Guitarist Paulina Puljek was born in Croatia, where she started her musical education and gained
her first performing experiences on the classical guitar and the Croatian folk instrument, the
tamburitza. She received her high school diploma from the Varazdin Academy of Music in
Croatia and graduated Cum Laude in guitar performance from the William Carey University.
Ms. Puljek continued her education at the East Carolina University in North Carolina, where she
earned an M.M. studying with Dr. Elliot Frank. Currently, she is pursuing a D.M.A. in guitar
performance with prof. Adam Holzman at the University of Texas at Austin.
Paulina has performed solo concerts in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Texas; Varazdin, Krapina,
Karlovac, and Slunj in Croatia; in Bihac, Bosnia; in Ptuj in Slovenia; and in Curitiba, Brazil.
Paulina was a member of the Guitar-American Quartet, a group that has performed several
international concert tours in Croatia, Bosnia and the United States. She has also performed in
the William Carey Guitar Trio and in the Abdihodzic&Puljek Duo. Paulina has played solo parts
in the William Carey Guitar Ensemble and the Karlovac Summer Guitar School Orchestra.
Paulina won the first place at the University of Texas-Pan American Guitar Competition, secondplace at the Music Academy of North Carolina 3rd Annual Guitar Competition and has been a
repetitive winner in a number of other competitions, including the Mississippi Music Teachers
Association Competition, the Mississippi Federation of Music Clubs Competition, the William
Carey University In-House Solo and Chamber Music Competitions, and the Alabama Guitar
Congress. While at William Carey University, Paulina was a recipient of the Thomson
Scholarship Award and the Artistic Achievement Award.