Vera Veljkov-Medaković ( sr-Cyrl, Вера Вељков-Медаковић) (July 18, 1923 – September 29, 2011) was a Serbian pianist and piano teacher.

Education

Veljkov studied at the elementary and secondary music school "Stanković" in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. Her teacher, Rikard Schwartz, dedicated his Children's Suite for Piano to her when she was twelve. She graduated with honors. After she finished high school, she studied the piano at the Belgrade Music Academy piano department under prof. Emil Hayek, graduating with the highest marks in 1942. As one of the most promising students of the Belgrade Music Academy, she traveled to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1947 for training. She studied the piano at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

with Lazare Lévy for a period of two years, and then another year with

Marguerite Long Marguerite Marie-Charlotte Long (13 November 1874 – 13 February 1966) was a French pianist, pedagogue, lecturer, and an ambassador of French music. Life Early life: 1874–1900 Marguerite Long was born to Pierre Long and Anne Marie Antoin ...

, where visiting "Les cours pour les Francais et Etrangers virtuoses". She later returned to Belgrade with a degree from the Paris Conservatory, she continued her work at the Music Academy, where she remained until her retirement in 1984. At the Music Academy (FMA), she underwent re-election in all vocations, from assistant to full professor, and at one time performed and served as chief of the Department of piano at the Faculty of Music.

Musical career

Her first solo concert was on April 8, 1943 at the Kolarac National University of Belgrade. Since her return from Paris in 1950, she performed in twenty four different piano recitals, including programs with Serbian composers such as Biserka Cvejic, a soloist in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, with the works of S. Rajičić, P. Milosevic, M. Tajcevic, V. Peričić, D. Kostic and D. Radic. With various orchestras in the country and abroad, she performed as a soloist in multiple venues, including

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

in G major,

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

concerto for piano and orchestra in b minor, KV491,

Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...

Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in E flat major and

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

Concerto for Piano and Concerto in G major. She recorded for radio and television broadcasts beginning in 1945, including the TV show ''Family Notes'' with the Symphony Orchestra of RTB, and recorded a total of 23 shows for radio and three television programs. She recorded six shows for Radio

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 ...

as well as works of Serbian composers for Vienna Radio. As an accompanist she has performed in radio shows with soloists Vera Sušnjak faith-Vojnović, Rose Arbanas, Olga Vukmirovic and Biserka Cvejic, with the program of Serbian, German, American, French and Spanish composers, as well as black and American Indian songs for voice and piano. In October 1983, she performed in a concert in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

honoring the work of

Petar Konjović Petar Konjović ( sr-cyr, Петар Коњовић, , 5 May 1883 – 1 October 1970) was a Serbs, Serbian composer and academic. Education and career Petar Konjović was born in Čurug, where his father worked as a teacher. He was educated in No ...

. She performed as a soloist in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and all the centers of the former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

Personal life

Veljkov married academician

Dejan Medaković Dejan Medaković ( sr-cyr, Дејан Медаковић; 7 July 1922 – 1 July 2008) was a Serbian art historian, writer and academician. Medaković had served as President of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts from 1998 to 2003, as Dean ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veljkov-Medakovic, Vera 1923 births 2011 deaths 20th-century pianists 20th-century Serbian educators 20th-century Serbian musicians 20th-century Serbian women Conservatoire de Paris alumni Musicians from Belgrade Serbian pianists Serbian women educators Serbian women pianists Women classical pianists Yugoslav expatriates in France Yugoslav musicians Yugoslav women