AMAEL TRIO – Gala concert marking the 25th anniversary of artistic career
gostja: Tatjana Ognjanović, klavir (ustanovni član Amael Tria)
Amael Trio – Recipient of Numerous Prestigious International Music Awards in the Jubilee Year 2025
Zoltan Peter, piano
Volodja Balžalorsky, violin
Damir Hamidullin, cello
Guest: Tatjana Ognjanović, piano (Founding Member of the Amael Trio)
Program:
Franz Schubert, Trio Nocturne in E-flat major, D 897 (pianist Tatjana Ognjanović)
Sergei Rachmaninoff, Piano Trio No. 1 in G minor ”Trio élégiaque”
Anton Arensky, Piano Trio No. 1, Op. 32
Milko Lazar, Three Short Pieces
Bedřich Smetana, Trio Op. 15 in G minor
The Amael Trio has been active since October 2000. The ensemble has established its international reputation through highly successful performances at festivals such as Forfest in Kroměříž, Festival Spectrum in Munich, Mask Fest in San Marino, the Grieg Festival in Bergen, the Nuovi Spazi Musicali Festival in Rome, the Foyer Européen in Luxembourg, the Kolarac Podium of Chamber Music in Belgrade, the Fajr Festival in Tehran, and others. They have performed in prestigious concert halls, including Carnegie Hall in New York and The Forge Cultural Centre in London. The trio has consistently performed contemporary Slovenian music abroad, contributing significantly to its international recognition. In its current formation – Zoltan Peter, piano; Volodja Balžalorsky, violin; and Damir Hamidullin, cello – the trio has been performing since April 2017. Until that time, the pianist of the ensemble was Tatjana Ognjanović.
The Amael Trio received five prestigious international awards for their video recording of the concert at the Spectrum Festival 2024: Universal Stars Music Competition – Diamond Award (December 2024), Grand Prize Virtuoso Competition Berlin – First Prize (April 2025), International Schubert Competition Vienna – First Prize (April 2025), 10th Swiss Competition – First Prize (May 2025), Claude Debussy Competition Paris – First Prize (July 2025)
Violinist Volodja Balžalorsky studied at the Ljubljana Secondary School of Music under Ciril Veronek and continued his studies in Cologne, Moscow, and Vienna with distinguished professors such as Igor Ozim (with whom he graduated in 1980), Josef Suk, Galina Barinova, and Grigory Zhislin. He has received several international awards for his artistic achievements, including the Hollywood Music in Media Award (2009), Inland Empire Music Award and Ontario Independent Music Award for Best International Artist (2007). He is also the recipient of the Bettet Award (2006) and a Special Prize from the Organizing Committee of the International Competition in Tenerife (Canary Islands) for the best instrumental performance (for his interpretation of Franck’s Sonata in A major with pianist Hinko Haas). He was also nominated for the Los Angeles Music Award (2007). Balžalorsky performs as both soloist and chamber musician in Slovenia and abroad. Through concerts and recordings for various radio and television stations across Europe and the USA, he has established a reputation as a violinist of refined technique, rich tone, and exceptional musicality. He regularly appears at international festivals in Brussels, Krems, Bologna, Trapani, Ljubljana, Venice, Aberystwyth, Kroměříž, and others. He has recorded numerous CDs, including for the renowned label Eroica Classical Recordings, and has produced several programs for TV Slovenia. From 1999 to 2001, he served as concertmaster of the Freiburg Baroque Soloists. As a chamber musician, he collaborates with various international ensembles. Alongside his artistic career, he is also a dedicated pedagogue, leading international violin masterclasses in Grožnjan and Pučišća (Croatia), Amalfi, Rome, Interlochen, Aberystwyth, and at DePauw University (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, where he became an Associate Professor in 2003.
Cellist Damir Hamidulin is an outstanding representative of the Russian school. He studied at the Kazan Conservatory under Professor Ittaki Halitov, graduating with distinction in 1981. He further refined his artistry in masterclasses with world-renowned cellists such as Mstislav Rostropovich, Daniil Shafran, Alexander Vlasov, and Galina Kozolupova. During his studies, he won numerous prizes, including the First Prize at the Volga-Ural International Competition (1980) and the Second Prize at the All-Russian Cello Competition (1981), where he also received a special award for the best performance of Shostakovich’s Sonata. In 1984 he pursued postgraduate studies at the renowned Gnesin Institute in Moscow, where he also served as assistant to the distinguished cellist Fyodor Luzanov. He has performed as soloist with the Kazan Philharmonic and other symphony and chamber orchestras in Russia and Slovenia, interpreting major cello concertos by Dvořák, Saint-Saëns, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Haydn, and others. He has appeared at many prestigious festivals and collaborated with contemporary Russian, Ukrainian, and Slovenian composers, premiering works by R. Kalimulin, K. Tsipkolenko, I. Krivokapić, and others. He has performed for radio and television and recorded several albums, most recently for the American label Eroica Classical Recordings. rom 1981 to 1984, he was solo cellist of the Kazan Opera and Ballet Theatre, and from 1987 solo cellist of the Kazan Philharmonic. Since 1991, he has been principal cellist with the Slovenian National Opera and Ballet Orchestra in Ljubljana. He is also an active pedagogue at the Vič-Rudnik Music School and leads summer courses in Croatia and Slovenia.
Pianist Zoltan Peter was born in Vojvodina. He completed his secondary music education in Subotica and continued his higher studies with 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 for many distinguished artists of both younger and established generations, he has performed throughout Slovenia and abroad—in all major musical centers of the former Yugoslavia, as well as in Italy, Hungary, Germany, Switzerland, and elsewhere. He has performed under the batons of conductors such as Igor Gjadrov, Simon Robinson, Berislav Skenderović, Hermann Ostendarp, Guido Mancusi, Paul Hoskins, George Pehlivanian, and En Shao. He has recorded extensively for RTV Slovenia, RTV Belgrade, RTV Novi Sad, and Croatian Radio and Television, and has released eleven CDs featuring solo and chamber music for RTV Slovenia Record Label and other publishers. As a highly accomplished chamber musician and piano accompanist with a broad repertoire, he frequently collaborates in international masterclasses and competitions. Alongside his concert and teaching activities at elementary, secondary, and university levels, he also leads seminars for young pianists, piano teachers, and accompanists in Slovenia and abroad.
Pianist Tatjana Ognjanović was born in Ljubljana. She began studying piano at the age of four with Darinka Bernetič. She continued her studies with Dubravka Tomšič Srebotnjak at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, where she graduated in 1986 and later completed an artistic specialization. From 1986 to 1993, she lived in Vienna, studying with Hans Petermandl at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst, and from 1991 to 1993 also with Viktor Meržanov at the P. I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory. Tatjana Ognjanović received the University Prešeren Award in 1985 and is a prizewinner of piano competitions in Zagreb, Vienna, Porto, Athens, Valencia, and Jaén. She has also been awarded three special prizes for the best performance of a Beethoven sonata. She has appeared at numerous international festivals such as the Ljubljana Summer Festival, Zagreb Biennale, Carinthian Summer Festival in Ossiach, Prague June Festival, and the Kuala Lumpur Piano Festival. Her concert career has taken her across fifteen European countries—from Portugal to Russia—as well as to Malaysia and Singapore, performing in major venues including the Great Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna, Brucknerhaus in Linz, Beethovenhaus in Bonn, and the Palau de la Música in Valencia. In addition to solo recitals, she has performed piano concertos by Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Prokofiev, and Štuhec with various Slovenian and international orchestras and conductors. In recent years, she has devoted herself increasingly to chamber music and is a member of the Amael Piano Trio with Volodja Balžalorsky and Damir Hamidullin. In June 2006, the trio performed at Carnegie Hall in New York. Her repertoire spans from the Baroque to contemporary music, including world premieres of works by Slovenian composers. Her recordings—released on eight albums—feature works by Turel, Srebotnjak, Crumb, Satie, Scriabin, and Beethoven. Since 1992, Tatjana Ognjanović has been teaching at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, where she became an Assistant Professor in 1993, Associate Professor in 1999, and Full Professor of Piano in 2005. She has for many years led summer piano schools on the island of Brač and in Škofja Loka, and has served on juries of several international piano competitions in Austria, including the Beethoven Competition in Vienna (2005).
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