Representing the Iberian and Latin American Music Society
Programme
Emmanuel Chabrier – España
Camille Saint-Saëns – Danse macabre
Maurice Ravel – Pavane pour une infante défunte
Bruno Vlahek – Variations on a Croatian folk theme, Op.38
Isaac Albéniz – Pavana-Capricho, Op.12
Manuel de Falla – Spanish Dance from La vida breve
Astor Piazzolla – Libertango
Performers
Passion for piano and creativity of playing together brought Dubravka Vukalovic and Bruno Vlahek together into D&B Duo. Their first concert as a duo in Lausanne in 2006 was an instant success and was praised for extraordinary performance of two piano works by Rachmaninov and Bernstein. Having met during their soloist studies at the Lausanne Conservatory of Music, they have been guided in duo playing by Swedish pianist and chamber music expert Dag Achatz. Since then, their popularity is constantly growing by series of appearances in cities such as Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Budapest, Dubrovnik, London, Geneva, Palma de Mallorca, Madrid or Monte-Carlo – where they became laureats of the Monaco’s 1st International Competition for Piano-Four Hands in 2013. In the same year they made their Asian debut, having performed in some of the finest concert venues of China, where critics highlighted the „brilliant virtuosity of their dialogue“. They were first Croatian pianists to perform monumental cycle “Visions de l’Amen” by Olivier Messiaen which they presented at the 50th anniversary of the Music Biennale Zagreb. Their performances were broadcasted on TV and radio stations in many countries. In their repertoire, which consists of original works and arrangements for piano four-hands and two pianos, important place have works of living composers, some of which are dedicated specially to them. They are appointed professors at the Katarina Gurska Conservatory in Madrid and give masterclasses on duo playing in Europe and Asia.
Dubravka Vukalović was born 1984 in Varaždin where she received her first music education from professor Olimpija Vojvoda at the Varaždin Music School. She continued her education at the famous Central Music School of Moscow’s State Conservatory P. I. Tchaikovsky in the class of Alexander Mndoyants. Afterwards, recognized as a special talent, she got admitted directly to the third year of studies at the Lausanne Conservatory of Music in the classes of Dag Achatz and Jean-François Antonioli. In 2010, she obtained her master degree in the class of famous Brazilian pianist and conductor Ricardo Castro as a scholarship holder of Swiss Foundation Max D. Jost. For many years, her academic and artistic projects were supported by Foundation of British Family Hallam. Furthermore, contacts with artists and pedagogues such as Rudolf Kehrer, Anatoly Katz, Jean-Bernard Pommier, Ralf Gothóni and Evgeny Mogilevsky had an important impact on her career. She gave her debut at the age of 14 as a soloist with Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra and subsequently won the first prize at the Zlatko Grgošević international piano competition in Zagreb in 2000. She regularly performs as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, in Asia, South America and Russia. In 2009, she performed at the prestigeous festival of contemporary music “Archipel” in Geneva in duo with renowned French violist Christophe Desjardins and collaborated with Swiss-French ensemble “Namascae” and maestro Eduardo Leandro. In the same year, she appeared as a soloist in Ravel’s Piano Concerto with Bahia Symphony Orchestra in Brazil. Her concert appearances were recorded and broadcasted on TV and radio stations in Croatia, Netherlands, Russia, Spain and on Radio Suisse Romande (Espace 2).
Bruno Vlahek was born 1986 in Zagreb where he graduated piano with Vladimir Krpan as one of the youngest students in history of the Music Academy. He pursued postgraduate studies at the Conservatoire de Lausanne with Jean-François Antonioli and at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne with Vassily Lobanov, where he also studied composition and improvisation. From 2010-13, he was guided by legendary Dmitri Bashkirov at the Queen Sofía College of Music in Madrid. Vlahek won the first prizes at the international piano competitions „Alexander Scriabin“ in Paris 2010 and „Ricard Viñes“ in Lleida 2008; was laureate of the 6th China Shanghai International Piano Competition 2012 and Concours International de Piano de Lyon (France) in 2016, received a title of the Young Musician of The Year 2010 in Croatia, and won prizes such as Swiss Prix Paderewski, Yamaha Foundation’s Award in Madrid, Pnina Salzman Memorial Award in Israel and Artists on Globe Award 2014. For his achievements he was awarded by the Honorary Diploma of Her Majesty Queen Sofía of Spain. He regularly gives recitals and appears with leading orchestras throughout Europe, in Asia, Africa, South America, Russia and Israel. He performed in prestigious halls such as Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, Liszt Academy in Budapest, Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, Gasteig in Munich, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Shanghai Concert Hall, Seoul Arts Centre, and at the festivals of Bolzano, Dubrovnik, Vienna, Moscow, Palma de Mallorca, Dar es Salaam and Verbier. His performances were broadcasted on TV and radio stations such as British BBC3, Dutch NPO4 Radio, Catalunya Ràdio or Radio Suisse Romande, for which he recorded Saint-Saëns’ 2nd Piano Concerto with Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne. He has composed more than 40 orchestral, chamber, solo and choral works of various genres which have been performed on five continents in cities such as New York, Chicago, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Cambridge, Lisbon, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, Moscow, St. Petersburg or Seoul, and at the ISCM’s World New Music Days 2010 in Sydney (Australia). In 2012 he won the 1st prize at the XXXIII International competition for Organ works “Cristobal Halffter” in Spain. His works have been published in United Kingdom and USA.
