Mr. Belinić won the Young Concert Artists European Auditions in Leipzig, Germany, and was the first guitarist ever to win the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York in 2002. He made his debut in New York sponsored by the Claire Tow Debut Prize and his Washington, DC debut at the Kennedy Center sponsored by the Alexander Kasza-Kasser Prize, and also debuted at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.  He was awarded YCA’s Fergus New Artist Prize and the Beracasa Foundation Prize for an appearance at the Montpellier Radio-France Festival.  Other important New York appearances include performing the Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez in 2008 with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, conducted by Michael Stern, and a solo recital at the Morgan Library & Museum.

Born in 1981 in Zagreb, Croatia, Mr. Belinić grew up in the nearby town of Popovača.  When he was eight years old, Mr. Belinić became a national celebrity as the child star of "Tale from Croatia," the first film released in newly-independent Croatia.  He began his study of classical guitar at the age of eleven at the music school in Kutina with Zvonko Šušnjar, continuing his studies with Ante Čagalj in Zagreb.  Mr. Belinić was the recipient of the 2002 Ivo Vuljević Award for outstanding young Croatian musicians, and was a prize winner of the 2006 Parkening International Guitar Competition in California. He earned a Master’s Degree from the Leopold Mozart Hochschule für Musik in Augsburg, Germany, where he held a two-year assistantship with Prof. Franz Halász.