Biography

Cantabel Productions presents:
AMAEL PIANO TRIO
The Amael Piano Trio was founded by three very accomplished artists, who, individually, have backgrounds as prominent soloists and chamber musicians.

All three artists, the pianist, Tatjana Ognjanovic, the violinist, Volodja Balzalorsky and the cellist Damir Hamidullin, have performed internationally as guests of numerous music festivals and cycles, and as soloists with many orchestras.

Individually, as well, they have also created multiple CD,s and have made extensive live and archival radio and TV recordings throughout Europe and in the USA and Asia.

The trio has more than six years of successful performances in a variety of venues, concert series, and festivals including very successful performance at Carnegie Hall in New York, June 2 2006, Bled Festival, Pucisca Summer Festival, Bol Summer Festival, performance at Cankarjev Dom (the most important cultural centre in Slovenia), the International Festival of Contemporary Music in Radenci, Summer Music Festival of Hvar (Croatia), International concert series of Zemono, The Spectrum Festival etc.

The Amael Trio has achieved the status of being among the most sought after chamber groups in Slovenia. In addition to performing known traditional trio literature from various style epochs, the trio is also dedicated to performing contemporary works, and to the promotion, internationally, of Slovenian composers of piano trio literature.

In the immediate future, they plan to schedule concerts and perform in many different countries, make several CDs, and expand their repertoire, exploring the works of lesser-known composers and performing new works created for piano trio. They also plan to commission and record new works; some renowned Slovenian composers have already decided to write especially for their trio.
Amael Piano Trio's PRESS KIT - EPK

TATJANA OGNJANOVIC - piano
Tatjana Ognjanovic, one of Slovenia's leading pianists, has performed at International Music Festivals and given highly acclaimed recitals in 16 countries throughout Europe, as well as in Malaysia and Singapore. She has appeared as soloist with many orchestras, interpreting piano concertos by Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Rachmaninov, Scriabin, and Prokofiev.

She has made many CD, LP, radio and TV recordings, embracing a wide repertory of music from the baroque era to the contemporary. Her growing interest in chamber music has resulted in her collaboration with pianist Bojan Gorisek, and more recently, the increasingly acknowledged Trio Amael.

Tatjana Ognjanovic is a prize winner of national, as well as numerous international piano competitions such as the Cidade do Porto in Portugal (1991), Maria Callas in Athens, Greece (1992), Jose Iturbi in Valencia, Spain (1992), and Premio Jaen, also in Spain (1993).

The daughter of two professional opera singers, she began her music education at the age of four, studying for 14 years with Darinka Bernetic. She continued at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana with Dubravka Tomsic, and furthered her studies with Hans Petermandl at the Hochschule fur Musik in Vienna, and with Viktor Merzanov from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow.

In addition to her artistic performances, she has been teaching at the Academy of Music of the Ljubljana University since 1993.


VOLODJA BALZALORSKY, violin
By JoAnna Steffan - Prestige Agency Artist Management: www.prestigeagency.com

Violin virtuoso Volodja Balzalorsky from Ljubljana, Slovenia, first made his reputation as one of the most distinguished violinists of the former Yugoslavia. He is an internationally acclaimed concert violinist who has performed in international musical festivals and concert series as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician.

Numerous highly praised concerts, broadcasts, CD and TV recordings in various countries have established his reputation as an artist with a sensitive, intelligent, and intuitive gift of interpretation, a polished technique, and a rich, full tone.

After his successful performance in the international cycle, Violin Virtuosos, in Belgrade in 1988, the esteemed critic in former Yugoslavia, Slobodan Turlakov, defined his artistic personality with the following words:

Volodja Balzalorsky is passionately devoted to violin, inspired by the flame which distinguishes the most refined and authentic violinists capable of building the dramaturgy of musical works in the most natural and persuasive manner. His interpretation calls for an exalted and compassionate listener, which is the distinction of rare and predestined musicians...(Vecernje Novosti, Belgrade)

Volodja Balzalorsky has been a guest artist at international festivals and concert series in various countries such as Italy, France, Austria, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia,the Czech Republic, Portugal and USA.

As a soloist, he performs with a variety of orchestras, including the Slovenian Philharmonic, the Slovenian Symphony Orchestra, the Moravian-Silesian Chamber Orchestra, the Gaudeamus Orchestra of Zagreb, the Dubrovnik Chamber Orchestra, the "Freiburger barocksolisten" etc.

Volodja Balzalorsky is particurally active in the field of chamber music. He works with many international groups and ensembles, and for several years has successfully performed in DUO with pianists Christoph Theiler and Hinko Haas. Critics comment on the degree to which he is able to develop and maintain unity with his musical partners in this milieu, presenting ...an exceptional harmony of ease and authenticity of performance.
Presently he is a member of "Amael Piano Trio", a member of "Trio Ritratto dell' amore" and a member and artistic director of Ensemble Ouverture.

He performs also in Duo with renowned American-Russian pianist Vladislav Kovalsky. They performed very successfuly together at Carnegie Hall in New York in September 2005.

One of his specialties is the development of a repertoire for violin solo and percussion. His recent collaboration with renowned American percussionist Amy Lynn Barber, with whom he performed in the Percussion Plus Project at the Interlochen Arts Centre, Indianapolis, Greencastle, DePauw University, in the United States, and repeated in Prague and in Venice, Italy, with much acclaim.

Balzalorsky's special interests include the promotion of contemporary music. Several known composers have written music especially for him.

Volodja Balzalorsky has made extensive live and archival radio and TV recordings throughout Europe and the United States. In December, 2004, four CDs were released as part of his "LIVE" Collection, with 5 more planned for release on the CANTABEL label, supported by the Slovenian Ministry for Culture and the City of Ljubljana, with added releases by EROICA, a well known US Label that features great classical artists worldwide.

The live collection of Volodja Balzalorsky, is a unique presentation featuring the violinist with his chamber music partners, from 1985 to the present. The performances are taken from live national broadcasts, international festivals and concert series, around the world.

Volodja studied music with Igor Ozim, at the "Musik Hoschschule" in Cologne, Germany, at the P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory, in Moscow, with Galina Barinova, and with the famous Czech violinist, Josef Suk at the University of Vienna, Austria; completing his studies with Josef Klima, at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, where he received his post graduate degree.

Volodja Balzalorsky is presently Professor of Violin at the Music Academy at Ljubljana University. His teaching represents an important complement to his artistic career. His pupils have won many national and international first prizes and awards. He regularly gives Master Classes in conjunction with his performances internationally.

DAMIR HAMIDULIN - cello
Cellist Damir Hamidulin is a virtuoso soloist and an excellent representative of the famous Russian cello school.

He is first solo cellist of the National Opera House in Ljubljana (Slovenia) and a member of the Amael piano trio.

He performs throughout Europe as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician.

He has played as a soloist many times with the Kazan Philharmonic and with other symphonic and chamber orchestras in Russia and in Slovenia. He plays all the famous concertos on his instrument: Haydn, Dvorak, Saint-Saens, Schumann, and Tchaikovsky.

He has also been guest artist at various international festivals - Festival Groblje and Festival of Contemporary Music Radenci in Slovenia, Festival of Contemporary Music Kishinjev in Moldavia, Festival of Kazan in Russia, etc.

More details about Amael Piano Trio:

Amael Piano Trio's PRESS KIT - EPK

CANTABEL PRODUCTIONS is new classical music record label. In 2005 Cantabel made international news with the release "LIVE collection of violin virtuoso Volodja Balzalorsky" (4 CD's).

The release of two LIVE CD's of Amael Piano Trio is planned in late spring 2007. Cantabel CD's are available on various internet web sites, and from record stores internationally through Eroica and other Distributors.