Dubravka Tomšič Srebotnjak (born 7 February 1940 in

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

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 ...

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

) 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 ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and music teacher.

Early life

Tomsic received private lessons at a very young age and continued with education at the Music High School in

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

and later at the Slovene Academy of Music under professor Zora Zarnik. Following the advice of concert pianist

Claudio Arrau Claudio Arrau León (; February 6, 1903June 9, 1991) was a Chilean and American pianist known for his interpretations of a vast repertoire spanning the baroque music, baroque to 20th-century classical music, 20th-century composers, especially B ...

, she went to the United States at age 12 and in 1957 graduated from

Juilliard School of Music The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became the Juilliard School, named afte ...

in New York. Her teachers were Katherine Bacon and Alexander Uninsky.

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein Order of the British Empire, KBE OMRI (; 28 January 1887 – 20 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.

heard her New York Town Hall recital and invited her to study with him privately in the late 1950s. Tomšič became one of Rubinstein's protégées.

Career

Tomsic has been teaching piano at the Slovene Academy of music in Ljubljana since 1967. She has had a wide ranging concert career and is often invited to judge piano competitions including Van Cliburn, Leeds, L. v. Beethoven, Clara Haskil, and others. Dubravka Tomšič is very much sought after as a performer, making recital and concerto appearances all over Europe, Asia, North America, Mexico, Australia and Africa. She is credited with more than 3,500 performances and more than 20 records and 70 CD releases. For her artistic and pedagogic endeavours she has received numerous awards: 3rd prize at the

Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition The Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition is a music competition for young pianists that takes place in Bolzano, Italy. It was founded in 1949 by Cesare Nordio in memory of the pianist and composer Ferruccio Busoni. History The firs ...

(Bolzano, 1961), Prešeren Fund Award (1962), 1. award at Mozart's festival recital (Brussels, 1967), Župančič Award (1970), gold lyre SUMUJ Award (1974),

Prešeren Award The Prešeren Award (), also called the Grand Prešeren Award (), is the highest decoration in the field of artistic and in the past also scientific creation in Slovenia. It is awarded each year by the Prešeren Fund () to two eminent Slovene art ...

(1975),

AVNOJ Award The Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia,; ; commonly abbreviated as the AVNOJ, was a deliberative and legislative body that was established in Bihać, Yugoslavia, in November 1942. It was established by Josip Broz T ...

(1976), Golden Award of the University in Ljubljana for her pedagogic and artistic achievements (1989), etc. She is an honorary member of the Slovene Philharmonics since 1995. Her students include: Majda Martinc, Sonja Pahor, Hinko Haas, Lidija Stanković, Tatjana Ognjanović, Tomaž Petrač, Anja German, Miha Haas, Slaven Kulenovic, Natalija Šaver, Tadej Horvat, Sara Rustja Turniški, Stanislav Krutilov and Fada Azzeh.

Personal life

She was married to the late Slovenian composer

Alojz Srebotnjak Alojz is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Alojz Ajdič (born 1939), Slovenian composer, author of many orchestral works *Alojz Fandel, former Slovak football player and coach *Alojz Geržinič (1915–2008), Slovenian composer * ...

and has a son

Martin Srebotnjak Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * Mart ...

, who is a Slovenian film director.

References

External links

*
Biography on the Bach Cantatas Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomsic-Srebotnjak, Dubravka 1940 births Living people People from Dubrovnik Prize-winners of the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition Prešeren Award laureates Slovenian classical pianists Slovenian women pianists Slovenian music educators Women music educators Slovenian people of Croatian descent