Od tišine do oluje (From Silence to Storm)

Milan Ninković

Olesja Anakovskaja

Vladimir Stoletov

The ensemble was established the previous year and it comprises the following cellists that are also a part of the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra: Milan Ninković (cello section leader), Olesya Anakovskaya (assistant principal cello) and Vladimir Stoletov (member). As for the repertoire, it consists of the popular music rearranged in that way so as to produce the entirely new compositions fit for three cellos.

Milan Ninković (Rijeka, 1989) began his musical education at the “Davorin Jenko” Music School in Belgrade where he studied piano (in the class of Vesela Perović) and cello (in the class of Aleksandar Pavlovič). He subsequently studied at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade (Cello Department) under professor Dejan Božić from where he graduated in 2014. After that, he continues his education at the same faculty,  and also succeeds in getting a degree in piano (2015) in the class of the professor Branko Penčić. Later, Milan continues on to obtain a master’s degree with honors from the University of Music and Performing Arts (Graz, Austria) where his mentor was Tobias Stosiek. During his studies, he was a scholarship recipient of the Fund for Youth Talents of the Republic of Serbia. He strived to broaden his knowledge and expertise by attending master classes with many prominent cellists among which are: Gautier Capuçon, Louise Hopkins, Stefan Popov, Ksenija Janković, Stanislav Apolín, Reinhard Latzko and Mischa Maisky. Also, he has attended chamber music courses with Michael Uhde and Anton Martinov. As an orchestral musician, he has performed with the following ensembles: Symphonia Vienna, “Nowon” Orchestra (Seoul), “Wir sind Wien” Festival and the “Redoute” Orchestra. His performances as a soloist include those with the Faculty Orchestra of the University of Graz, the Montenegrin Chamber Orchestra and the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra and in 2024 he gave the audience a premiere performance of  the Concerto for Cello and Orchestra No.2. by Dmitry Kabalevsky. Since 2017, he has been active on the Montenegrin music scene, performing at festivals such as: “KotorArt” International Festival, Bar Summer Festival, “Theatre City” Budva, “Operosa” Montenegro Opera Festival and Podgorica Cultural Summer. He regularly holds performances as a chamber, orchestral and solo musician and is a member of the string quartet and quintet of the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra as well as the leader of the cello section of the Montenegrin Chamber Orchestra. Since 2022, he has been holding the position of the solo cellist of the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, in addition to  that of the solo cellist of the Fame’s production studio, where he records music for the projects including Netflix, Disney Plus and National Geographic.

Olesya Anakovskaya began her journey in music when she was seven years old at the “Gnesini” Children’s Music School in Moscow and continued it at the Academic Music College of the Moscow Conservatory under A.I. Zagorinsky. She succeeded in officially entering the prestigious Moscow Conservatory in 1998 and later on in completing her postgraduate studies there in the class of the professor M.K.Chaikovskaya. 2003 was the year she started performing for the Russian National Orchestra under the direction of M. V. Pletnev. Starting in 2007, she already held the position of the Second Assistant Concertmaster there. Whilst performing in various orchestras, she collaborated with exceptional musicians and conductors of our time. A regular performer with various chamber ensembles, she has given a series of concerts at the Moscow’s “Bolshoi” Theatre as a member of a string quartet. On this occasion, repertoire included among other things  Andrey Melanin’s staging of the mini-ballet The Kiss of the Wind (music by A.Rubtsov). Blending art forms, the musicians didn’t just play their instruments-they became an integral part of the dance itself. Her work also included the recording of works by A.Rubtsov, A.Semyonov and V.Beluntsov in addition to performing their compositions at concerts in Moscow. With the Russian National Orchestra, she held performances in concerts as a soloist. A participant of the Festival Napa Valley in California, she there held the roles of orchestra concertmaster, teacher and chamber musician. She gave  masterclasses for cello students as an integral part of the festival. She took part in international festivals, among which the most notable are: BBC Proms (London, Edinburgh), Festival de Musique de Montreux (Musical September), Singapore Sun Festival, Tuscan Sun Festival, International Music Festival “Chopin and his Europe” (Warsaw, Chopin Festival), George Enescu International Festival (Bucharest), “Shanghai Spring” International Music Festival, Festival of the Arts “Boka Raton”, Festival of Russian Art (Bogota, Colombia), International Music Project “Three Romes” (Moscow-Istanbul-Vatican), and the Menuhin Festival (Gstaad). She has performed in some of the most prestigious halls  and venues, such as Carnegie Hall (New York), Suntory Hall (Tokyo), Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Salle Pleyel (Paris), and Concertgebouw (Amsterdam). Since 2024, she has been a part of the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra as an Associate Concertmaster.

Vladimir Virok-Stoletov (Saint Petersburg, 1980) began his musical education at the age of five, immediately showing an interest in further development when it comes to the area of music and art. In 1990, at the age of ten, he won the third prize at the First Leningrad Competition of Young Cellists. He was a participant in the Symphony for Peace program, conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich (Seiji Ozawa and the NHK Symphony Orchestra) in 1995. What followed is his enrollment in the Secondary Special Music School of St.Petersburg Conservatory (in the class of Mark Reizenstock). Subsequently, he was admitted to the “N.A.Rimsky-Korsakov” Saint Petersburg State Conservatory in 1998. During his studies, he took part in different projects and competitions, winning the second prize at the “Gartow Stiftung” Chamber Ensemble Competition, as well as the  second prize at the Maria Yudina International Competition, and the third prize at the Karl Davydov International Cello Competition (Kuldiga, Latvia). He also attended and participated in masterclasses at the International “Holland Music Sessions” (2003), and the “Gartow” Foundation (Germany) under the mentorship of the professor Angelica May (2004), as well as those at the “Acanthes” program (2005). Vladimir then continues on with  his professional development through post-graduate solo performance studies. He performs regularly with diverse ensembles, showcasing a versatile repertoire across multiple music genres. He is equally at home with the interpretation of classical works in addition to the ones including contemporary performance techniques. One could have been a witness to this during his execution of the composition “Galatea” for solo cello (by composer Igor Drukh), where he brilliantly showcased the two-bow technique. He has been a member of the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra since 2024.