Croatian cellist finds a second home

When Croatian cellist Ana Rucner first came to China in 2010, she instinctively believed that someday she would return — an intuition proven right after seven years.

From 2017, Rucner started making frequent trips back to China, especially to Shanghai, leaving her footprints and melodies across the nation, where she felt free to be who she is.

Born into a family of professional musicians in 1983 in Zagreb, Croatia, Rucner is an internationally renowned cellist with a unique style that blends classical and modern music. As one of Croatia's most successful performers, Rucner is often regarded as one of the most innovative classical artists to have emerged over the past few decades.

Winning numerous national and international awards, her shows are well-received across the world. She has toured a number of nations including Japan, India, Russia, Australia, the United States, Germany, France, and Italy.

Rucner's parents are both classically trained musicians. Her mother is a cellist with the Croatian National Theatre, and her father is a violist with the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra. Her brother Mario is also a violist. Inspired by her family, and especially her mother, Rucner fell in love with the cello and began playing when she was around six-and-a-half years old.

"I've always watched my mom playing and thought she is so amazing, beautiful, quite peaceful, but strong and talented. I wanted to be like her, and so I tried to play. This was my destiny," recalls Rucner with a smile.

When Rucner reached her teens and wanted to share her love of classical music with her friends, she found that the beautiful melodies were difficult for them to understand. This was her initial motivation to explore other musical genres such as pop and rock, aiming to find an innovative way of expressing traditional melodies and also herself.

"It was much harder to mix traditional sounds with pop, rock, singing and dancing, as we didn't have (much access to) the internet 20 years ago. I just wanted to express my music and my life's moments. Classical music is amazing, but we should also be allowed to express everything we feel. You just have to dare to try," says Rucner.

The uniquely blended classical, modern, ethnic and world musical elements later became the basis of her international success and onstage performance. Rucner was the first Croatian musician to play the electric cello, attracting a large crowd of younger fans. Her popularity extended out from her native country, spreading the pure joy of music globally.

In 2010, Rucner visited Beijing and joined Beijing Satellite TV's Spring Festival gala to play Antonio Vivaldi's Storm from The Four Seasons, marking the beginning of her story with China.

"When I felt the air and atmosphere in China, I knew I would come back. I feel free to create and be who I am here. I have never felt so much kindness, patience and warmth from people. Chinese audiences are amazing, and I want to share everything I have with them," she says.

That is what the cellist has been doing. She had a photo of herself taken at the Great Wall included in her music video Destiny, which was arranged from Beethoven's Symphony No 5 and filmed in Croatia on the Walls of Ston, the world's second-largest wall.

Over the past few years, Rucner has staged a number of concerts in China in collaboration with several notable Chinese musicians. Among them is Yu Bing, a master of the pipa (a four-stringed lute), with whom Rucner played the well-known Chinese songs The Butterfly Lovers and Dao Jian Ru Meng (A Life of Sword-Fighting is but a Dream).

"I admire traditional Chinese instruments and the way Chinese people treat them, and respect their culture and traditions. When I hear these amazing sounds, I can feel the traditional culture and how they inspire people to live these moments. It's unbelievable," says Rucner.

The refreshing mixture of Eastern and Western instruments has been enthusiastically received by audiences. One person commenting on social media said, "Such fusion of Eastern and Western music is a marvelous language!"

Outside concert halls, she has also brought these delicately blended melodies to festivals, streets, bridges and parks in Shanghai. During the 2025 Hongqiao Grassland Music Festival, hosted by Shanghai Garment Group on Oct 26, she got up close to the audience and shared her favorite Chinese song, The Moon Represents My Heart.

"When I heard this song, I wanted to sing it. Although I don't speak Chinese, I felt this song — its beautiful emotions and deep love. Singing is a much easier language, and I think we share and feel the same emotions," she says.

"You are not a musician because you have to be. You are a musician because this is a gift you have to share. I really find myself here."