On Sunday, August 18th at 9PM in “Santa Maria in Punta” Church, with the concert of Zoran Zakrajšek (double bass) and Bojan Martinović (piano), the music programme of the “Theatre City” is to be continued.
Zoran Zakrajšek
Zoran Zakrajšek was born in 1978 in Podgorica (Montenegro). He followed in the footsteps of his family who were distinguished music educators. Having graduated from the “Vasa Pavić” Secondary Music School in Podgorica, this talented young musician continued his education at the Cetinje Music Academy. There, he obtained his graduate and post-graduate degrees with flying colors. Also, he received numerous awards at national and international competitions. Furthermore, he studied in Netherlands (Maastricht) in the Class of professor Carol Harte (USA), in addition to attending master courses with eminent lecturers amongst which are: Klaus Trumpf, Miroslav Gajdoš, Duncan McTier, Zoran Marković, Paul Erhard and others.
Having been recognized as one of Montenegro’s most accomplished double bass musicians, he was given the role of the leader of the double bass section as well as the one of the double bass soloist, at the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra in 2007. No matter if that might be as a part of the orchestra, or him performing as a double bass soloist, he took part in many premiere performances such as: the first Montenegrin opera “Balkanska Carica” composed by Dionisie del Sarno San Giorgio, “Dido and Aeneas” by Henry Purcell, “La Boheme” (Giacomo Puccini), Richard Strauss “Metamorphoses”, and all that also including the premiere performances of the contemporary Montenegrin composers. Having been given the position of the head of the double bass section, provided him with the opportunity to perform alongside world-renowned soloists of classical music such as: Montserrat Caballe, Mischa Maisky, Ivo Pogorelić, Roman Simović, Denis Shapovalov, Stefan Milenković, Carlo Marchione, Miloš Karadaglić and others. It is also important to mention some of the prominent conductors he has collaborated with, amongst them being: Ronald Zollman, Grigory Krasko, Marc Korovitch, Ginter Pihler, Miroslav Homen, Bojan Suđić, Darinka Matić-Marović, Uroš Lajović, Miguel Romea and Gordan Nikolić. What is also important to emphasize is that in the function of a chamber musician, and as a part of the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, he has collaborated with well-known Montenegrin artists such as: Bojan Martinović, Miran Begić, Miloš Karadaglić, Igor Perazić and Mikhail Bereznjicki. Of the two CD-s he has recorded, one was with the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra ,published by the “Universal Music” Austria, and one with the “No Borders Orchestra” ,published by “Deutsche Gramophone”; these publishing labels hold the leading position when it comes to this area in the world of classical music.
In his career, he has had an honor of representing Montenegro in manifold well-known international and regional festivals, and performed in some of the most grandiose concert halls. Some of them are: the “Kotor Art” festival, the “A Tempo” international music festival, “The Ljubljana Festival”, the Montenegro International Theatre Festival, the International “Sarajevo Winter Festival”, the “Nikšić Guitar Festival”, “The Mediterranean Notes” music festival, the “Radial System” in Berlin, the Montenegro National Theater, the “Glinka” concert hall (St. Petersburg, Russia), the “Kolarčeva Zadužbina” hall (Belgrade, Serbia), the “Meb Sura” hall (Ankara, Turkey), the “Slovenia Philharmonic” hall and many others. Being committed to the goal of showing the right path in music to the ensuing generation of musicians, he continues to share his knowledge with the students at the Cetinje Music Academy. Having a vision of bettering the quality of classical music in Montenegro, he has also established a long-standing collaboration with the “Perast String Festival”. Zakrajšek manages to nurture this collaboration through master classes and performances.
Bojan Martinović
Bojan Martinović was born in 1981 (Cetinje, Montenegro). He comes from a long line of musicians. His secondary education, he completed in Kotor. His extraordinary virtuosity on the piano being spotted early on, he was given the opportunity to perfect his talent on the piano at the Cetinje Music Academy (1996), in the class of the professor Vladimir Bochkarev. Bochkarev being his mentor, he there graduated and obtained his master’s degree. Furthermore, he also studied at the State Conservatory of Vienna during 2002-2003. He attended lectures held by the prominent professors: Vladimir Ovchinikov, Christoph Berner and Gurgy Nador.
Continually and with great success, he performs in manifold chamber ensembles and collaborates with a plethora of domestic and foreign artists such as: Viktor Tretyakov, Marina Yashvilli, Duncan McTier, Wilhelmas Cepinskis, Peter Langgarttner, Miran Begić, Roman Simović, Igor Perazić, Vladislav Igulinski, Ksenia Akeynikova and many others. In addition, he performed as a soloist with :the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, the Banja Luka Philharmonic and the “Camerata Academica” chamber ensemble (the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad). He was the founder the trio named “Tritonus”.
His diverse repertoire includes solo performances as well as performing chamber and orchestral music. The whole of the prestigious halls of the former Yugoslavia such as: “CNP” Podgorica, the “Vatroslav Lisinski” Hall (Zagreb), the Croatian Music Institute-Zagreb Sava Center (Belgrade), the “Kolarac Gallery” Belgrade, the “City Hall” Subotica, Synagogue Novi Sad and the Bosnian Institute (Sarajevo) were a witness to his genius. He took part in the numerous festivals in Italy, England, Germany, Austria, Hungary, France, Belgium, Russia, USA, Holland, Spain, Portugal, Armenia, Lebanon. Martinović also showed interest for participating in various seminars and congresses of music lecturers in: Poland, Turkey, Romania, Italy, Finland, Austria, Sweden and England, whilst also being a member of the International Association of Pedagogues: Innovative Conservatoire (ICON).
His master classes were sought at: the “Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky” Moscow Conservatory, the University of Central Oklahoma, Zhjeiang Conservatory in Hangzhou, China, the “Gothenborg” Piano Festival and many other important places for music. He is the recipient of the Montenegrin Academy of Science and Arts award in the field of arts and the University of Montenegro plaque for exceptional results in 2019. He is one of the founders of: the International Music Festival “Expressivo” and “ the International Piano Competition “Manja”. He is a piano professor at Cetinje Music Academy and a member of the University of Montenegro’s Scientific Committee.
At the concert, the works of Sergei Aleksandrovich Koussevitzky, Arvo Part, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Astor Piazzolla will be performed.