KOTORART TALENTS

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Viktor Huter completed the Vasa Pavić Secondary Music School in Podgorica under Professors Vili Fernardini and Marko Simović. At the age of sixteen, with the highest marks on the entrance exam, he enrolled at the University of Montenegro Music Academy under Professor Vujadin Krivokapić, where he is currently completing his third-year of studies. He has participated in various music festivals and competitions in the country and abroad, winning numerous first and special prizes. Viktor Huter has had the opportunity to collaborate with many eminent musicians such as: Stefan Milenkovich, Arkadiy Vinokurov, Anton Martinov, Ivo Stankov, Vitalij Gulijčuk, Romolo Gessi, Misha Berkut, Oleksiy Molchanov, Roman Simović, Sreten Krstić, and Dmitry Prokofiev, among others. He has held full-length concerts with the Aeternum Piano Trio in Podgorica organized by the Budo Tomović Cultural Information Center and at the Ministry of Culture in Cetinje organized by Matica Crnogorska, as well as a concert at the Perast String Festival on the Our Lady of the Rocks islet. Viktor Huter held his first solo concert in 2020 at the Budo Tomović Cultural Information Center with piano accompaniment by Professor Oleksiy Molchanov, followed by a solo concert at KotorArt.

Eden Sekulović completed primary and secondary music school in Podgorica. She graduated in 2017 from the University of Montenegro Music Academy under Professor Dmitry Prokofiev as the top student in her generation. Eden Sekulović obtained her master’s degree in 2019 at the University of the Arts in Zurich under Professor Orfeo Mandozzi. At the age of eleven, as the youngest member of the orchestra, she participated in the premiere performance of Mozart’s Requiem at the KotorArt Festival. She has performed in the prestigious Athenaeum Hall in Bucharest, as a member of the German-Scandinavian Youth Philharmonic in the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, as a member of the international orchestra of the Neue Philarmonie München in the renowned Hercules Munich Concert Hall, and in China. Eden Sekulović was a member of the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra for two seasons. She has given solo recitals in Zurich and Reykjavik. She has attended master classes with renowned cellists and pedagogues such as: Troels Svane, István Varga, Alexander Rudin, Denis Shapovalov, Aleksandar Latković, Sandra Belić, Alexander Boyarsky, and Viktor Uzur. As a member of the ZHdK Strings Chamber Orchestra, founded by the distinguished violinist Rudolf Koelman, Eden Sekulović has performed throughout Europe.

Kosta Popović completed primary and secondary music school in Podgorica under his father, Professor Mladen Popović. He graduated in Cello in London at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under Professor Louise Hopkins. Kosta Popović has attended master classes of world-renowned artists and ensembles such as the Endellion Quartet, the Gould Trio, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Adrian Brendel, Alasdair Tait, and Alexander Rudin, among others. He is one of the founders of the Fibonacci Quartet, which has had a series of significant successes in their three-year activity. The quartet regularly performs at music festivals in the UK and abroad. This year, the Fibonacci Quartet has won First Prize at the Royal Overseas League International Chamber Music Competition and First Prize at the International Triomphe de l’Art Competition in Brussels, and is expected to perform at Wigmore Hall and the Conway Hall. Kosta Popović is engaged in early music projects with the Academy of Ancient Music playing the baroque cello. During the summer of 2023, he will perform as a scholarship holder of the 32nd Santander Summer Academy with Stanislav Ioudenitch and Jens Peter Mainz.

Andrija Jovović, pianist, completed studies at the Vasа Pavić Music School in Podgorica under Professor Lidija Skender, before moving on to study Piano at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna (MDW) under Professor Nataša Veljković. He has won numerous awards at national and international competitions, including first prizes at the following festivals: Petar Konjović (Belgrade), Città di Avezano (Roma), Pjetro Gaci (Shkodra), the Youth Music Festival (Herceg Novi), and the Banja Luka Biennale, among others. Andrija Jovović has attended master classes of such renowned pedagogues as Dmitry Bashkirov, Vladimir Viardo, Yuri Kot, Boris Kraljević, Horst Leichtfried, Aleksandar Serdar, and Bojan Martinović. He has performed widely in Montenegro and abroad. At the Darko Lučić Memorial in Osijek, he represented the University of Vienna. He was also met with extremely positive reviews in Santa Barbara (USA). In March 2020, from amongst a great number of young pianist applicants from around the world, Andrija Jovović received a full scholarship at the prestigious Liechtenstein International Academy of Music and participated in the master class held by Professor Ruben Dalibaltayan.

Vukica Rašović completed the Andre Navarra Primary and Secondary Music School in Podgorica, under Professor Nada Glomazić. During her education in Montenegro, she won numerous awards at national and international competitions. In 2021, Vukica Rašović graduated from the Prince Claus Conservatory in Groningen, the Netherlands, where she is now pursuing her master’s studies, under Professor Chris Duindam. She is the holder of a scholarship of the Hanze University of Groningen, as well as a scholarship of the Klaas Dijkstra Foundation from Northern Holland, whose financial support has enabled her to purse her studies at this Conservatory. During her undergraduate studies, Vukica Rašović performed with conductors such as Wayne Marshall, Arjan Tien, Antony Hermus, and others. She regularly collaborates with artists, including Kati Sebestyén, Ilona Sie Dhian Ho, and Lonneke van Straalen, among others. During the summer of 2022, she performed with the Western Balkans Youth Orchestra as part of the New Ways Project. Vukica Rašović is a member of the Noordpool Orchestra and is active in various chamber ensembles with whom she performs in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium. She is also engaged in pedagogical work.

Marko Kovač completed music schools in Trebinje and Podgorica, and his bachelor’s and master’s studies at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade under academician Professor Isidora Žebeljan. His compositions have been performed in France, Belgium, Italy, Poland, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and North Macedonia. He has received commissions from the Cello Fest (the composition The Dragon and the Tzar’s Son) and KotorArt (A Dinara Suite), while the composition Marko Kraljević and the Fairy was chosen by the Faculty of Music to represent that institution at the Rostrum+Windows on the World Festival in Wroclaw. Marko Kovač works as a music producer for the RTS Symphony Orchestra and RTS Choir. He has served as the music producer of the Belgrade Philharmonic, the Makris Symphony Orchestra, and the Virtuosi Symphony Orchestra, and a teaching associate at the Faculty of Music. He is a member of the Composers’ Association of Serbia, the Composers’ Association of Montenegro, and the Arion Society. His composition Male Scene was printed in the Klavirint collection of piano music of the University of Montenegro Music Academy, and his Sevdalinka in the Memorabilia collection of the Arion Center for Contemporary Music. Marko Kovač is the main editor and proofreader of the Ballade collection, the complete piano opus of Isidora Žebeljan. He is enrolled in doctoral academic studies in Composition.

Miljana Nikolić, after completing the Vasa Pavić Secondary Music School in Podgorica, under Professor Dragica Gregović Perović, and as a holder of the Luča Award (awarded to pupils with the highest academic marks in their generation), enrolled at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, where under Professor Biljana Gorunović she completed her undergraduate and master’s studies. She has participated in numerous national and international competitions. Miljana Nikolić has twice represented Montenegro at the Paris Piano Festival. She also auditioned and became part of the Järna Festival Academy in Sweden, where she participated in numerous master classes and concerts as a soloist and in chamber ensembles. Miljana Nikolić has played several times at the A Festin Novi Sad, as well as at numerous concerts organized by the Academy of Arts. In 2020, she became a member of the Visoko C Association, which performs operas for children in schools, kindergartens, and cultural centers with the aim of introducing children to classical music in an interesting way. Miljana Nikolić is employed as a Teaching Assistant of Piano at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad.

Dušan Obrenović, violin, after completing the Vasa Pavić Secondary Music School in Podgorica, under Professor Marko Simović, completed his undergraduate and master’s studies at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, under Professor Miroslav Pavlović. At the same institution, he enrolled in doctoral studies in 2022, under Professor Mihal Budinski. Dušan Obrenović has won first and second prizes at numerous competitions, including the Pjetër Gaci Competition in Shkodra, the Golden Stairs String Festival in Valjevo, and the Montenegrin Youth Music Festival in Herceg Novi and Podgorica. He has attended the Summer Camp of Chamber Music and Orchestra, led by conductors Elizabeth Atl, Thomas Post, and JeanMichel Despin, as well as master classes held by prominent violinists such as Vili Ferdinandi, Vujadin Krivokapić, Benjamin Ziervogel, and Sándor Galgóczi. Dušan Obrenović has collaborated with world-renowned artists, including Stefan Milenković, Pacho Flores, Kemal Gekić, Irena Josifoska, Diana Adamyan, and Dmitry Prokofiev. He has participated in El Sistema projects in Belgrade and performed at concerts organized by KotorArt, the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, the Montenegrin Youth Orchestra, and the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra.