Iva Hraste Sočo

Iva Hraste Sočo

General manager

Iva Hraste-Sočo, PhD, graduated singing at the Academy of Music in Zagreb and simultaneously at the Faculty of Philosophy studied Yugoslav languages and literature and later on acquired her doctoral degree. She was engaged as a soloist in the Opera of the CNT as one of the youngest soloists in history. Besides Croatian Opera stages where she sang 27 soprano roles and performed at numerous concerts, she appeared on international stages as well. As a diplomat she worked as a Cultural Attaché in the Croatian Embassy in Vienna (2005 - 2009) where she organised more than 100 cultural projects that promoted the highest achievements of Croatian cultural heritage, as well as contemporary artistic genres. Along other duties between 2009 and 2019 she worked at the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia as assistant minister for international cultural cooperation and the development of culture and art.

She is a university lecturer and teaches at the Academy of Dramatic Arts, at the Academy of Music, University of Zagreb, the post-graduate international study program in diplomacy and at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

She is a recipient of numerous awards and acknowledgements: the Golden Charter of Hungary, Award Judita for the best music creation at the 67th Split Summer Festival, Rector's award, First of May Award, Award Marija Borčić, Award Milka Trnina for her appearance in Cosi fan tutte (W. A. Mozart), first prize at the Yugoslav competition of solo-singers in Ljubljana and finalist of the international competition Luciano Pavarotti, Modena, Italy.

She is a member of numerous professional associations and gives presentations at scientific and professional conferences. She also occupies herself with production in the field of performative arts, publishes books and scientific and professional articles in the field of theatre, music theatre, sociology of music and cultural policy.

On September 1, 2022, she was appointed the general manager of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.