PIANO TRIO AMAEL
Volodja Balžalorsky, violin
Damir Hamidulin, cello
Zoltan Peter, piano
Programme:
Peter Kopač (1949), Inevitability
Milko Lazar (1965), Five short compositions for piano trio
Franz Schubert (1897‒1828), Piano Trio in E flat Major, D. 897 “Nocturne”
Bedřich Smetana (1824‒1884), Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 15
Vstop prost.
The Amael piano trio has been active since October 2000. It has confirmed its international reputation with extremely successful performances at festivals (Forfest in Kroměříž, Spectrum Festival in Munich, Mask Fest in San Marino, Grieg Festival in Bergen, Nuovi Spazi Musicali Festival in Rome, Foyer européen in Luxembourg, Kolarac’s chamber music podium in Belgrade, etc.) and with concerts in prestigious auditoriums, including Carnegie Hall in New York and The Forge Cultural Center in London. The band has always performed Slovenian contemporary music on tours, thus contributing to its international recognition.
After studying at the Secondary Music School in Ljubljana with Ciril Veronek, violinist Volodja Balžalorsky studied in Cologne, Moscow and Vienna with famous professors such as Igor Ozim (he also graduated from it in 1980), Josef Suk, Galina Barinova and Grigorij Žislin. He has received several international awards for his artistic work, such as the Hollywood Music and Media Award 2009, the Inland Empire Music Award and the Ontario Independent Music Award Best International Artist 2007. He is also the winner of the 2006 Bettet Award and the Tenerife International Competition Organizing Committee Special Award. (Canary Islands) for best interpretation in the instrumental performance category (for the performance of Franck’s Sonata in A major with pianist Hinko Haas). He was also nominated for The Los Angeles Music Award 2007. He performs at home and abroad as a soloist and chamber musician. Through concerts and recordings for various radio and television stations in Europe and the USA, he has built a reputation as a violinist of honed technique, rich tone and sophisticated musicality. He regularly performs at international festivals in Brussels, Krems, Bologna, Trapani, Ljubljana, Venice, Aberystwyth, Kroměříž, etc. He has recorded numerous CDs, including for the well-known label Eroica Classical Recordings, and several shows for TV Slovenia. From 1999 to 2001 he was concertmaster of the Freiburg Baroque Soloists. He works as a chamber musician in various ensembles, including international ones. He complements artistic reproduction with pedagogical work. For several years he has been leading international violin masterclasses in Grožnjan and Pučišća (Croatia), Amalfi, Rome, Interlochn, Aberystwyth and the University of DePauw (USA). Since 1983 he has been teaching at the Secondary School of Music and Ballet in Ljubljana, and since 1996 also at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana (since 2003 as an associate professor).
Cellist Damir Hamidulin is an excellent representative of the Russian school. He studied at the Kazan Conservatory (Prof. Ittaki Halitov) and completed his studies with honors in 1981. He continued his studies with world-famous cellists such as Mstislav Rostropovič, Daniil Šafran, Aleksander Vlasov, Galina Kozolupova and others. Already during his studies he received a number of awards, including the first prize at the international competition Volga-Ural (1980) and the second prize at the All-Russian competition of cellists (1981), where he was also awarded for the best performance of Šotakovič’s Sonata. In 1984, he continued his postgraduate studies in Moscow at the famous Gnesin Institute, where he was also an assistant to the great cellist Fyodor Luzanov. He has performed several times as a soloist with the Kazan Philharmonic and other symphony and chamber orchestras in Russia and Slovenia. He has performed all the most famous concertos for cello and orchestra (Dvořák, Saint-Saëns, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Haydn, etc.). He has performed at numerous prestigious festivals and collaborated with contemporary Russian, Ukrainian and Slovenian composers. He performed the novelties of R. Kalimulin, K. Cipkolenko, I. Krivokapić and others. He has appeared on radio and television shows and recorded numerous records most recently for the American label Eroica Classical Recordings. Between 1981 and 1984 he worked as a solo cellist of the Kazan Opera and Ballet, and since 1987 he has been a solo cellist of the Kazan Philharmonic. Since 1991 he has been a solo cellist in the SNG Opera and Ballet Orchestra in Ljubljana. He successfully works as a pedagogue at the Vič-Rudnik Music School and leads summer courses in Croatia and Slovenia.
Pianist Zoltan Peter was born in Vojvodina, finished high school in Subotica, and continued his higher education in the class of Arbo Valdma at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad. He completed his piano studies at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana. As a soloist, chamber musician and piano accompanist of many prominent musicians of the younger and older generation, he has performed in Slovenia and abroad, including in all music centers of the former Yugoslavia, Italy, Hungary, Germany, Switzerland, etc. He has performed under the baton of conductors such as Igor Gjadrov, Simon Robinson, Berislav Skenderović, Hermann Ostendarp, Guido Mancusi, Paul Hoskins, George Pehlivanian and En Shao. He has recorded numerous songs for RTV Slovenia, RTV Belgrade, RTV Novi Sad and HRT, as well as eleven CDs with solo and chamber music for the RTV Slovenia Cassette and Record Label and for other labels. As a top chamber musician and piano accompanist with an extensive repertoire, he often participates in international master classes and competitions. In addition to concert and regular pedagogical activities at the lower, middle and university levels, he also leads seminars for young pianists, piano teachers and piano accompanists in Slovenia and abroad.
