Volodja Balžalorsky (born 1956) is a

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist. He is Professor of Violin at the Music Academy at

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana (, , ), abbreviated UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 38,000 enrolled students. The university has 23 faculties and three art academies with approximately 4,000 teaching and re ...

. His pupils, including Lana Trotovšek, have won many national and international first prizes and awards. He regularly gives Master Classes in conjunction with his performances internationally.

Life

He studied music at the Cologne University of Music, Germany, with

Igor Ozim Igor Ozim (9 May 1931 – 23 March 2024) was a Slovenian classical violinist and Pedagogy, pedagogue. He was based in Salzburg, Austria. Life and career Igor Ozim was born in 1931 in Ljubljana. He came from a musical family: both parents played ...

; at the P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory, in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, with Galina Barinova; and at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

, Austria, with the famous Czech violinist, Josef Suk; completing his studies with Josef Klima, at the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, where he received his post graduate degree.

Career

He has performed in many international music festivals and concert series throughout Europe, and North America and has recorded for radio stations in

, Italy,

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

and in United States. Volodja Balžalorsky has performed notably with the

Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra The Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra (''Simfonični orkester Slovenske filharmonije'') is a Slovenian orchestra based in Ljubljana. Its primary concert venues are Marjan Kozina Hall in Philharmonic Hall, Ljubljana, at Congress Square () and Gall ...

and with many other orchestras in various countries. He is particularly active in

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

and has worked with numerous artists and ensembles such as pianists Christoph Theiler, Hinko Haas, Vladislav Kovalsky, the Amael Piano Trio, and Trio Ritratto dell' amore (violin,

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

Concerts

In 2017 – 2018 Volodja Balzalorsky brought very successful chamber music performances with Amael Piano trio and recital performances with the pianists Aleksandar Serdar and Peter Caelen in eleven countries. Big success was China Tour in November 2017: Duo Volodja Balzalorsky and Peter Caelen gave concerts in 13 Chinese Million Cities at prestigious Chinese Concert Halls, such as the Beijing Concert Hall, the Concert Hall of the Shandong Grand Theater in Jinan, Hangzhou Grand Theater and others, with a program with only works by Johannes Brahms. In Reviews are mentioned Duo’s superb artistic skills, their perfect chamber music cooperation, and an unforgettable presentation of the magical music world of Brahms, for which the Duo was everywhere rewarded with long-running applause by enthusiastic audience.

Live Collection

Several CDs and digital albums were released as part of his Live Collection, with five more planned for release on the Cantabel label, supported by the Slovenian Ministry for Culture and the City of Ljubljana, with added releases by Eroica, a well known US label that features great classical artists worldwide. The live Collection of Volodja Balzalorsky, is a unique presentation featuring the violinist with his chamber music partners, from 1985 to the present. The performances are taken from live national broadcasts, international festivals and concert series, around the world.

Reception

Critic Slobodan Turlakov spoke of Balžalorsky's musicianship after a 1988 performance; ”Volodja Balzalorsky is passionately devoted to violin, inspired by the flame which distinguishes the most refined and authentic violinists capable of building the dramaturgy of musical works in the most natural and persuasive manner. His interpretation calls for an exalted and compassionate listener, which is the distinction of rare and predestined musicians...”

Awards

He is the winner of the Hollywood Music in Media Award, the Inland Empire Music Award 2008 - Best International Artist, the Ontario Independent Music Award - Best International Artist and a nominee of the Los Angeles Music Awards - Best Classical Artist in 2007/2008.Official site
/ref> He is also the winner of the 2006 Betetto Music Award, the highest music award given in Slovenia.

External links

Official web site l

Fan Page of Volodja Balžalorsky

Volodja Balžalorsky on Twitter

Official Myspace of Volodja Balžalorsky

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balzalorsky, Volodja Slovenian classical violinists Male classical violinists Musicians from Ljubljana Living people 1956 births 21st-century classical violinists 21st-century Slovenian male musicians