IRENA PREDA
"What a beautiful voice! She is wonderful!"
- Montserrat Caballé
"Everyone melted when she sang!"
- His Majesty Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
"She moved me! From the moment she stepped on stage, her appearance, her connection with the public—this is a real singer! And her voice... aaah! I look forward to the flowering of this artistic path!"
- Rolando Villazón
Soprano Irena Preda studied at Trinity College of Music in London, where she graduated with honours and the highest grade of the year, and then went on to complete her Master's degree with honours at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. She mastered her skils with opera singers such as Montserrat Caballé, Teresa Berganza, and Sir John Tomlinson, and her acting with actors Jeremy Irons, Jonathan Pryce and Imelda Staunton.
She made her debut in the role of Carmen in Bizet's Carmen at the Greenwich Theatre in London and in Slovenia as Nina in the new Slovenian opera Ljubezen kapital by Jani Golob at SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana. In addition to Slovenia, she has performed with renowned soloists and orchestras in England, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, India, Italy, Israel, Canada, Macedonia, Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Europe, Slovakia, Scotland, Sweden, Sri Lanka, and the USA. In Slovenia, she has performed several times with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, RTV Slovenija Symphony Orchestra, and Ave Choir, as well as the SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana Orchestra, and in Croatia with the Ivan Zajc Rijeka Orchestra. She works with composers both in Slovenia and abroad and she also gave a solo recital at Washington's Kennedy Centre.
Irena Preda performed in front of Queen Elizabeth, in the British Parliament in Westminster Cathedral, at the World Expo in Shanghai, and at the United Nations. In Spain, she was invited by the legendary Montserrat Caballé to perform with her at a concert of Puccini's arias. In London, she performed with Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic, and three times at the Prešeren Awards. In Slovenia, you can see her in as many as four theatre productions: Gremo vsi! (co-author), Srce na dlani at the Slovenian Youth Theatre, for which he and Polona Janežič wrote the music, Rebeldias posibles (Possible Rebellions), a play written and performed in Spanish, and Zraka!, with directors Janez Janša, Irena Tomažin, and Boštjan Narat, where Irena is also a co-author. She works successfully with the international tango band Del Plata, with whom she performed at Mont Orgueil Castle on the island of Jersey and at the National Theatre in London. She performed with jazz and gospel ensembles in top jazz clubs, such as London's Ronnie Scott's, and also participated in the Sounds of Slovenia project, with which she presented the Slovenian musical tradition in a modern version to the world.
Since 2012, she has been running her own singing school with students in Slovenia, the USA, South Korea, Denmark, and Taiwan. As of 2019, she is also a mentor and occasional conductor at the Urban Voices Project, a choir of people experiencing homelessness on Skid Row in Los Angeles. In Washington, Irena Preda held a master class in singing technique for the singers of the Capitol Hill Chorale and a singing technique workshop for actors at the Slovenian Youth Theatre and the Ljubljana Puppet Theater. In Slovenia, she is a mentor to several vocal ensembles.
Ona magazine named Irena Preda one of the 50 best Slovenian women, and her portrait by the author Uroš Abram was displayed in the National Gallery in Ljubljana.
Photo: Andrej Križ
PETRA KOPRIVEC
Petra Koprivec is a concert pianist, professor, composer, and the director of Sofia Academy. She began playing the piano at the age of three and presents herself as a solo pianist, chamber music player, piano professor, and soloist with established symphony orchestras such as Slovenia's National Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra and Budapest's Danube Symphony Orchestra.
She is a prize winner of national piano competitions, a Gallus protégée and a protégée of AS foundation, a winner of the scholarship for specially talented musicians in Velenje, Slovenia for five years in a row, from 2010 to 2014 and a prize winner of the “Prešeren award".
Mastering her skills at three conservatories of music: the Franc Liszt Academy in Budapest with dr. Laszlo Baranyay, the Conservatory of Music in Ljubljana with professor Dubravka Tomi - Srebotnjak, and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels with world-renowned pianist Alexandar Madzar earned her two master degrees with honors (2013) and distinction (2016). She is writing music for acting and dance performances. In 2017, she formed Luminarte, a sextet that performed her own compositions and musical arrangements.
Petra Koprivec co-founded Pianist's Corner, a new association based in Brussels, with Umut Vicdan in November 2019, where they opened a new venue - the very first place in Belgium hosting boutique house concerts with the world's most established and renowned artists, publishing them online - and is now expanding her organisation by opening Sofia Academy. Her most recent and authentic project is her new Brussels-based Jazz Trio, with fellow musicians Alessio Campanozzi (IT) on double bass and Pierre Hurty (FR) on drums. A trio has a distinct sound; they perform her original compositions, which can be described as a blend of jazz, classical, and traditional music, emphasizing the importance of complex and diverse rhythms combined with sophisticated, beautiful melody and elegant harmonies.
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IRENA PREDA
“Kakšen prekrasen glas! Čudovita je!”
- Montserrat Caballé
“Vsi so se topili, ko je zapela!”
- Njegovo Veličanstvo Princ Filip, vojvoda Edinburški
“Ganila me je! Od trenutka, ko je stopila na oder, njena pojava, njena povezanost s publiko … To je pravi pevec! In njen glas ... aaah! Veselim se razcveta te umetniške poti!”
- Rolando Villazón
Sopranistka Irena Preda je študirala na Trinity College of Music v Londonu. Diplomirala je z odliko in najvišjo oceno v letniku, na Univerzi Južne Kalifornije v Los Angelesu pa z odliko zaključila Magistrski študij. Izpopolnjevala se je pri slovitih opernih pevcih, kot so: Montserrat Caballé, Teresa Berganza in Sir John Tomlinson, v igri pa pri igralcih Jeremyu Ironsu, Jonathanu Pryceu
in Imeldi Staunton. Debitirala je v vlogi Bizetove Carmen v Greenwich Theatre v Londonu, v Sloveniji pa v vlogi Nine v novi slovenski operi Ljubezen kapital Janija Goloba v SNG Opera in balet Ljubljana. Poleg Slovenije je doslej koncertirala s priznanimi solisti in orkestri v Angliji, Avstriji, Belgiji, Bosni in Hercegovini, Franciji, Indiji, Italiji, Izraelu, Kanadi, Makedoniji, Nemčiji, Španiji, na Češkem, Hrvaškem, Kitajskem, Slovaškem, Škotskem, Švedskem, Šrilanki ter v ZDA. V Sloveniji je večkrat nastopila z orkestrom Slovenske filharmonije, Simfoniki RTV Slovenija in zborom Ave ter orkestrom SNG Opera in balet Ljubljana ter na Hrvaškem z orkestrom HNK Ivana Zajca Rijeka. Sodeluje s skladatelji v Sloveniji in tujini. S samostojnim recitalom je nastopila v Kennedy Centru v Washingtonu.
Nastopila je pred Kraljico Elizabeto, v britanskem parlamentu in Westminstrski katedrali, na svetovni razstavi World EXPO v Šanghaju ter v Združenih narodih. V Španiji jo je legendarna Montserrat Caballé povabila, da z njo nastopi na koncertu Puccinijevih arij, v Londonu pa je nastopila z Benjaminom Zanderjem, dirigentom Bostonske Filharmonije ter trikrat na Podelitvi Prešernovih nagrad. V Sloveniji jo lahko vidite v kar štirih gledaliških predstavah: Gremo vsi! (soavtorica), Srce na dlani v Slovenskem mladinskem gledališču, za katero sta s Polono Janežič napisali glasbo, Rebeldias posibles (Možni upori)- predstavi zasnovani in odigrani v španskem jeziku ter v predstavi Zraka!, katere je, ob režiserju Janezu Janši, Ireni Tomažin in Boštjanu Naratu, tudi soavtorica. Uspešno deluje z mednarodno tango zasedbo Del Plata, s katero je nastopila na gradu Mont Orgueil na otoku Jersey ter v Narodnem gledališču v Londonu. Z jazz in gospel sestavi je nastopila v vrhunskih jazz klubih, kot je londonski Ronnie Scott's, sodeluje pa tudi v projektu Sounds of Slovenia, s katerim po svetu predstavlja slovensko glasbeno izročilo v sodobni izvedbi.
Od leta 2012 vodi svojo šolo petja z učenci v Sloveniji, ZDA, Južni Koreji, na Danskem in Taiwanu. Od leta 2019 je tudi mentorica in občasno dirigentka pri Urban Voices Project, pevskem zboru ljudi z izkušnjo brezdomstva na Skid Row v Los Angelesu. V Washingtonu je izvedla mojstrski tečaj pevske tehnike za pevce zbora Capitol Hill Chorale, v Slovenskem mladinskem gledališču in Lutkovnem gledališču Ljubljana pa za igralce delavnico pevske tehnike.V Sloveniji je mentorica več vokalnim sestavom.
Revija Ona je Ireno Preda imenovala med 50 najbolj izjemnih slovenskih žensk, njen portret avtorja Uroša Abrama pa je bil na ogled v Narodni galeriji v Ljubljani.
Foto: Andrej Križ
PETRA KOPRIVEC
Petra Koprivec je koncertna pianistka, profesorica, skladateljica in direktorica Sofia Academy. Klavir je začela igrati pri treh letih in se predstavlja kot solo pianistka, komorna glasbenica, profesorica klavirja in solistka z uveljavljenimi simfoničnimi orkestri, kot sta Simfonični orkester RTV Slovenija in Donavski simfonični orkester iz Budimpešte.
Je nagrajenka državnih klavirskih tekmovanj, Gallusova varovanka in varovanka fundacije AS, dobitnica štipendije za posebej nadarjene glasbenike v Velenju, Slovenija pet let zapored, od 2010 do 2014 in dobitnica nagrade št. "Prešernova nagrada".
Svoje znanje je izpopolnjevala na treh glasbenih konservatorijih: Akademiji Franca Liszta v Budimpešti pri dr. Laszla Baranyaya, na Konservatoriju za glasbo v Ljubljani pri profesorici Dubravki Tomi - Srebotnjak in na Kraljevem glasbenem konservatoriju v Bruslju pri svetovno znanem pianistu Alexandru Madzarju je magistrirala z odliko (2013) in z odliko (2016). Petra je sodelovala z glasbeniki, kot so Kaneo Quartet, Terrafolk in Symbolic Orchestra. Piše glasbo za igralske in plesne predstave. Leta 2017 je ustanovila sekstet Luminarte, ki izvaja njene avtorske skladbe in glasbene priredbe.
Petra Koprivec je novembra 2019 z Umutom Vicdanom soustanovila Pianist's Corner, novo združenje s sedežem v Bruslju, kjer sta odprla novo prizorišče – prvo mesto v Belgiji, kjer gostijo butične hišne koncerte z najbolj uveljavljenimi in priznanimi svetovnimi umetniki, ki jih objavljajo. na spletu – in zdaj širi svojo organizacijo z odprtjem Sofia Academy.
Njen najnovejši in pristni projekt je njen novi jazz trio s sedežem v Bruslju, s kolegoma glasbenikoma Alessiom Campanozzijem (IT) na kontrabasu in Pierrom Hurtyjem (FR) na bobnih. Trio ima poseben zvok; izvajajo njene avtorske skladbe, ki jih lahko označimo kot mešanico jazza, klasične in tradicionalne glasbe, s poudarkom na pomenu kompleksnih in raznolikih ritmov v kombinaciji s prefinjeno, lepo melodijo in elegantnimi harmonijami.
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