over There to Over Here 3 – Russia (2014)https://dunjaknebl.bandcamp.com/album/from-over-there-to-over-here-3-russia
17. 33 balade, CD, 2017; Geenger Records & Zvuk Močvare https://dunjaknebl.bandcamp.com/album/33-balade
18. Love Li(v)es (2019) https://dunjaknebl.bandcamp.com/album/love-li-v-es
19. Svilarica svilu prede (Dunja Knebl & Roko Margeta) (2019) https://dunjaknebl.bandcamp.com/album/svilarica-svilu-prede
20.Tamo gori, (Dunja Knebl & Kololira) Bandcamp, 2020; Geenger Records https://dunjaknebl.bandcamp.com/album/tamo-gori
21. Songbook Songs (Dunja Knebl & Roko Margeta), Geenger Records, 2021 https://dunjaknebl.bandcamp.com/album/songbook-songs
22. Sonce (Zoran Majstorović & Dunja Knebl), Geenger Records, 2022 https://dunjaknebl.bandcamp.com/album/sonce
23. Moje srce se reskoli (Dunja Knebl & Adam Semijalac) (2023) https://dunjaknebl.bandcamp.com/album/moje-srce-se-reskoli-dunja-knebl-adam-semijalac
24. Bilo je sada (Dunije – with Nina Romić and Jelena Galić) Menart, 2024
LIVE ONLINE ALBUMS
Dunja Knebl Live 1995 – 1996 – Traditional Folk Songs from Croatia (2014) https://dunjaknebl.bandcamp.com/album/dunja-knebl-live-in-1995-1996-traditional-folk-songs-from-croatia
Dunja i Irina Live – Traditional Folk Songs from Croatia (2015) https://dunjaknebl.bandcamp.com/album/dunja-irina-live-traditional-folk-songs-from-croatia
LIVE CONCERT ALBUM
* ETHNO-AMBIENT LIVE – Dunja Knebl, Lidija Bajuk, Legen, MC,CD, 1995., CBS
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ZAGREB IN YOUR POCKET, July 20, 2020
DUNJA KNEBL
Folk music is far too often consigned to the ghetto of national heritage, as if it is something settled and unchanging that exists in order to be re-performed the same way over and over again. One of the people who has consistently striven to reinvent Croatian folk music and make it relevant to modern audiences is Dunja Knebl, the singer and guitar-strummer whose work spans over 31 years of touring and recording. Knebl’s heartland is the music of Međimurje, the rural flatlands in the far northeast, a region famous for its wistful narrative songs sung by women. A lot of these songs are marked by tragedy, lost loves, painful farewells or crimes of the heart: territory explored on Knebl’s outstanding 2017 album 33 balade (”33 Ballads”). Knebl’s clear-as-a-bell singing style and sparse atmospheric production transform the songs into something timeless and iconic, like the work of Nico or Bjork. In an age when Croatian pop music sounds increasingly anonymous and derivative, Knebl turns the traditional songbook into something magical, mysterious and open to contemporary interpretation.
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SOME VENUES FROM DUNJA’S ARCHIVE
1993 INTERNATIONAL P.E.N. CONGRESS, Hvar, Dubrovnik (Croatia)
1993 MIDDLE EUROPEAN WRITERS‚ SYMPOSIUM, Austria
1994 INTERNATIONAL FOLKLORE REVIEW , Zagreb, Croatia
1994 MEDJIMURSKE POPEVKE (folk song review), Nedelišće, Croatia
1995 Klub Gjuro 2 – recording of ETHNO-AMBIENT LIVE album, Zagreb, Croatia
1996 MEDJIMURSKE POPEVKE (folk song review), Nedelišće, Croatia
1996 INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL, Šibenik, Croatia
1997 INTERNATIONAL FOLKLORE REVIEW, Zagreb, Croatia
1997 PORIN Yearly Awards, Opatija, Croatia
1997 INTERNATIONAL FOLKLORE REVIEW, Zagreb, Croatia
1998 PEPSI SZIGET FESTIVAL, Budapest, Hungary
1998 TRNFEST, Ljubljana, Slovenia
1998 INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN‚S FESTIVAL, Šibenik, Croatia
1999 EUROMUSICA, Italy
2000 PATAPOKLOSI FESTIVAL, Hungary
2002 MEDJIMURSKE POPEVKE (folk song review), Nedelišće, Croatia
2002 KAŠTELA 2002 (folk song festival) Kaštel Kambelovac, Croatia
2003 MEDJIMURSKE POPEVKE (folk song review), Nedelišće, Croatia
2004 MEDJIMURSKE POPEVKE (folk song review), Nedelišće, Croatia
2005 MEDJIMURSKE POPEVKE (folk song review), Nedelišće, Croatia
2006 MEDJIMURSKE POPEVKE (folk song review), Nedelišće, Croatia
2007 MEDJIMURSKE POPEVKE (folk song review), Nedelišće, Croatia
2007 Ethno-ambient Live Festival, Solin, Croatia
2008 MEDJIMURSKE POPEVKE (folk song review), Nedelišće, Croatia
2008 INTERZONE FESTIVAL, Novi Sad, Serbia
2009 MEDJIMURSKE POPEVKE (folk song review), Nedelišće, Croatia
2010 MEDJIMURSKE POPEVKE (folk song review), Nedelišće, Croatia
2011 MEDJIMURSKE POPEVKE (folk song review), Nedelišće, Croatia
2012 MEDJIMURSKE POPEVKE (folk song review), Nedelišće, Croatia
2013 MEDJIMURSKE POPEVKE (folk song review), Nedelišće, Croatia
2013 34th EBU FOLK MUSIC FESTIVAL, Varna, Bulgaria
2013 Ethno-ambient Live Festival, Solin, Croatia
2015 Ethno-ambient Live Festival, Solin, Croatia
2016 Ethno-ambient Live Festival, Solin, Croatia
2018 Etnofest, Subotica, Serbia
2018 Festival Kamičak, Sinj, Croatia
2022 Todo Mundo festival, Belgrade, Serbia
21023 Merodefest, Belgium