BALKALITO PROJECT (Serbia, North Macedonia, Austria, Brazil)
Nenad Mitić, clarinet
Ivan Trenev, accordion
Tobias Steinrück, double bass
Luis Andre C. de Oliveira, percussion
Programme:
Balkan am Hof
music from the upcoming CD, authors: Matej Bunderla, Ivan Trenev; arrangement: Balkalito
Balkan Medleys
original arrangements of Balkan folk songs by Balkalito
The international chamber music ensemble that refuses to be pinpointed. The four musicians freely blend and combine chamber music with the melodies of their own respective homelands, spicing it up with the passionate rhythms of the Balkans. The resulting cocktail is an exquisite, original adventure that takes the audiences far beyond old dusty clichés.
Whether as a classical musician in orchestras and chamber music formations, as a founding member of the world music quartet Balkalito or as an instrumental teacher—the clarinettist Nenad Mitić, born in 1988 in Niš, Serbia, feels at home in many genres. After having completed his master’s in Niš (clarinet) and the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz (clarinet and chamber music for woodwind instruments), Mitić has enrolled in instrumental and vocal pedagogy studies in Graz. In addition, he has attended numerous master classes (solo and orchestra) with leading soloists and pedagogues. Beside his musical and pedagogical activities, Mitić has also been a central member of the organising team of the Styrian Chamber Music Festival both on and behind the stage for many years.
Macedonian accordion player and composer Ivan Trenev, born in 1993 in Shtip in North Macedonia, received his first accordion lesson at seven years old. A mere year later, he won his first award at the national accordion competition contest in Skopje. He continued his education at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Graz, where he finished his master’s in 2019. As an accordion player, he works with many composers and has premiered more than 30 pieces (for accordion or ensemble with accordion). Ivan’s artistic engagement can be described as highly diverse, encompassing styles from chamber music to tango, Latin, Balkan, and klezmer music. He has worked with many prominent orchestras and ensembles. He is also one of the founders of the Styrian Klezmer Connection, an association for sponsorship of klezmer and Yiddish music and Styrian klezmer orchestras, as well as a scholar of North Macedonian Ministry of culture and a recipient of Azrielli Scholarship as part of the festival KlezKanada in Montreal.
Tobias Steinrück is an upright and electric bass player from Graz, Austria. Born in 1995, he studied jazz double bass and jazz pedagogy at University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, but he is also at home in a lot of other genres, ranging from funk, blues and rock to various folk and ethno music. He is working as a freelance musician in a lot of different bands around Graz as well as internationally.
Luis Andre C. de Oliveira, a drummer and percussionist, graduated in popular music (drums) from State University of Campinas in Brazil and later completed his master’s degree in jazz at Künst Universität Graz with distinction. He has released several albums with different genres, from rock to jazz, from classical to contemporary. Since 2012, he has lived in Graz. He has toured extensively around Europe and elsewhere with groups like Meretrio, Dobrek Bistro, Kug Sax Sippia, Ed Neumeister Quartet and others. In 2020, he taught online classes and workshops for different universities in Brazil.
Admission free.
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