Strings
Violin / Viola
Eszter Haffner
Eszter Haffner (Budapest, 1969) She studied at the Gifted Musician Class at the Budapest Liszt Ferenc Music Academy with Andras Kiss, Ferenc Rados and György Kurtag. After the completion of her studies in Hungary, she came to the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria to study with Gerhard Schulz (Alban Berg Quartet) and Josef Sivo. In 1995, she completed her postgraduate studies in Holland with Viktor Libermann and Philip Hirschhorn.
She is one of the most exciting and respected violinists of our time. Over the last 25 years, she has been captivating audiences around the world with her distinctively rich sound, superb musicianship and outstanding interpretations. Her recordings reflect her unusually extensive musical range, covering chamber and concerto works from Haydn to Eisler.
She has established close relationships with many of the most prestigious conductors and orchestras.
Always willing to expand her musical horizons, Eszter is also much sought after as a viola player.
She has taught at countless music festivals. She has also been the prize winner in numerous international competitions: Concertino Praha, Koncz Violin Competition Hungary, Jugend Musiziert, Stephanie Hohl Vienna, International Chamber Music Competition Trapani and Caltanissetta Italy. As a result of her successful career in the arts, she received the Austrian citizenship.
As a soloist and a chamber musician (violin and viola), she has appeared with artists such as Clemens Hagen, Gerhard Schulz, Leonard Hokanson, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Alexander Lonquich, Arto Noras, Melvyn Tan, Pamela Frank, Lars Anders Tomter, Patrick Demenga, Christian Altenburger,Wolfgang Schulz, Marko Letonja, Nicholas Chumachenco and Stefan Vladar.
As pedagogue, Ms. Haffner`s experiences include 1999-2002 job of an assistant to Prof. Gerhard Schulz and a job of the violin Lecturer at the University of Music in Vienna, as well as being a regular violin and viola instructor at numerous festivals and competitions (Neuberger Seminare, Casals Festival France, Danish Strings, Int.Sommer Academie in Semmering, Tokio, Hamburg, Madrid and Copenhagen, as well as in the USA and Villa Musica,Germany). Since 2002 she has been a professor of Violin at the KUG University of Music Graz, Austria and for the last 6 years at the Royal Academy of Music Copenhagen in Denmark as well.
Ms. Haffner plays the „ ex Hamma Segelmann“ violin by Michelangelo Bergonzi ( Cremona 1750 ) from the collection of the Austrian National Bank.
Stanko Madić
Stanko Madić (Belgrade, 1984.) started studying the violin at the age of six. He graduated in the class of professor Dejan Muhailović at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade and he got his masters degree under the guidance of the same professor at the Academy of Art in Novi Sad. He finished his masters studies with the professor Igor Malinovsky in Dresden, Germany. He perfected his performance at master classes with Victor Tretyakov, Leonid Peisahov and Midori Goto.
He is the recipient of the ArtLink most promising young artist award which enabled him the support to record a music CD and to perform at numerous concerts and master classes.
He has taught at the Academy of Art in Novi Sad as an assistent to professor Megumi Teshima. He used to be a member of Staatskapelle Dresden Orchestra, he has a continuing engagement with the Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg Orchestra as the first concertmaster, and since 2018. he has also been the first concertmaster of the Bayerische Rundfunk-Münchner Rundfunkorchester.
He is the Laureate and the recepient of numerous first and special awards at international competitions and festivals. He performs as a soloist, chamber and orchestra musician all over Europe, Asia, North America and Africa. He has collaborated with the most significant artists of regional and international music scene including Mischa Maisky, Fazil Say, Philippe Jordan, Julian Rachlin, Janine Jansen and many others.
He is the member of the baroque ensemble Il terzo suono, the first concertmaster of the regional No Borders Orchestra, The Luxembourg Chamber Orchestra (Orchestre de Chambre du Luxembourg ) and the Bavarian Chamber Orchestra (Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie). He is a regular guest at numerous European and Asian festivals of chamber music.
Stanko Madić lives in Germany and plays the Carlo Carletti violin acquired with the help of Commerzbank Nürnberg.
Lazar Miletić
Lazar Miletić (Kragujevac 1990) He performs as a soloist and as a chamber musician, and he is often called the one of the most interesting violists in Serbia because of his incredible energy and versatality.
He obtained his primary education in Kragujevac in the class of prof. Jovanović and continued his studies in the class of professor Cvetković. He graduated in record time at the Belgrade Faculty of Music Art in the class of professor Veličković. He continued his studies in Berlin and then Oslo where he studied under one of the most prominent violists today, Lars Anders Tomter.
During his career he has won over 30 awards. During his studies, he has collaborated with numerous orchestras among which the orchestra in Berlin and La Scala orchestra in Milan stand out. He has performed at numerous stages all around Europe and the rest of the world and has collaborated with some of the most prominent musicians of our time like Lang Lang, Kristian Lindberg, Isabelle von Keulen, Dorota Siuda, Gavriel Lipkind, Roman Simovic and others.
In 2013. he got a job as the leader of the violas in the chamber orchestra Musica Vitae in Sweden, and he is also an honorary member of the chamber string orchestra in Troms and the Arctic Philharmonic Orcehstra in Norway. He is also the visiting professor at the Academy in Porto. He has been permanently employed as a solo violist in MiN ensemble in Norway since 2015, and in 2016 he became its artistic director.
As a successful pedagogue, he has held master classes at the Faculty of Music Art in Belgrade, academies in Niš, Kragujevac and Oslo and also in Slovenia. At numerous competitions in Norway, Serbia, Macedonia, Sweden and Portugal he acts as a member of jury.
He is the founder and the art director of the MiN International Competition in Norway and Art of Strings by Lazar Miletic competition in Serbia.
He performs in over 100 concerts a year, either as a soloist or as a chamber musician, and the recordings of his performances are available on CDs.
Cello
Atanas Krastev
Atanas Krastev graduated from the Lyubomir Pipkov National School of Music in 2007, and in 2012 he took his Master Degree in Prof. Anatoli Krastev’s class at the National Academy of Music in Sofia. From 2011 to 2014 Krastev studied in Escuela de Música Rejna Sofia, Madrid, specializing with Prof. Natalia Shakhovskaya. Atanas Krastev has a PhD (Doctor of Musical Art). He is currently a chef assistant in the cello class at the National music academy in Sofia.
Atanas Krastev has given concerts in countless European countries, and at all important Bulgarian podiums and festivals. He has taken part in numerous concerts filmed live as well as in music documentaries and studio recordings. The live recording of his recital in Brasilia was published as a DVD by BsB. Since 2001, Atanas Krastev has performed over 40 concerts as a soloist with different orchestras.
Since 2002, he is a member of the ‘Cellissimo’ cello еnsemble with Anatoli Krastev and Kalina Krusteva, with which he has given concerts in Bulgaria and abroad. Atanas Krastev is a member of the piano trios, string and piano quartet and a piano quintet.
Atanas Krastev has won first prizes in numerous national competitions, including 16 First and Extraordinary Prizes at national and international competitions. For his high achievements in the musical art, he was awarded the Diploma and Award of the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture, the Title of the Academy of Young Talents and the Golden Muse Award for the performance of Russian music among other established achievements.
Dragan Đorđević
Dragan Đorđević, known also by his nickname Suzuki, is one of the most original artists of his generation, in the opinion of critics. He started his musical education as a violinist at the age of six in the School for musical talents in Ćuprija, but two years later he commited to the cello. He finished his studies at the Faculty of music in Belgrade, in the class of Sandra Belić and then he moved to London and attended Guidhal School of Music and Drama. During his time in London, he performed with the London Symphony Orchestra and Royal Northern Sinfonia.
In 2002 he met the prominent cellist Young-Chang Cho and he continued his studies under his leadership in the Hochschule für Musik in Essen. A few years later he got the prestigious Honorary diploma, and at the same time he was named the cello professor at the Faculty of music in Belgrade.
One of his priorities was perfecting the performances of the works of the most famous cellists and music pedagogues, and in his efforts he became the laureate of the international competition in Belgrade, Jeunesses Musicales.
In 2011 the maestro Valery Gergiev invited him to become the visiting member of the Symphony Orchestra of Mariinsky Theatre.
He is a member of the Double Sense ensemble with which he performs regularly and records for the Deutsche Grammophon.
As a chamber musician and as a soloist, he performed all over Europe, Northern America, Great Britain, Russia and Korea. He also performs with his chamber music quartet Rubikon and they have performed at the prestigious City of London festival. There isn’t an important music festival in our region that he hasn’t participated in, and among the international festivals BBC Proms, Festival D’averus Sur-oise and Sion Valais Shlomo Mintz Festival stand out. He performed with numerous orchestras and collaborated with artists such as Shlomo Mintz, Itamar Golan, Julian Rachlin, Tan Dun, Olga Sitkovetsky, John Adams, Leslie Howard and numerous others.
He works as an associate professor at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade and since 2015 he has been the art director at the School for Music Talents in Ćuprija. Guided by the ideas of Shinichi Suzuki, whose method gained him his nickname, in his work with children he tries to translate the knowledge and the love for music onto his students.
He performs on the James&Henry Banks cello made in 1797.
Karmen Pečar
Karmen Pečar (Ljubljana, 1984) She started studying cello at the age of five. In 2003, she obtained her certificate of secondary education at the Maribor Music and Ballet Secondary School. The same year she received her first degree at the Academy of Music at the University of Zagreb. In 2005, she also received a master’s degree in the class of Professor Valter Dešpalj. She pursued further studies under the mentorship of Professor Reinhard Latzko at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.
Karmen Pečar came to the attention of the Slovenian music community as a thirteen-year-old girl when she made a debut with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, performing Elgar’s Cello Concerto. In 2001, Karmen Pečar won the prestigious International Music Execution Competition “Dr. Luis Sigall” in Chile (Viña del Mar). In 2002, at the Eurovision Young Musicians competition, she placed third, and in 2004, at the International Cello Competition “Antonio Janigro” in Zagreb, she placed second.
As a soloist, Karmen Pečar has already performed with numerous orchestras and ensembles, worked with great conductors and has played alongside many renowned artists. Karmen Pečar has given concerts in Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, France, as well as Italy, the Czech Republic, Russia and Central America. As a soloist and as a member of chamber ensembles, she has performed at numerous festivals, and numerous venues in Slovenia and abroad.
Since 2006, several CDs with Karmen’s performances have been published, among which the ones recorded with Marko Hatlak (accordion), Gottlieb Wallisch and the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra stand out.
Karmen Pečar was for several years appointed an assistant professor of Professor Valter Dešpalj at the Academy of Music at the University of Zagreb. At the moment, she works as a cello professor at the Conservatory of Music and Dance in Ljubljana. For several years she has been giving master classes at the festival Bled, Slovenia and the Musical Summer at Podsreda Castle, Slovenia.
Woodwinds
Goran Jurković
Goran Jurković (Zagreb, Croatia, 1983), has finished Pavao Markovac Music School in Zagreb, in the class of professor Nikola Fabijanić. He graduated saxophone at the Zagreb Music Academy in 2006 in the class od professor Dragan Sremac. In 2009 he entered the M.A. degree education at the Vienna Conservatory, in the class of professor Lars Mlekusch.
As a soloist, he has performed with the Zagreb philharmonic orchestra, HRT simphony orchestra, Symphony wind orchestra of the Croatian army, Polizeimusik Wien, Zagreb soloists and many others. He is a member of two saxophone quartets, Mobilis and Papandopulo, and he is a co-founder of the Trio GIG ensemble.
He has won first prizes in numerous national competitions, including the Papandopulo Competiton, but he is also a laureate of many international competitions such as Gradus ad parnasum and Fidelio. He is also the winner of The award for animation and music creation at the International Theatrical Festival Sluk.
As a soloist or a chamber musician, he has performed in the cities all over the world and at the numerous festivals such as Podium fest Wien, Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Split Summer Festival, Musical Evenings in St. Donatus, Osor Musical Evenings, Concerts in Euphrasian Basilica etc.
He is a saxophone teacher in Jastrebarsko Music School where he started a successful Saxophone school in Jaska, a spring seminar for students of saxophone that has been attracting young musicians from Croatia and neighbouring countries for over a decade.
Jan Ostry
Jan Ostrý was born in Prague, where he studied at the Prague State Conservatory (prof. F. Malotín). From 1992 he studied at the CNR de Versailles (prof. Ch. Rayneau) and from 1996, he was a grantee of the French Goverment at the CNSM de Lyon, in the class of prof. Ph. Bernold, where he was unanimously awarded the First Prize in 1999.
As a soloist or a member of chamber ensembles, he has performed in several countries in Europe and also in various festivals. He recorded CDs with chamber music of A. Rejcha and J. L. Dusik (won The Critics Prize – „Tip Harmonie“), flute quartets by J. J. Ryba for Naxos, chamber music of Bach’s sons, complete of Bach’s sonatas for two flutes and Haydn and Stamic trios with H. Schmeiser for Nimbus Records.
Since 2001 he has been regulary teaching at masterclasses of the European Flute Academy in Fiss and from 2003 at the Kulturtage in Neuberg.
At this time, he is teaching at the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität in Wien, at the State Conservatory in Prague and in Faculty of Fine Arts in University of Ostrava.
Jože Kotar
Jože Kotar (Trbovlje, 1970) became principal clarinetist of the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra in 2007 after serving in that role at the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra for 12 years. He is also a tenured professor at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana.
As a soloist, chamber musician and member of various chamber ensembles, Kotar performs in Slovenia and abroad (Europe, USA, South America), leads seminars for the clarinet and chamber music (Croatia, Serbia, Italy, Hungary, Belgium, Ireland, Israel, Brazil), and participates in the jury of international competitions.
As a soloist he performed in several countries in Europe and also on various festivals. As a member of the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra he has preformed with a number of notable conductors such as Carlos Kleiber, Ricardo Mutti, Serge Baudo, Yurij Simonov, Hartmut Haenchen, Milan Horvat, Pavel Kogan, Zoltan Kocsis, Leopold Hager, En Shao, Cristian Mandeal and others.
Kotar is a member, co-founder and artistic director of the Slovenian Clarinet Orchestra and a member of the Ariart Wind Quintet and the MD7 Contemporary Music Ensemble. As a clarinetist, he collaborates with the Slovenian Chamber Orchestra, the Academie Ars Musicae Orchestra, etc. Since 2007 he is a conductor and artistic director at the Trbovlje Workers Band.
He started working at the Academy for Music in 1992. In the same year, 26 students graduated in his group. His students have won over 40 awards at the national and international competitions. Since 2008 he has been working as a mentor for the Symphony orchestra at the Academy of Music. He was a guest lecturer at the Music Academy in Zagreb. He also works as a professor of clarinet at the Conservatory for music and ballet, and his students have won over 30 awards at competitions in Slovenia and other countries.
Goran Juras
He got his primary and secondary education in Dubrovnik, in the Luka Sorkocevic Art School in the class of professor Matija Novakovic. He graduated from the Music Academy in Zagreb in 2007. in the class of professor Žarko Perišić.
He received the first place award of the Croatian Association of Music and Dance Pedagogues at the County Competition in 2003, and the first place award at the National Competition in 2004.
He attended seminars with D. Seidel (Vienna) and G. Lakatos (Budapest), and he performs at the numerous festivals in Croatia and abroad.
He is an honorary member of the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra of the Croatian National Television.
Alongside the intensive solo performances accompanied by a piano and performances with different chamber ensembles, in 2015 he performed with the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra under the conduction of Noam Zur.
He had been a member of the Croatian National Theatre Orchestra in Osijek until 2017, and since then he has been a member of the Croatian National Theatre Orchestra in Split.
Brass
Marin Rabadan
Marin Rabadan (Split, 1978) He obtained his primary and secondary music education at the Josip Hatze Music School in Split in the class of professor Đorđe Radovniković. After graduating, he continued to study trombone at the Music Academy in Zagreb in the class of professor Šime Vulelija. In 2000 he started his aftergraduate programme which he finished in 2008.
At his fourth year of studying at the Music Academy, he successfully passed the audition for the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra as the second trombone and since 1999 he has been a permanent member of this orchestra.
Together with actively performing in numerous ensembles and collaborating with Croatian orchestras, he also composes and arranges music. He has been composing since 2000 and has written numerous works for the chamber ensebles and these pieces are still performed today.
He likes to spend his free time with his family, he also studies astronomy, works on music projects for kindergartens and schools, reads comic books and he does all of this while listening to some high quality movie soundtracks, hard rock and heavy metal music.
Miloš Đorđević
Miloš Đorđević was born in 1973. He obtained his primary and secondary education in the class of professor Dragan Đurić in Belgrade. He was employed at the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra from 1992 to 1998 as the third, and later as the first hornist. At the same time, he was studying at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade in the class of professor Stjepan Rabuzin. After his studies in Belgrade, he continued his education at the Maurice Ravel Conservatory in Paris in the class of professor Francois Cagnon. During this period, he performed as the first hornist for the Paris Opera.
He has been working as a horn and chamber music professor in Stanković Music School since 2002. In this period, his students have won over 30 awards at the national and international competitions. Based on these results, he has been given an acknowledgement for his extraordinary work and contribution to the success of the school. He also participates as a member of the jury at the national and interantional music competitions, among which the International Competition Petar Konjovic in Belgrade in 2018 stands out.
He has been an outside associate for the National Theatre Orchestra in Belgrade since 2002, and he has also been cooperating with other orchestras (Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, Camerata Serbika Chamber Orchestra and Madlenianum Theatre Orchestra).
At the moment he is working as a docent at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade as an assistant professor of French horn (Methodology of teaching and brass instruments orchestral parts).
Jure Gradišnik
Jure Gradisnik graduated at the Academy of Music at the University in Ljubljana in the class of professor Stanko Arnold and later he studied at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg in the class of professor Hans Gansch.
He has won numerous awards at the national competitions and in 2003 he received the Yamaha scholarship. He won the Prešern award for his performance of the H. Tomasi Concert in 2005.
During his studies, Jure played the trumpet for the Orchestra of the Slovenian National Opera and Ballet Theatre of Ljubljana and from 2003 to 2012 he preformed as a soloist. He currently performs for the Symphony orchestra of the RTV Slovenia.
He actively performs with other orchestras and different chamber ensembles such as SiBrass wind quintet, Seraphim Trio, Trobilni trio of the RTV Slovenia and in a duet with Marija Gamboz Gradišnik.
He has also performed with numerous symphony and chamber orchestras in Slovenia, Croatia and other European countries. He has performed with famous musicians (S. Arnold, R. Galliano, S. Mead, R. Tognetti and others) and under the acknowledged conductors such as A. Nanut. U. Lajovic, M. Letonja, E. Shao, D. Rossberg, T. Hanus and others.
He has been working as a trumpet teacher at the St. Stansislav Institution Music School, and in 2012 he bacame an assistent and then a docent at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana in 2015.
