VLADO KUNSTELJ
NSW Slovenian Australian Awards 2008
Achievements Award in Art and Culture
Presented on 21 June 2009

 

Born in Kranj, Slovenia, Vlado came to Australia as a teenager in 1960. He married Gai Scott in 1985 and they have a daughter Skye.

Vlado’s passion for music has provided him with a fulfilling and exceptional career that has spanned over 40 years. Vlado mastered the saxophone, flute and clarinet as a young teenager, studying at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He has played at various venues, including Sydney Opera House, and plays a variety of styles such as rock and roll, jazz, Latin and traditional Slovenian folk music.

Vlado was a member of the very first Slovenian band in Sydney started by Father Odilo Hanjsek in 1962. Today he plays in Sydney’s leading Eastern European bands, performing at major Oktoberfests and German and Slovenian music venues. Currently he is also part of the South Pacific Concert Band, which recently won the NSW championships. Vlado had always loved to share his musical talents with the Slovenian Community and is widely recognised as one of the most knowledgeable sources of Slovenian music in Sydney.

Apart from having a successful career as a musician, Vlado has also a strong career in manufacturing. His first career was repairing washing machines. He started his own business, Wallaby Furniture in 1983, which at times employed up to 80 people. It was closed in 2005. He has shared his skills with companies such as AMZ Furniture as Production Manager until its recent closure.

Recently, Vlado has embarked on a new career as a music teacher. He is passionate about passing on the value of the arts and Slovenian culture to ensure it lives on well into the future. He is also currently assisting his daughter Skye in her honours thesis investigating contemporary performance of the Slovenian artistic groups.

Vlado Kunstelj je zelo pomemben član slovensko-avstralske skupnosti v Sydneyu. Leta 2000 je bil izbran, da zastopa Slovenijo v ABC Sydney’s 702 Radio ‘World in Sydney Day’. Med rojaki že petdeset let z njegovo glasbo in melodijo nesebično prispeva k sydneyskemu umetniškemu prizorišču, istočasno pa zapušča dragoceno zapuščino slovenske umetnosti za bodoče slovenske Avstralce.
Congratulations and thank you for your highly artistic work!

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