Nikola Pajanović (2000) is a second-year student at the Ljubljana Academy of Music and a third-year student in the gimnazija programme at the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet. He began playing the violin in 2006, first in the class of Igor Ulokin and then in the class of Plamenka Dražil, with whom he completed the lower music school programme. In 2010 he began taking lessons with Gorjan Košuta. When just eight years old, he took part in the Euritmia International Competition for Young Instrumentalists in Povoletto, Italy and won a second prize. Since then he has successfully participated in many other competitions, winning prestigious prizes. In 2012 he was featured in the television programme “Pearls of Musical Future”, made by national broadcaster RTV Slovenia. His career to date already includes a great number of performances, in which he has demonstrated his extraordinary talent and love of music. He has performed as a soloist with the Slovene Philharmonic String Chamber Orchestra. In November 2014 he and Sara Čano (cello) were invited to perform as a duo at the presentation of the Ars Nova International Music Competition, held at the Press Club Brussels Europe (Brussels). The two also performed together at the 23rd Franjo Krežma Memorial in Osijek, Croatia, which took place the same month. In 2015 he received the Škerjanc Prize, awarded by the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet to its most outstanding students. In 2016 he was a finalist in the competition to choose a Slovene representative for the Eurovision Young Musicians and performed with the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra. Since 2010 he has regularly attended international summer schools and studied with renowned violin teachers such as Vesna Stanković, Igor Ozim, Zakhar Bron, Ana Chumachenko, Stefan Milenković and Ning Feng. Since September 2014 he has been the recipient of a City of Ljubljana Scholarship.

Tim Jančar (1993) began studying the piano at the Center Music School with Damjana Cvetko. After completing the lower music school programme he enrolled at the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet. Today he is continuing his studies at the Ljubljana Academy of Music with Tatjana Ognjanovič.  During the course of his studies he has participated in several national and international competitions, including: two national TEMSIG (young musicians) competitions in 2010 and 2016 (a third place, a first place and two gold plaques), the Città di Gorizia International Competition (first place and a first prize), and the Aci Bertoncelj International Piano Competition (prize for the best performance of a work by a Slovene composer). He has also performed twice with the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra: in March 2015 he performed Chopin’s Piano Concerto No 2 with conductor En Shao, while in May 2016 he played Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 4 uner the baton of Simon Krečič. In 2013 he received the Škerjanc Prize of the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet. In May 2016 he gave a solo recital in Vienna, representing the Ljubljana Academy of Music, as part of the “Piano Forte – The Next Generation” cycle sponsored by the Bank of Austria. He regularly attends seminars and summer schools with distinguished teachers such as: Ruben Dalibaltayan, Johannes Kropfitsch, Claudio Martínez Mehner, Markus Schirmer, Boris Berman.

Stefan Pajanović (1996) began playing the piano at the age of five. He completed the lower music school programme at Ljubljana Moste-Polje Music School in the class of Lilijana Žerajić. Under her careful guidance he entered the Ars Nova International Music Competition in Trieste in three successive years (2006, 2007 and 2008), winning a first prize in 2006 and a primo premio assoluto in 2007.  At the Euritmia International Competition for Young Instrumentalists in Povoletto (Italy), he won a second prize in 2009 and a first prize and second place in 2011. In 2007 he won a silver plaque at the national TEMSIG competition, followed by a gold plaque and third prize in 2010.  He has also competed as part of a piano trio in the chamber music discipline and won prestigious first prizes in international competitions. Since 2011 he has been a student at the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet in the class of Lidija Malahotky Haas. His musical development has been confirmed by recent prizes at competitions in Povoletto (2014 – first prize and second place), at the Jurica Murai Memorial in Varaždin (2015 – second prize) and at TEMSIG 2013 (silver plaque). In June 2015, after passing the Academy of Music entrance exam, he entered the class of  Jasminka Stančul. He has also attended seminars and summer schools with world-renowned pianists and teachers such as Konstantin Bogino, Claudio Martínez Mehner, Ruben Dalibaltayan and Jasminka Stančul.

 Programme

W. A. Mozart: Sonata for piano and violin in E minor, K. 304

E. Chausson: Poeme, Op. 25

H. Wieniawski: Variation on an original theme, Op. 15

***

S. Rahmaninov: Etude tableaux op. 39