KOTORART CHAMBER ENSEMBLE

 

Marija Đurđević Ilić, flute, completed the Dr Miloje Milojević Secondary Music School in Kragujevac and obtained her bachelor's and master's degrees with honors at the Music Academy in Cetinje, under Professor Ljubiša Jovanović. During her studies, she achieved notable results, earning her a position among the most prominent flutists in the former Yugoslavia. Marija Đurđević Ilić has achieved the title of laureate of flute festivals in Valjevo, Podgorica, and Kotor, as well as of the Petar Konjović International Competition in Belgrade. She has attended numerous master classes held by the world’s leading flutists. She has participated in countless events and local festivals, such as A Tempo, Budva – Theater City, DEUS in Podgorica, the Bar Chronicles Festival, ICA (International Montenegro Music Festival) in Bar, and KotorArt, among others. Since 2007, she has been a member of the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra as Principal Flute. Marija Đurđević Ilić is an Associate Professor in the Flute Department of the Music Academy in Cetinje. She plays on a 14K Nagahara flute.

Ivana Dakić, oboe, completed the Kosta Manojlović Music School. She has won numerous first prizes at national and federal competitions. As the best participant of the Federal Competition in Slovenia, she was chosen as the representative of the competition held in Geneva. Ivana Dakić graduated from the Music Academy under Professor Ljubiša Petruševski, under whose tutelage she obtained her master’s degree. As the top student of the wind department, she received the Bruno Bruni Award. Ivana Dakić has performed as a soloist with the Radio Television of Serbia Symphony Orchestra, the Belotti Quartet, and the Mokranjac Quartet, with whom she premiered and recorded Zlatan Vauda’s composition 7 Stories on Number 7, ​​as well as with the chamber orchestra, with whom she performed Johann Sebastian Bach’s Concerto for Violin and Oboe. She is employed in the RTS Symphony Orchestra as the principal oboe, while her previous engagements included periods with the National Theater in Belgrade, the Belgrade Philharmonic, the Makris Orchestra, the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, the Madlenianum Opera Orchestra, the Muzikon Orchestra, and the Sarajevo Philharmonic. Ivana Dakić is a member of the Femina Trio and the RTS Brass Quintet. She is the founder of the Oboa Fest, which is held in Belgrade.

Petar Garić, clarinet, after completing Vasa Pavić Secondary School in Podgorica under Professor Veselin Bogićević, obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degree with honors in Clarinet at the Music Academy in Cetinje, under Professor Ante Grgin. Since 2003, Petar Garić has served as Principal Clarinet of the Radio-Television Montenegro Symphony Orchestra and since the founding of the Music Center of Montenegro, has also been engaged as Principal Clarinet of the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra. Petar Garić is a Teaching Associate at the Music Academy in Cetinje, with Clarinet students under his tutelage. He has performed numerous times as a soloist and as a chamber and orchestral musician, Petar Garić has appeared in Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia, Italy, Austria, France, Germany, and Turkey.

Antonio Nasevski, bassoon, graduated from the Faculty of Music at the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje (North Macedonia), under Professor Marjan Miloevski. During his studies, he won numerous awards at national and international competitions. He has served as a member of several orchestras and chamber ensembles, including the Macedonian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, the Macedonian Philharmonic, the Niš Symphony Orchestra, the Skopje Wind Quintet, and the Montenegrin Wind Quintet, among others. As a studio musician, Antonio Nasevski collaborates with the FAMES Project in North Macedonia. He has performed as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician at numerous festivals, most notably at the Ohrid Summer Festival, the Days of Macedonian Music Festival, KotorArt, and the Bar Chronicles Festival. Since 2014, Antonio Nasevski has been a member of the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra as Principal Bassoon.

Nikola Ćirić, French horn, completed his undergraduate and master’s studies at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad under Professor Nenad Vasić, and postgraduate studies at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, under Professor Radovan Vlatković. As a soloist, he has appeared with the National Symphony Orchestra of Paraguay, the Harbin Symphony Orchestra (China), the Musica Sacra Buenos Aires Orchestra (Argentina), the Belgrade Philharmonic, the Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra, the Bunt Festival Chamber Orchestra, and the Niš Symphony Orchestra. Nikola Ćirić has collaborated with prominent conductors and artists, including: Zubin Mehta, Krzysztof Penderecki, Heinrich Schiff, Radovan Vlatković, Matthias Racz, Pascal Moragues, and Hansjörg Schellenberger, among others. He has participated as a lecturer at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, and has held master classes in England, Paraguay, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Romania, Switzerland, and China, where, in addition to working with young horn players, he spoke about his system of mental preparation – Musician without Stress. Nikola Ćirić was a member of the Serbian National Theater Opera in Novi Sad and a foreign expert at the Chinese Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Since 2015, he has been the principal horn of the Belgrade Philharmonic.

Ratimir Martinović, piano, after studying under Professor Emilija Spasojević, then under Professors Frederik Stanković and Arbo Valdma, found in Kemal Gekić, one of the greatest virtuosos of today, a pedagogue under whose tutelage he remained for several years. He graduated in 1999 and received his master's degree in 2002, conducting and performing the works of Mozart and Haydn, with a full-length concert featuring Bach's compositions. Ratimir Martinović studied under Gekić at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad and at Florida International University in Miami (USA). He is the founder and director of the KotorArt Festival and the Vasilije Mokranjac Foundation. Ratimir Martinović is one of the youngest Full Professors in the history of the University of Novi Sad. He has performed over 700 concerts with over 60 orchestras in Europe, Asia, and South and North America, in venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Parco della Musica in Rome, Rudolfinum and the Dvořák Hall in Prague, the Oriental Art Center in Shanghai, the Glen Gould Hall in Toronto, and the Lisinski Hall in Zagreb, among many others. He holds master classes and regularly appears as a jury member of piano competitions in Italy, Great Britain, South Africa, Turkey, Germany, Croatia, and other countries. Ratimir Martinović has released three compact discs, the first featuring the Goldberg Variations by J. S. Bach, the second with compositions by Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Brahms, and Prokofiev, and the third comprising the complete piano works of Vasilije Mokranjac.