Aleksandar Madžar (born in Belgrade, 1968) is a

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

n pianist. Madžar first studied piano with Gordana Malinović,

Arbo Valdma Arbo Valdma (born 20 February 1942 in Pärnu) is an Estonian pianist and music pedagogue. He is a professor of piano at the University of Music in Cologne (Germany). He received his musical education at the Music Academy in Tallinn (Estonia) unde ...

and Eliso Virsaladze in Belgrade and Moscow, then with Edouard Mirzoian at the Strasbourg Conservatory and in Brussels with Daniel Blumenthal. He now holds professorships at the Royal Conservatoire, Brussels and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Bern. Madžar was awarded the 3rd prize at the XII Leeds competition. Of his prize in the 1996 Leeds Piano Competition, Gerald Larner of The Times described Madžar as ''the most imaginative musician among the 1996 finalists''. The Leeds competition propelled Madžar onto the UK scene where he also became a sought after soloist with the Royal and BBC Philharmonics, BBC Scottish Symphony,

Scottish Chamber Orchestra The Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) is an Edinburgh-based UK chamber orchestra. One of Scotland's five National Performing Arts Companies, the SCO performs throughout Scotland, including annual tours of the Scottish Highlands and Islands and S ...

and

BBC National Orchestra of Wales The BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) ( cy, Cerddorfa Genedlaethol Gymreig y BBC) is a Welsh symphony orchestra and one of the BBC's five professional radio orchestras. The BBC NOW is the only professional symphony orchestra organisatio ...

, as well as throughout Europe and Asia, working with

Paavo Berglund Paavo Allan Engelbert Berglund (14 April 192925 January 2012) was a Finnish conductor and violinist. Career Born in Helsinki, Berglund studied the violin as a child, and played an instrument made by his grandfather. By age 15, he had decided on ...

Ivan Fischer Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

Paavo Järvi Paavo Järvi (; born 30 December 1962) is an Estonian-American conductor. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn, Estonia, to Liilia Järvi and the Estonian conductor Neeme Järvi. His siblings, Kristjan Järvi and Maarika Järvi, are also mu ...

Carlos Kalmar Carlos Kalmar (born February 26, 1958, in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan conductor.Macaluso, p. 194 Biography Kalmar began violin studies at age six. At age fifteen, he enrolled at the Vienna Academy of Music where his conducting teacher was Karl ...

, John Nelson, Libor Pesek, André Previn,

Andris Nelsons Andris Nelsons (born 18 November 1978) is a Latvian conductor who is currently the music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the ''Gewandhauskapellmeister'' of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. He has previously served as music directo ...

and the late

Marcello Viotti Marcello Viotti (29 June 195416 February 2005) was a Swiss classical music conductor, best known for opera. Viotti was born in Vallorbe, in the French-speaking region of Switzerland, to Italian parents. He studied cello, piano and singing at t ...

. Various select partnerships are key to Aleksandar Madžar’s current performance schedule. His partnership with violinist Ilya Gringolts sees them next perform a complete

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

cycle at the 2008

Verbier Festival The Verbier Festival is an annual international music festival that takes place for two weeks in late July and early August in the mountain resort of Verbier, Switzerland. Founded by Swedish expatriate in 1994, it has attracted international so ...

and, following the world premiere of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies' Violin Sonata at St Magnus and Cheltenham Festivals in summer 2008, recitals at Prague and Beethovenfest Bonn Festivals. His partnership with soprano

Juliane Banse Juliane Banse (born 10 July 1969 in Tettnang, Germany) is a German opera soprano and noted singer. Banse received her vocal training at the Zürich Opera, and with Brigitte Fassbaender in Munich. She won first prize in the singing competition o ...

continues next season with a tour of Spain to Bilbao, Valencia, Leon and Lisbon’s

Gulbenkian Foundation The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation ( pt, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One o ...

. After a successful cooperation with the

Irish Chamber Orchestra The Irish Chamber Orchestra (ICO) is an Irish classical music ensemble, administratively based at the University of Limerick. János Fürst founded the ICO in 1963. The ICO consisted only of strings as its regular ensemble for many years, adding w ...

's 2007 summer festival, under the artistic leadership of colleague

Anthony Marwood Anthony Marwood is a British solo violinist. Early life He was born 6 July 1965 to Michael Travers Marwood and Anne née Chevallier. He attended King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford. He then studied at the Royal Academy of Music and t ...

, the two further collaborated in recital in Edinburgh. Plans include a cycle at the

Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadi ...

, his recital debut in Amsterdam's Concertgebouw Hall and a return in recital to the Wigmore Hall, London. In 2008-09 Madžar maintained his schedule of diverse performance activities taking him worldwide: in recital he returned to Tokyo, to Paris, Theatre de la Ville, Cardiff and the Vlaanders Festival. With

Stuttgart Philharmonic The Stuttgarter Philharmoniker (Stuttgart Philharmonic) is the symphony orchestra of Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1924, they play regular concert series including youth concerts in Stuttgart, as well as guest ...

he performed in Milan’s Conservatorio G Verdi, and returned to the Irish Chamber Orchestra, BBC Belfast Symphony and Belgrade Philharmonic. Aleksandar Madžar has given solo recitals in Berlin, London, Rome, Florence, Milan, Hamburg, Duisburg and in 2007-08 his US recital debut on the Miami International Piano Festival was an astounding success. He is a regular guest artist at the festivals of Bad Kissingen, Schleswig Holstein, the Ivo Pogorelich Festival at Bad Wörishofen, Klavier Festival Ruhr, Davos, Roque-d’Antheron, Salzburg, Sintra and Aldeburgh. His discography includes the two Chopin piano concertos, with the

Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra The Frankfurt Radio Symphony (german: hr-Sinfonieorchester) is the radio orchestra of Hessischer Rundfunk, the public broadcasting network of the German state of Hesse. From 1929 to 1950 it was named ''Frankfurter Rundfunk-Symphonie-Orchester''. F ...

and

Dmitri Kitaenko Dmitri Georgievich Kitayenko (also spelled Dmitrij Kitajenko) (born 18 August 1940) is a Soviet and Russian conductor. He was bestowed the title People's Artist of the USSR (1984). He was born in Leningrad, Soviet Union and studied at the Glink ...

for BMG/Classic FM (1997), for the French label Arion (1999) a disc of

Chabrier Alexis-Emmanuel Chabrier (; 18 January 184113 September 1894) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and pianist. His Bourgeoisie, bourgeois family did not approve of a musical career for him, and he studied law in Paris and then worked ...

's music for two pianos and, working regularly with cellist Louise Hopkins, a disc of Elliot Carter, Rachmaninov and Schnittke for the Swedish label Intim Musik.

References

Profile at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Madzar, Aleksandar 1968 births Living people Serbian classical pianists Prize-winners of the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition Eurovision Young Musicians Finalists 21st-century classical pianists