Posted on March 22, 2004 at 3:21 p.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — The Alys Stephens Center presents classical guitarist Robert Belinic at 7 p.m. Sunday, April 18, in the Alys Stephens Center’s Reynolds-Kirschbaum Recital Hall, 1200 10th Avenue South. This show is part of the Gloria Narramore Moody Foundation Rising Star Series. Season sponsors include NBC 13 and The Birmingham News/Birmingham Post-Herald. Tickets are $25. Call (205) 975-2787 or go to www.AlysStephens.com.

Croatian-born musician Robert Belinic is the first guitarist to join the prestigious Young Concert Artists’ roster. The 20-year-old won First Prize in the 2002 YCA International Auditions as well as the Fergus New Artist Prize, Princeton University Concert Prize and the Beracasa Foundation Prize. Last season, Belinic made his debut at 92nd Street Y in New York, Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. He has given recitals in Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Poland, Italy, Germany and The Czech Republic. He now studies at the Music Conservatory in Augsburg, Germany.

On the program is Bach’s “Chacconne,” Fernando Sor’s Introduction and Variations, Op. 9 on the aria “O Cara Armonia” from “The Magic Flute,” “Tres Piezas Espanolas” by Joaquin Rodrigo, “La Catedral” by Augustin Barrios, “Rodrigo u Zagori,” “St. Duje’s Bells” and “Song & Dance” by Ante Èagalj and “Mallorca” and “Torre Bermeja” by Isaac Albéniz.

Born in 1981 in Zagreb, Croatia, Belinic grew up in the nearby town of Popovaèa. He began playing drums at age 3. When he was 8, he starred in “Tale from Croatia,” the first film released in newly independent Croatia. Belinic began to study classical guitar at the age of 11.

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The Alys Stephens Center presents classical guitarist Robert Belinic (pictured) at 7 p.m. Sunday, April 18, in the Alys Stephens Center’s Reynolds-Kirschbaum Recital Hall.