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 STEFAN MILENKOVICH
Violinist Stefan Milenkovich is recognized internationally for both
exceptional
artistry and his life-long commitment to humanitarianism. He came to
international attention when at age of 10 when he was invited to perform
for
the late U.S. President, Ronald Reagan, at the White House “Christmas
Show”.
He has also performed twice for Pope John Paul II in Castelgandolfo
Residence, Italy. His international orchestral appearances include the
Berlin Symphony 79 Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Zagreb
Philharmonic, the Belgrade Philharmonic, the Orchestra of Radio-France,
the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Belgium, the
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Aspen Chamber Symphony, the Indianapolis
Symphony Orchestra, the Mexico State Symphony, the Orquestra Sinfonica
de Estado de Sao Paolo in Brazil, and the Melbourne and Queensland
Symphonies in Australia. He has worked with such renowned conductors as
Lorin Maazel, Daniel Oren, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Lu Jia, Lior Shambadal
and En Shao, among others. In 2002, he was proclaimed “Artist
of the 20th Century” in Belgrade (Serbia). Mr. Milenkovich is deeply
committed to international humanitarian causes. He was appointed “Child
Ambassador” of the First Children Embassy founded in Medjasi, during the
war in Bosnia. In 2002, he received the “Lifting Up the World With
Oneness Heart” award for his humanitarian activities, handed to him
personally by the guru Sri Chinmoy. Most recently, he received the 2003
“Most Humane Person” award in Belgrade. He also participated in a number
of gala concerts under the auspices of UNESCO in Paris, with such
artists as Placido Domingo, Lorin Maazel, Alexis Weissenberg and Yehudi
Menuhin. Mr. Milenkovich’s 2005-06 orchestral season includes
appearances with the St. Petersburg State Orchestra, Saarbrucken Radio-Symphony
Orchestra, Berliner Symphoniker, Orchestra of Rome and Lazio, Cedar
Rapids Symphony Orchestra, Key West Symphony, Georgia Philharmonics, and
the Ljubljana Symphony Orchestra. Other engagements include performances
at the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, and the Vail Music Festival in
Colorado. An avid chamber musician, he performs regularly at the Jupiter
Chamber Music Series in New York City, and with the Corinthian Piano
trio featuring pianist Adam Neiman and cellist Ani Aznavoorian. Mr.
Milenkovich also appeared with Itzhak Perlman at the Perlman Music
Program on Shelter Island, Long Island, where he served on the violin
faculty from 2000-2004. Mr. Milenkovich started his career at a very
young age, performing with his first orchestra at the age of five. At
age 7, he won the grand prize at the Jaroslav Kozian International
Violin Competition. This unprecedented accomplishment opened
opportunities and invitations to perform concerts in over 30 countries.
At the age of 16, Mr. Milenkovich played his 1000th concert in Monterrey,
Mexico. That same year, he was either a prizewinner or finalist in the
International Violin Competition of Indianapolis (USA), the Queen
Elisabeth Competition (Belgium), Hannover Violin Competition (Germany),
Tibor Varga Competition (Switzerland), Rodolfo Lipizer Varga Competition
(Switzerland), Rodolfo Lipizer Competition (Italy), Paganini Competition
(Italy), Ludwig Spohr Competition (Germany), and the Yehudi Menuhin
Competition (England). Mr. Milenkovich’s discography includes 4
commercial releases on the Italian label Dynamic, and numerous
recordings for the Yugoslavian label, PGP. Mr. Milenkovich continues to
be part of the violin faculty at Juilliard School’s Pre- College
division in New York where he lives with his wife Ani Aznavoorian.
ZADAR CHAMBER ORCHESTRA was founded by maestro Pavle Dešpalj 47
years ago. Pavle Dešpalj is a member of the most famous Zadar musical
family who founded Musical Evenings in St. Donat the very same year.
Petar Vrbanić, violin professor at Blagoja Berse Music School, became
the conductor of the Orchestra in 196 7 and two decades later his
student, violin player Drago Novak, who took the Orchestra throughout
Croatia, to France and Spain. Pavle Dešpalj has been the Honorary
Conductor of the Orchestra since 199 0 and Ivan Repušić from Zadar has
been a Chief Conductor since 2005. Under his leadership in the last two
years, with a dynamic concert season, cooperation with distinguished
conductors and soloists, and performances at Musical Evenings in St.
Donat, Zadar Chamber Orchestra has come back into the very core of the
musical life of its city.
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