Jury ’19

HAN GUOLIANG (China)

He graduated from the Central Conservatory School of Music in Beijing and also in 1988 he won a scholarship to study a Masters Degree at the Boston University School for the Arts.

In recent years, Han Guoliang has performed in Europe, the U.S. and Asia. With China National Symphonic Orchestra he has performed with world-class masters Charles Dutoit, Isaac Stern, Yehudi Menuhin, Seiji Ozawa, Rostropovich, Li Delun and others, both in China and abroad.

He is currently a flute professor at the Central Conservatory of Music and a principal flautist of the China National Symphonic Orchestra.

He is also the President of The China Flute Association.

She graduated from Central Conservatory of Music as an undergraduate and Capital Normal University as a master postgraduate. Currently, she is employed as an associate professor in the music department at the Beijing Opera Vocational Art School. She has acquired successively the best instructor award from the culture department, the China Flute Association, and the Chinese Musicians Association. Her students, who participated in both domestic and international flute competitions, have all received high rankings and compliments. In 2014, she received the Chunhui Award from the Beijing Opera Vocational Art School.

He acquired his B.A. and M.A. degrees in Belgrade under the mentorship of Prof. Miodrag Azanjac. He had further training in the class of Prof. Christian Lardé in Paris where he received his Diplôme Supérieur de Concertiste in 1983. After that, he has established a long-lasting collaboration with Aurèle Nicolet, one of the greatest musicians and flute pedagogues of the 20th century. He has performed at all the major festivals in the former Yugoslavia, as well as in France, Switzerland, Italy, China, Austria, Germany, Russia, Spain, Romania, Great Britain, Algeria, Finland, Denmark, Spain, Ukraine, South Africa, Norway, Luxembourg, Sweden and Argentina.

Ljubiša Jovanović won the First Prize for Interpretation at the International Review of Composers in Sremski Karlovci and Novi Sad in 1992 and in Belgrade in 1998, Golden Link award for artistic achievements in 1992, the Annual Award of the Serbian Musical Artists Association, 1992 & 2018., as well as the Belgrade Cultural Fund Award for the best concerts in Belgrade in 1987, 1989, 1991 and 1992. He also received the Golden Medal in honour of the 75th anniversary of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra (1998) and the University of Arts Silver Medal for his merits in improvement of the teaching process (2000), the City of Belgrade Award for 2008 & 2013, the St. Sava National Award (2009), Aleksandar Pavlović Award and the Serbian Composers Association Award for the year 2017, 60 years of the radio Belgrade II charter for long-lasting cooperation and contribution to radio creatorship in Serbia (2018), as well as the “Classical Music Review Award” for best performer in Serbia 2018.

He is a permanent member of the Ensemble for New Music and the trio Anima. He has held master classes in Germany, Argentina, Italy, Ukraine, Norway, China, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Luxembourg, Ukraine, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia.

Ljubiša Jovanović has performed with some of the most prominent flute players of our times: Aurèle Nicolet, Irena Grafenauer, Emmanuel Pahud, Michel Debost, Christian Lardé, Guoliang Han, Yubeen Kim. He has recorded more than 50 CDs. In the course of over 40 years of artistic activities, he has given more than 100 first-run performances of solo compositions and chamber music by Serbian authors.

For 25 years he was a solo flautist at the Belgrade Opera & Ballet Orchestra (1978-88), Serbian Radio and TV Symphony Orchestra (1988-89) and the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra (1989-2004). He has been working at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade since 1994, now in the position of a full professor of flute. From 2002 to 2009 he was a Vice-Dean for Artistic and Scientific Work and International Cooperation at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade. He is the founder and the president of the professional ensemble Camerata Serbica (2004). Since 2010, he has been the artistic director and conductor of the Lola Classic ensembles, and in 2013 he founded the BUNT festival. Ljubiša Jovanović is the artist of the “Haynes Flutes”, along with the flautists such as James Galway and Emmanuel Pahud.

She was born in Subotica. She graduated and completed her master’s studies at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad in the class of Professor Marijan Egić. She continued her studies in Paris in the class of Professor Claude Lefebvre and Professor Patrick Gallois. She further enriched her knowledge by attending numerous masterclasses held by renowned soloists and pedagogues.

She has received several first and special prizes at competitions in Serbia and the former Yugoslavia. She was a Laureate title winner of the Young Yugoslav Music Artists Competition in Zagreb, and a first prize winner for the interpretation of contemporary music at the International Review of Composers in Belgrade.

She has performed as a soloist with several symphonic and chamber orchestras in the country and abroad. She has held several recitals and chamber concerts in Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Belgium, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Russia, Portugal, Greece, and Israel.

She has performed in many prestigious festivals: NOMUS (Serbia). Zagreb bienalle (Croatia), Opatija Music Festival (Croatia), Music Festivities in Subotica and Sombor (Serbia), Summer Festival in Herceg Novi (Montenegro), Theatre City Budva (Montenegro), Belgrade Flute Fest (Serbia), BELEF (Serbia), Europhonia in Zagreb (Croatia), Sabato Serra in Torino (Italy), Kotor Art Festival (Montenegro), Parisian Fall (France), Berlin Modern Art Festival (Germany), European Avant-garde Festival in Leipzig (Germany), Festival d’Avignon (France), Bekesi Flute Festival (Hungary), Festivals in Patras and Afitos (Greece).

Laura Levai Aksin is a solo flutist of Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra. She has served as a solo flutist in the Opera Orchestra of the Serbian National Theatre, The Chamber Orchestra Camerata Academica in Novi Sad, as well as of the ensemble for new music Musica Viva. During her stay in France, she acted as a member of the Formatio and Theatre Jel ensembles, as well as the Orlean Flute Orchestra.

She is a member of the flute trio Density and the wind quintet Synergia 5, as well as the chamber trio together with Rita Kinka (piano) and Marko Josifoski (violin).

She has made recordings for many radio and TV stations in the region, including Hungarian TV, Czech TV, RTV Dortmund and RAI. The publishing houses Recommended Records from London, EOS from Graz, and Visio Mundi and SKC from Novi Sad have published compact discs of her performances.

She is currently teaching flute as a full professor at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad and the Academy of Arts in Banja Luka. She has given a large number of masterclasses and served as a jury member at numerous domestic and international competitions and festivals.

She was born in Tuzla in 1973, where she finished primary and secondary music school. As a student, she participated in many domestic and regional competitions winning many awards. After attending a summer course at the Academy of Art in Novi Sad, and at the invitation of her future Professor Marijan Egić, 17-year-old Jasna enrolled her first year of studies in 1990. During the studies, she attended courses held by eminent flautists (Renata Greiss Armin, 1992 and 1994 in Italy), participated in the Hungarian section of flautist in Sopron, she also attended the course by Professor Peter-Lukas Graf and, after her studies, courses by Sophie Cherrier, Janos Balint, Gergely Ittzes.

She has been working in music school Isidor Bajić since the third year of her studies. Her pedagogical result is acknowledged not only by her student’s awards but also invitations to work as a jury member at several domestic and international competitions: International competition of flautist in Valjevo, Republic competition, Festival of music schools in Zaječar, Wind competition in Lazarevac, Woodwind competition in Požarevac, Young virtuous in Belgrade, Anton Eberst in Novi Sad, Slavenski competition in Belgrade,  as well as accolade for the most successful pedagogue in 1995 at the Chamber ensembles competition in Balassagyarmat, Hungary and at the competition FEMUS in Subotica in 2016. She was awarded by The Association of Music and Ballet Schools of Serbia for long-standing results in her work in 2015.

Since October 2016 when she was elected as a president of Vojvodina’s flute committee of experts, she has organized several seminars: seminar by flautist Gergely Ittzes, as well as seminar “The weekend of open doors” in 2007 and 2008, where more than 20 of colleagues and their students participated.  In school year 2009/10 the seminar “The weekend of open doors” was accredited with Janos Balint as a guest lecturer. She regularly participates in the making of propositions for Republic competition and international competition Anton Eberst. Since the 2018/19 she is also a co-author of online seminar “Music with the help of computer”, which a hundred of teachers attended just during this school year. She is able to work in MS Office and WordPress.

As a member of citizens association “Družiciranje” and as a lecturer, she worked at the summer camp in Gučevo two years in a row.

Since the beginning of her teaching career her students have won many awards and regularly participate in all relevant competitions in the country.

With chamber ensembles trio “Anima”, trio “MaesTre” and trio “Da camera” she has performed at domestic festivals.

Jasna is the chief of the wind department in music school Isidor Bajić and coordinator of international project Triorca 2 where she prepared our and foreign students for orchestra camps (and participated in them) in Germany and Great Britain.

Since 2019 she has worked as a director’s assistant for the cultural and public activity of music school Isidor Bajić in Novi Sad, which entails organizing activities in the school, presenting school in the media, maintaining pages on social sites and cooperating with other cultural institutions.

She is fluent in English and has translated specialized literature.

She is the mother of two children.

She graduated from the Novi Sad Academy of Arts in 1984, and obtained her MA in Flute at the same institution in 1987, with Professor Marijan Egić. Her performance was perfected with Bruno Cavallo. As one of the best students, she participated in numerous competitions and won many awards and prizes, including a total of 16 first prizes. She performed as a soloist and chamber musician (in Duo and with Flute Trio Density). She took part in the most significant music events in former Yugoslavia and performed as a soloist with a great number of orchestras. She has made recordings for numerous radio and TV stations and recorded a CD produced by “EOS” from Graz (Austria).

Her engagement in teaching commenced at the second year of her university studies, in 1981, when she became a flute teacher with the Isidor Bajić Music School in Novi Sad. She is a member of all national flute juries, as well as a member of the international jury at the Petar Konjovic Competition in Belgrade. She has worked as a professor at the Novi Sad Academy of Arts for the subjects Flute Teaching Methods and Wind Instrument Teaching Methods since October 1999. From 2001 until 2005, she was teaching at the Cetinje (Montenegro) Academy of Music, too. For the subjects she teaches, Radmila has the title of Full Professor.

Mr Radmila Rakin-Martinović has been the Principal of the Isidor Bajić Music School in Novi Sad since 1996. Excellent results of the School at every relevant competition (the best music school in Serbia five times in a sequence) were accompanied by celebration of three jubilees: 130th anniversary of Isidor Bajić’s birthday and 90th and 100thanniversaries of founding of the School. Radmila was the executive producer of two CDs published by the School in cooperation with Radio Novi Sad. Isidor Bajić Music School was awarded the most prestigious award in the area of culture and art – “Vuk Award”, in 1999, as well as the international award for the best image in 2004 New Millennium Award – International Award for the Best Trade Name (Madrid, Spain). Vojvodina Cultural and Educational Association has awarded her with “Cultural Spark Award” for the year 1999.

She is Co-Founder and Executive Director of the “Isidor Bajić Piano Memorial” and “Anton Eberst Clarinet&Flute Competition”. She was awarded the Global Quality Management Golden Badge for the best manager in 2004 (Madrid, Spain). The Annual Award by the Music and Ballet Schools Association in Serbia was given to Radmila Rakin-Martinović in 2004, and Novi Sad City Assembly awarded her the “Novembarska povelja Grada Novog Sada” in 2005, for outstanding results in the field of art, pedagogy, improving musical education and contribution to affirming Music School “Isidor Bajić” in the country and abroad. In January 2006, Mr Radmila Rakin-Martinović has been awarded “Svetosavska nagrada” by the Ministry of Education and Sport of Serbia for her contribution in developing education in 2005.

He was born in 1969 in Komádi (Hungary). He finished his studies at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music where he acquired Bachelor diploma as well as a PhD diploma. He attended several master courses held by András Adorján, Jean-Claude Gérard, Jean-Pierre Rampal, János Bálint, Zoltán Gyöngyössy, István Matuz.

He has been teaching from 1991 and gained expertise during his career as a teacher at every level of flute tuition from primary level through secondary to higher education. His students have been successful at numerous competitions and festivals in Hungary and abroad. He has been head of the woodwind section of the Hungarian Music Teachers’ Association (ZETA) from 2014. He is often invited as a jury member of inland and international competitions. Besides this, he regularly holds master classes, display classes, postgraduate courses and lectures both in Hungary and abroad.

He was a member of the Matáv Symphony Orchestra from 1992 to 1998. Meanwhile, he has been working with the Budapest Festival Orchestra as a permanent assistant. As an orchestral musician, he played in almost all the European countries, in the United States and Canada. Since the establishment of Componensemble, he participates in the everyday work of the ensemble. Several contemporary musical compositions and their premieres are bound to his name (for example those of Zoltán Jeney, Barnabás Dukay, József Sári). He works regularly as a performer and teacher with the following composers: Barnabás Dukay, Zsolt Serei, József Sári, Máté Hollós. He led the Contemporary Music course at the Faculty of Music and Visual Arts at University of Pécs from 2001 to 2015 (created dedicated composer’s concerts of József Sári and Máté Hollós). He founded the Flute Quartet of Csepel with friends in 2000, this ensemble regularly performs on concerts and festivals.

MATEJ ZUPAN (Slovenia)

He is a Professor at the University of Ljubljana Academy of Music. From 1996 to 2008 he was the principal flutist of the Slovenian National Radio Symphony Orchestra. He completed his graduate and post-graduate studies at the Academy of Music at University of Ljubljana under Professor Feđa Rupel, and later went on to complete advanced studies with Mario Ancillotti and to attend masterclasses led by Trevor Wye, Michel Debost, Peter-Lukas Graf and James Galway. He is the winner of several first prizes and other accolades in national competitions. As a member of the Ariart Woodwind Quintet, the Academia Ars Musicae Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble for contemporary Music MD7 and Chamber Orchestra of Soloists (Society of Slovene Composers) as well as the soloist, he has performed extensively throughout Slovenia, Europe, both Americas and Asia. He has recorded 5 CD’s as well, for the archives of Slovenian Radio and TV, RAI and ORF.

www.matejzupan.com