Caldwell Fine Arts 2010-2011 Season

Cleveland International Pianist

March 21
Monday, 7:30 pm

$12 - $15 adult; $8 - $11 student
Upper level seats are listed first.
Includes tax. Group rates $2 off for 10 and $3 for 20. Handling fee is $2 per order.

One of the brightest instrumental talents to emerge from Croatia today, Martina Filjak, is garnering international praise not only for her poetic passion and galvanizing strength at the keyboard but also for her charismatic personality and magnetic stage presence. Since making her orchestral debut at the age of 12 with Croatia’s renowned Zagreb Soloists Chamber Orchestra, Ms. Filjak has achieved a graceful transition from a child prodigy to a mature artist of both technical prowess and elegant artistry.

Martina Filjak has performed with esteemed orchestras of her home country and abroad, including The Cleveland Orchestra; the Zagreb, Strasbourg, Morocco, Belgrade and Torino Philharmonics; the Zagreb, Croatian, Moscow, Vallès and Barcelona Symphony Orchestras; the Croatian Chamber Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa. As a recitalist, Ms. Filjak has performed in such major venues as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Berlin, l’Auditori and Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, Salle Cortot in Paris, Palais des Congrès in Strasbourg, Musikverein in Vienna, Shanghai Oriental Art Center and Severance Hall in Cleveland.

Martina Filjak’s 2009-2010 season began with a first-place victory at the 2009 Cleveland International Piano Competition. In addition to a cash prize, Ms. Filjak receives as part of her winnings a compact disc recording on the Naxos label, two years of artist management and more than 50 worldwide engagements, including a New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall in December 2009. In October 2009 she was awarded an Honorary Medal by the President of the Republic of Croatia for her artistic achievements. Additional engagements this season include solo and orchestral tours in Spain, Argentina, China and the United States. She performs with the Moscow State, Tenerife and Bilbao Symphony Orchestras; Orchestra Sinfonica di Savona, the Torino Philharmonic Orchestra and the Zagreb Philharmonic in Vienna’s Musikverein. Ms. Filjak performs recitals at Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Salle Cortot in Paris, Konzerthaus Berlin, Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa and Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona.

In addition to her victory at the Cleveland International Piano Competition, Ms. Filjak has won numerous competitions and prizes, including First Place at the 2007 International Viotti Piano Competition, the 2008 Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Barcelona and the 2001 International Johannes Brahms Competition. She was awarded Fifth Prize at the 2007 Busoni Competition in Bolzano, Italy and was a Prizewinner at the 2008 Unisa International Piano Competition in Pretoria, South Africa. Martina Filjak has been honored with the Clara Haskil Scholarship from the Dutch Foundation, a scholarship from the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds in The Netherlands and the Alfred Toepfer Scholarship. In her native country, Ms. Filjak received the 1993 Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra Prize and the 1998 Jeunesses Musicales Prize, two honors that further distinguished her as one of the country’s foremost young musicians.

Born in Zagreb and raised in a family of pianists, Martina Filjak is a graduate of the Music Academy of Zagreb and the Vienna Conservatory. Additionally, she has studied abroad in Karlsruhe, Germany and Rotterdam, The Netherlands. She has worked and maintained contact with such renowned pianists as Cyprien Katsaris, Stephen Kovacevich and Jean Bernard Pommier. During the 2008-2009 season Ms. Filjak attended the prestigious Como Piano Academy at Lake Como in Italy, where she had the opportunity to work with several esteemed teachers and visiting artists, including William Grant Nabore, Dmitri Bashkirov, Boris Berman, Leon Fleisher, Claude Frank, Peter Frankl, Alicia de Larrocha, Menahem Pressler, Charles Rosen, Andreas Staier and Fou Ts'ong. She continues her studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hannover with Professor Mi Kyung Kim. (Biography repeated without any changes as requested from the Martina Filjak web site.)

The critical praise and general buzz she received for her performance during the Cleveland Competition seem merited, given the brilliance, sensitivity and imagination of her playing here. . . resourcefulness of technique and the naturalness of musicality. . . A pianist to watch. (Anthony Tomassini New York Times)

Martina Filjak. . . exudes artistic finesse, discipline and power. . .An adventurous musician with exceptional command of keyboard possibilities. . . a galvanizing artist. (Donald Rosenberg The Plain Dealer)

From a recent interview with Martina
Savannah Concert Association's 2009-2010 Season

What was it like to grow up in a musical family?
"I learned a lot from my parents; both of them were pianists... artistic but also human values and a very hard working attitude. Growing up in a musical family was a great privilege, but I only understood it years later. All possible information and musical atmosphere was easily accessible for me and I was drinking it all in like a sponge."

What has your career been like since winning the Cleveland Piano Competition in 2009?
"I was already successful in many international competitions but after winning Cleveland, I could, with 100 percent certainty, say that I will never go to another piano competition again, at least not as a participant. Until Cleveland I had a very successful career in Europe, but winning Cleveland opened some new and exciting concert opportunities in the United States. I had my Carnegie Hall debut, but I am also discovering a whole new cultural circle, and I find that very exciting."

Why is it important for you to share your music with the world?
"Because that is what music is for; that is why it has been written. What I love and find amazing about music as a medium is people. Scientists and engineers managed to find a way to record images, videos and sound, but nobody can yet record a smell, a touch or that special 'something' in the air. They cannot 'record' an emotion, or a feeling, but a good artist can transmit it--a good interpreter can transmit an emotion from a composer that died 150 or 50 years ago. Isn't that amazing?"

What inspires you?
"I try to keep my eyes and my heart very open and find inspiration everywhere. I can get inspired by poetry or books, very often by my own memories and dreams, but also an approaching deadline can be very inspiring."

Read a great review!

http://www.martinafiljak.com

www.clevelandpiano.org/home.html