Members
The violinist Ivan Novinc has been a concertmaster of the Cantus Ensemble since its very founding in 2001.
He has received several awards at national competitions as a soloist or a member of the Porin Quartet for which he has played first violin since 1998.
He was an assistant concertmaster of the Zagreb Philharmonic from 2002 to 2006, and has been the concertmaster of the Zadar Chamber Orchestra since 2004. He founded a duo with the pianist Srđan Čaldarović in 2006 and has been a member of the Zagreb Soloists since 2016. He became an assistant professor at the Music Academy in Zagreb in 2010.
Martin Draušnik graduated in violin from the Music Academy in Zagreb in the class of Maja Dešpalj-Begović, and continued his education at the University of Music in Freiburg and the University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart. Eventually, he extended his education to viola, graduating it from the Music Academy in Zagreb in the class of Aleksandar Milošev.
Since 2007 he is member of the Zagreb Philharmonic and in 2011 became the concert master of this orchestra. He has also been the concert master of Munich’s I Virtuosi di Paganini Ensemble. He is a guest concert master of the Liechtenstein Symphony Orchestra, Rijeka Opera Orchestra, Zagreb Soloists and occasionally also the Zadar Chamber Orchestra and Varaždin Chamber Orchestra. He is one of the founders of the Porin String Quartet, and has also founded the Zagreb Trio in 2010. He has been the first violin of the Croatian String Quartet since 2016.
He has been working at the Music Academy in Zagreb since 2010.
Eva Mach obtained her MA degree in violin from the Music Academy in Zagreb in the class of Professor Taras Petcheny. During and after her studies, she won a number of awards in national and international violin competitions. She has also participated in the Euphony Youth Orchestra, Orchestre des Jeunes de la Mediterranee and Kammerorchester der Bayerische Philharmonie projects led by prominent world-known conductors such as Gianandrea Noseda and Alain Altinoglu. In 2018, she successfully completed another master’s program in the class of distinguished Professor Petru Munteanu in Augsburg, and that same year she also enrolled in another study course, this time at the prestigious Schola Cantorum in Paris in the class of outstanding Professor Violeta S. Huart. Since 2019, she has been the associate concert master of the orchestra of the Croatian National Theater in Zagreb. Shortly afterward, she became a permanent member of the Cantus Ensemble. She also appears regularly as a soloist or with various chamber ensembles, both in Croatia and abroad.
Violist Tvrtko Pavlin graduated from the Music Academy in Zagreb in the class of Professor Ante Živković in 2001. As a student he played in the symphony orchestra at the Bayreuth Youth Festival (in 1999). He is a soloist and chamber musician (Zagreb Chamber Orchestra, Zagreb Soloists, Cantus Ensemble) and has been a permanent member of the Zagreb Philharmonic since 2004.
Aleksandar Jakopanec graduated in viola from the Music Academy in Zagreb in the class of Professor Milan Čunko (with whom he also took additional classes), and later continued his education at Columbus State University, Schwob School of Music.
In addition to working for the Zagreb Philharmonic, he is also a principal player in the regional No Borders Orchestra and one of the permanent members of the Acoustic Project Ensemble. He is the co-founder of the Croatian String Quartet, a winner of the Darko Lukić Festival, with which he recorded (and produced) a double album Moje djetinjstvo (My Childhood) containing five string quartets by Stjepan Šulek.
He has collaborated with almost all orchestras and ensembles in Croatia, and has been a permanent member of the Zagreb Soloists, Croatian Baroque Ensemble and Varaždin Chamber Orchestra.
Along with his primary instrument, he also plays the viola d'amore, mainly early music, and banjo as part of the orchestral score. He also writes music and arranges it in a variety of musical expressions.
Jasen Chelfi graduated in the class of Professor Andrej Petrač in 2001. During the course of his studies he has collaborated with Valter Dešpalj, Ralph Kirshbaum, Steven Isserlis, Silvio Sondeckin, David Gregorian, Vladimir Perlin, Leslie Parnas, Phillip Muller and Boris Piergamienszczikow and Mario Brunello. He has been a member of the Zagreb Philharmonic since 2002, at first as an assistant principal cellist and as of two years ago as the principal cellist. As a soloist and with the Philharmonic, he has performed in numerous concert halls – Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Tokyo Opera, Mexico City Opera, Konzerthaus in Lucerne, Mozarteum in Salzburg and many others. He has won a number of awards for his solo appearances and performances with chamber ensembles.
Zita Draušnik graduated in cello from the Music Academy in Zagreb under Valter Dešpalj. She continued her studies under Reinhard Latzko at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, where she received her MA with honors in 2013.
She was a laureate of numerous international cello competitions (Concertino Prague, David Popper Competition in Budapest, Liezen Competition in Austria, Alpe-Adria Competition in Gorizia, Italy etc.). Her great success came in 2007 when she won the second prize at the Johannes Brahms International Competition held in Pörtschach, Austria. That same year, she also won a special prize at this competition – a recital at the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad Festival in Geneva. In 2008, at the Holland Music Sessions International Festival she was one of the chosen young musicians who were presented to the public through a series of concerts titled New Masters on Tour that was held in prestigious European centers, such as Dr. Anton Philipszaal in The Hague, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam etc. In 2006, she represented Croatia at the Eurovision Competition in Vienna. She was a member of the Vienna Volksoper Orchestra from 2010 until 2014. She has been a permanent member of the Zagreb Philharmonic since 2015, and an assistant principal cello since 2017. She is a member of the Slavenski Trio and the Croatian String Quartet. Zita has been teaching chamber music at the Music Academy in Zagreb since 2018.
Nikša Bobetko obtained his BA and MA degrees in double bass from the Music Academy in Zagreb and also studied at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler” in Berlin.
He has performed as a soloist at recitals and with the Zagreb Philharmonic, Croatian Radiotelevision Symphony Orchestra, Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Wind Orchestra of the Croatian Armed Forces. He is a member of the Zagreb Philharmonic. As a chamber musician, he often collaborates with the cellist Mihovil Karuza as well as the Porin and Sebastijan String Quartets. As a soloist and chamber musician, he has performed both in Croatia and abroad. He released several CDs. In 1997, he received the Vaclav Huml Award of the Croatian Music Institute.
He is a professor at the Music Academy in Zagreb.
Antal Papp graduated in double bass from the Music Academy in Zagreb in the class of Professor Maria Ivelja. After his studies, he started working at the Croatian Radiotelevision Symphony Orchestra.
In 2009, he moved to Freiburg where he began studying at the Hochschule für Musik under the esteemed Professor Božo Paradžik and soon after began working at the Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg (Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra). He has collaborated with many orchestras such as the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Lucerner Sinfonieorchester, Sudwestdeutschen Kammerorchester Pforzheim, Württembergischen Kammerorchesters Heilbronn and Zagreb Soloists.
He has a keen interest in chamber music.
Antal is a member of the Zagreb Philharmonic since the 2016/2017 season.
Marko Mihajlović, during his studies, became a part-time associate of the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra and the Croatian Radiotelevision Symphony Orchestra and still regularly collaborates with both. He was concurrently also a member of the biNg Bang Ensemble and for the next ten years they performed at major world festivals for percussions, received the award for the best student percussion ensemble in the world at the PASIC Festival (Nashville, USA, 2004) and recorded a CD for the Equilibrium Records. That same year he also received the Rector’s Award. His collaboration with the Zagreb Soloists and his ongoing collaboration with the Cantus Ensemble also began during his studies. After graduation, he worked at the Vatroslav Lisinski Music School in Bjelovar as a percussion teacher. He became the
first timpanist of the Orchestra of the Croatian National Theater in Zagreb in 2007. He also plays in the Acoustic Project Ensemble and has founded the percussion quartet Boomerang. Since
2015, he has been part of the violin-marimba duo with Eva Mach.
Percussionist Hrvoje Sekovanić graduated from the Music Academy in Zagreb, in the class of Ivana Bilić. As a student he won the second (2004) and the first (2006) prize at the National Competition of Music and Dance Students. He was a member of the acclaimed biNg bang percussion Ensemble whom the Percussive Arts Society proclaimed the world`s best student percussion ensemble at the time. He has collaborated with the Croatian Radio and Television (HRT) Symphony Orchestra in which he is a head timpanist since 2013. He collaborates with the chamber orchestras from Varaždin, Zadar, Rijeka as well as the Croatian Chamber Orchestra. He played timpani at the Croatian National Theatre Opera in Rijeka, where he also taught percussion. Since 2013 he is a member of the Cantus Ensemble.
Srebrenka Poljak, the permanent pianist of the Cantus Ensemble, obtained her BA and MA degrees in piano from the Music Academy in Zagreb under Zvjezdana Bašić, and also attended master classes under Leon Fleisher in Jerusalem that had significantly shaped her musical identity. She is a distinguished chamber musician and regularly collaborates with many Croatian and international musicians. She has held over 80 recitals in famous concert halls around the world with the violinist Stefan Milenković. As a member of the Zagreb Piano Trio she has won a number of awards and accolades (First prize at the TICC 2000 in Trondheim, second prize and the award for the best piano trio in Heerlen in 1999, the Darko Lukić and the Ivo Vuljević awards). As a soloist and orchestral musician she has performed with the Zagreb Philharmonic, Croatian Radiotelevision Symphony Orchestra and Choir, Symphonic Wind Orchestra of the Croatian Armed Forces, Croatian Chamber Orchestra, Varaždin Chamber Orchestra and Zadar Chamber Orchestra. She works as a senior artistic associate at the Music Academy in Zagreb.
Mirjana Krišković’s music education started with piano lessons, but later on she realized that harp was her instrument of choice. In 2007, she graduated from the Music Academy in Zagreb in the class of Professor Diana Grubišić – Ćiković, and became the solo harpist with the Croatian Radiotelevision Symphony Orchestra right after graduation. Ms Krišković has been a permanent member of the Cantus Ensemble since 2008. She has performed solo (especially with the Zagreb Soloists and the Cantus Ensemble) or with renowned artists and chamber ensembles on numerous occasions. Her performances with the famous Croatian orchestras and ensembles include appearances at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Osor Musical Evenings, Music Biennale Zagreb. She regularly records for the Record Library of the Croatian Radio.
The latest member of the Cantus Ensemble, the flute-player Ana Batinica, earned her master’s degree from the Music Academy in Zagreb under Professor Renata Penezić in 2012, and completed a specialist course under Professor Mario Caroli at the Conservatoire de La Musique et de La Danse in Strasbourg in 2014. She attended master courses under eminent flute-players such as E. Pahud, A. Adorjan, A. Liberknecht, D. Formisan, P. Gallois, P. Bernold and others. She has received numerous professional and music awards in Croatia and abroad including the first prize at the International
Competition “Giovani Musicisti“ in Treviso, the second prize at the flute competition in Golbey (France) in 2013 as well as the Premio Ghigi fellowship at the Summer Gubbio Festival in 2012. In 2015, she received the Myrna Brown International Scholarship by the National Flute Association (US) and had the honor of performing in a solo recital in Washington D.C. She is a permanent member and
the first flute of the Zagreb Philharmonic, Cantus Ensemble, Zagreb Flute Ensemble, PurPur Orchestra, and has given solo performances with the Zagreb Philharmonic, Zagreb Youth Orchestra,
Symphonic Wind Orchestra of the Croatian Armed Forces, Zagreb Soloists and Croatian Radiotelevision Symphony Orchestra. She is also an active chamber musician.
Oboist Branko Mihanović graduated in oboe from the Music Academy in Zagreb in 1976 as well as from the Freiburg State Conservatory of Music in 1978 (under Professor Heinz Hollinger). He has won numerous awards and accolades. He has performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras (Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, Slovenian Philharmonic, Slovakian Philharmonic, Orquestro sinfonica Simon Bolivar, Sacramento Chamber Orchestra, Croatian Radiotelevision Symphony Orchestra, Zagreb Soloists etc.) and conductors (such as M. Horvat, P. Dešpalj, P. Kogan, U. Lajovic, M. Letona, N. Bareza, G. Guererro, F. Krommer, A. Kolar etc.) and has performed in Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Holland, France, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom, Italy, Hungary, Czech Republic, Russia, Venezuela, US etc. He has acquired extensive experience as a chamber musician for the Zagreb Woodwind Trio, Musica viva Ensemble, Croatian Baroque Ensemble, Croatian Chamber Octet, Musica da camera Ensemble, Zagreb Wind Ensemble. In 2001, he substituted collaboration with all of Zagreb’s orchestras with a professorship at the Music Academy in Zagreb. He was the director of the Croatian National Theater Opera in Zagreb from 2005 to 2011.
Iva Ledenko obtained a master’s degree in oboe from the Music Academy in Zagreb in the class of Professor Branko Mihanović and Assistant Professor Dario Golčić. In July 2019, she completed a two-year specialist course in oboe at the Conservatory for Music and Dance in Strasbourg in the class of Professor Christian Schmitt. She attended masterclasses held by eminent oboists and pedagogues (Christian Schmitt, Giorgi Gvantseladze, David Seghezzo, Seung Eun Lee, Matthias Arter). Throughout her schooling, she won all first prizes at regional and national competitions. She participated in the activities of the CEI Youth Orchestra on their tour in Italy and Germany (2007) and has collaborated with numerous orchestras and ensembles in Croatia (Orchestra of the Croatian National Theater Opera in Zagreb, Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Croatian National Theater Opera in Split, Zagreb Philharmonic, Croatian Radiotelevision Symphony Orchestra, Croatian Chamber Orchestra, Varaždin Chamber Orchestra, Zadar Chamber Orchestra, Zagreb Soloists, Cantus Ensemble, Choir of the Croatian Radiotelevision, Mostar Symphony Orchestra, Glazbene staze Ensemble) and abroad (Warsaw Soloists/Concerto Avenna). In 2011, she performed at the Croatian Music Institute as a soloist with the Symphony Orchestra of the Croatian Armed Forces.
The clarinetist Danijel Martinović graduated from the Music Academy in Zagreb under Josip Nochta in 1990. He received several awards and accolades during his studies, and has held numerous solo concerts in Croatia and abroad since. He is currently a member of the Opera Orchestra of the Croatian National Theater in Zagreb. He is also a co-founder and a member of the Zagreb Wind Ensemble (1991) and the Cantus Ensemble (2001) with which he regularly performs in the country and abroad. He collaborated with both ensembles in the making of several CDs and recordings of numerous compositions by Croatian composers.
Fagotist Žarko Perišić po završetku studija na Muzičkoj akademiji u Zagrebu u klasi prof. M. Kobetića, nastavlja usavršavanje u Salzburgu, na Visokoj školi za glazbu Mozarteum – u klasi prof. M. Turkovića i prof. R. Gallera. Surađuje s brojnim orkestrima te komornim ansamblima diljem Europe i svijeta (Izraelski radio orkestar, Izraelski komorni orkestar, Simfonijski orkestar Tel Aviva, Salzburška komorna filharmonija i dr.). Od 1997. godine predaje fagot na Akademiji umjetnosti u Novom Sadu te surađuje s Vojvođanskim simfoničarima kao solo fagotist. Od 2004. godine predaje fagot na Muzičkoj akademiji u Zagrebu, a od 2011. do 2016. radi kao docent za fagot i komornu glazbu na Umjetničkoj akademiji u Sarajevu. Djeluje kao solo fagotist Simfonijskog orkestra HRT-a s kojim održava i solističke koncerte.
Matko Smolčić graduated in bassoon from the Music Academy in Zagreb in the class of Professor Žarko Perišić. Throughout his education, he attended courses held by artists from various musical fields, such as bassoonist Sergio Azzolini and Bence Bogányi, oboist Guy Porat, violinist Catherine Mackintosh etc. In 2019, he won the Young Artist of the Year award given by the International Classical Music Awards jury composed of music critics and media company editors from 17 European countries. Since 2014, he has extensively performed as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician at various music festivals in Croatia and abroad, including the Varaždin Baroque Evenings, Korkyra Baroque Festival, Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Next Generation Festival in Switzerland, Wien Modern, Vaduz Classic and Olive Classic where he was also a resident artist in 2019. He has collaborated with numerous orchestras and ensembles. Marko has been the principal bassoonist of the Sinfonieorchester Liechtenstein since 2017 and a solo bassoonist of the Zagreb Philharmonic since 2018. In 2020, he became an assistant at the Music Academy in Zagreb.
Bank Harkay finished his elementary and secondary music education in his hometown of Subotica under Professor Mihaly Zillih, and graduated from the Music Academy in Zagreb in 1992 under Professor Prerad Detiček. He achieved great success at many competitions entered during his studies. He attended masterclasses held by Professor Hermann Baumann in Vienna (1989) and in Valen (Germany, 1990), and had also obtained his MA under Baumann in Essen (1993–1995). He is a soloist with the Croatian Radiotelevision Symphony Orchestra, and has been collaborating with the leading Croatian chamber ensembles, such as the Zagreb Soloists and Varaždin Chamber Orchestra.
Trumpeter Vedran Kocelj (b. 1977) finished elementary and secondary music education in his hometown of Dubrovnik. He graduated in trumpet from the Ljubljana Music Academy in the class of Stanko Arnold. He has attended masterclasses with John Wallace, Bo Nilsson and Ed Carroll. Kocelj won the first prize at the competition of young musicians in Slovenia in 1999, and was one of the semifinalists at the International Competition in Toulon in 2000. That same year he passed the audition for the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra that was conducted by Pierre Boulez and went on a 12-concert European tour with them. His solo performances with the Croatian Radiotelevision Symphony Orchestra, Zagreb Soloists, Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, Croatian Baroque Ensemble, Symphonic Wind Orchestra of the Croatian Armed Forces, Zadar, Varaždin and Zurich Chamber Orchestras were well-received, especially his collaboration with the world-famous Hungarian trumpeter Gábor Boldoczki. As a chamber musician, he is playing in the Croatian Bass Quintet with which he has performed in Croatia, Italy, Switzerland and China. He is a permanent member of the Croatian Radiotelevision Symphony Orchestra and is regularly recording for the Croatian Radio and Television. His recording of Concertino for trumpet, strings and tympani by Boris Papandopulo is especially memorable.
Mario Šincek, the trombone-player of the Cantus Ensemble, received his first music lessons from his father Vjekoslav, and finished primary and secondary music school in Varaždin under Professor Stjepan Rukljić. He continued his studies in trombone at the Music Academy in Zagreb. Already in 1998, during his second year of study, he passed the audition for a permanent position at the Croatian National Theater (HNK) Opera in Zagreb which he held until 2003, when he was employed by the Zagreb Philharmonic where he can still be seen and heard. His music interests are wide, which is a reason for his active interest in trombone-related instruments, so one can often see him performing on bass trumpet or euphonium. It was with euphonium or tenor tuba that he has accomplished his greatest achievements in chamber music as a member of the XL Tuba Quartet, resulting in numerous tours across the United States, Asia and Australia. He is also a member of the Ad glorian brass ensemble, as well as a soloist accompanied by orchestras or organ. As a soloist or chamber musician he has given a substantial number of first performances; he also arranges music, especially for brass wind instruments, and has recorded five CDs of classical music for chamber ensembles. He worked as an assistant at the Music Academy in Zagreb from 2006, and since 2012 he is as assistant professor at this Academy.
Istvan Matay graduated in bassoon from the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. He attended many solo, chamber and orchestral courses during his studies. In addition to studying, he also participated in the activities of numerous chamber ensembles, such as the Symphony Orchestra of the City of Miskolc, Eger and Debrecen and the Miskolc Opera Orchestra. In 1996, he became a solo bassoonist of the Croatian National Theater Orchestra in Osijek. He performs as a soloist with the Osijek Chamber Orchestra, is a member of the Osijek Woodwind Trio and teaches bassoon at the Franjo Kuhač Music School. In 1998, he moved to Zagreb and took the position of solo bassoonist of the Croatian National Theater Opera Orchestra in Zagreb, with which he also held several solo concerts. He has collaborated with the Zagreb Philharmonic, Croatian Radiotelevision Symphony Orchestra, Croatian Chamber Orchestra, Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, Croatian National Theater in Rijeka and Maribor Philharmonic, Croatian Baroque Ensemble. He is a member of the Zagreb Bassoon Quartet.
