Nikola Pajanović, violin
Stefan Pajanović, piano

Sara Čano, cello
Aleksandra Pavlovič, piano

Programme:
Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 9 in A major, Op. 47, “Kreutzer”
***
Johannes Brahms: Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99
Sebastian Androne-Nakanishi: Syntrimma for solo cello

Nikola Pajanović completed a master’s degree at the Ljubljana Academy of Music in the class of Gorjan Košuta. He is currently continuing his studies with Roman Simović at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He has participated successfully in numerous competitions and has won prestigious first prizes at international competitions in Italy, North Macedonia and Serbia. In 2016 he won first prize at the Kocian Violin Competition in the Czech Republic and was proclaimed overall competition laureate. In 2018 he was selected to take part in the prestigious Menuhin Competition in Geneva, where he reached the semi-final, as one of the nine best young violinists in the world. In 2018 he represented Slovenia at the Eurovision Young Musicians competition in Edinburgh, performing with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at the final concert and winning second prize. He has competed in six editions of the TEMSIG competition to date, winning a gold plaque at each. At the most recent edition, held in March 2024, he won a gold plaque, first prize and a special award for achieving a perfect score of 100 points. He has taken part in the Ljubljana Festival’s Young Virtuosi cycle on two previous occasions, first in February 2017 and then in January 2018. On the latter occasion he performed all 24 Caprices for Solo Violin  by Niccolò Paganini. In May 2018 he performed at the Sarajevo Music Nights festival in Sarajevo. In May 2019 he was invited to the famous Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, where he gave a successful solo recital.

Stefan Pajanović began piano lessons at the age of five with teacher Lilijana Žerajić. From 2011 to 2015 he attended the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet, where he was taught by Lidija Malahotky Haas. In 2015 he was admitted to the Ljubljana Academy of Music, entering the class of Jasminka Stančul. In 2018 and 2019 he took part in an Erasmus student exchange at the University of Music and Theatre in Munich. In September 2021 he performed as a soloist with the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra. Sara Čano began studying the cello with her mother, Aleksandra Čano Muharemović. After graduating from the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet, she enrolled at the University of Music and Theatre in Munich, where she studied with Julian Steckel. She is currently continuing her studies at the Ljubljana Academy of Music with Miloš Mlejnik. In 2017, at the final of the tenth edition of the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Youth Competition in Astana, she performed Édouard Lalo’s Cello Concerto in D minor,  accompanied by the Eurasian Symphony Orchestra, and became the first Slovene musician in the history of this competition to be named a laureate. She frequently performs with the Camerata Laibach string chamber orchestra, both as first cello and as a soloist. She has worked with numerous internationally renowned artists such as Daniel Rowland, Maja Bogdanović, Anthony Hewitt, Yuri Tkachenko and Vladimir Milošević, among others. Together with Nikola Pajanović, Laura de Wolff and Rebeka Skok, she is a member of the Opifex String Quartet, which in 2023 was awarded the Prešeren Prize of the Ljubljana Academy of Music.

Sara Čano began studying the cello with her mother, Aleksandra Čano Muharemović. After graduating from the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet, she enrolled at the University of Music and Theatre in Munich, where she studied with Julian Steckel. She is currently continuing her studies at the Ljubljana Academy of Music with Miloš Mlejnik. In 2017, at the final of the tenth edition of the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Youth Competition in Astana, she performed Édouard Lalo’s Cello Concerto in D minor,  accompanied by the Eurasian Symphony Orchestra, and became the first Slovene musician in the history of this competition to be named a laureate.She frequently performs with the Camerata Laibach string chamber orchestra, both as first cello and as a soloist. She has worked with numerous internationally renowned artists such as Daniel Rowland, Maja Bogdanović, Anthony Hewitt, Yuri Tkachenko and Vladimir Milošević, among others. Together with Nikola Pajanović, Laura de Wolff and Rebeka Skok, she is a member of the Opifex String Quartet, which in 2023 was awarded the Prešeren Prize of the Ljubljana Academy of Music.

Aleksandra Pavlovič is a sensitive, technically skilled musician who impresses with her dedication and artistic refinement, both as a soloist and as a music teacher. Her breadth of expression, empathy and sensitivity towards her stage partner make her a sought-after and valued chamber musician and accompanist. In 1997, after graduating from the gymnasium in Postojna, she enrolled at the P. I. Tchaikovsky State Conservatory in Moscow, where she studied with the eminent pianists Lev Naumov and Vladimir Viardo, graduating with distinction in 2002. As the most successful foreign student at the conservatory, she immediately enrolled in postgraduate studies with Andrei Diev, again completing them with distinction. In addition to the standard piano literature, her extensive repertoire includes the majority of chamber works for violin, cello and voice and she collaborates regularly with numerous acclaimed musicians.