Martina Filjak

Martina Filjak was born in Zagreb and raised in a family of pianists. She completed her musical education in the Music Academy of Zagreb and the Vienna Conservatory. In 2001 her studies took her to the Netherlands and Germany (the cities of Rotterdam and Karlsruhe).

In search for further artistic development she took part in masterclasses (Moscow, Salzburg, New York) and regularly maintains contact with renowned artists as Cyprien Katsaris, Stephen Kovacevich, Jean Bernard Pommier. Currently she is pursuing her studies at the Soloist Class of the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater in Hanover with Prof. Mi Kyung Kim.

Martina Filjak was twice awarded prizes that brought her the title of the most successful young Croatian musician: 1993 the prize of the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra and 1998 the prize of the Jeunesses Musicales, Croatia.

She was featured in numerous important solo engagements both at home and internationally: Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; Hotel de Ville, Bruxelles; Philharmonic Hall, Ljubljana; Salle Cortot, Paris; Palais des Congres, Strasbourg; National Palace of Culture, Sofia; Boesendorfer Saal, Vienna; Steinway Hall, New York.

In 2007-2008 she became a laureate of important international piano competitions: in the finals of the “Busoni” Piano Competition in Bolzano she received 5th prize and in November 2007 she won 1st prize at the 58 International ‘Viotti’ Piano Competition between 122 contestants. In January 2008 she was awarded 5th Prize at the UNISA International Piano Competition in Pretoria and in May 2008 1st prize and Gold Medal at the 54 International Piano Competition “Maria Canals” in Barcelona. She performed with the ensembles of Streicherakademie Bozen, Torino Philharmonic Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa, the Orquestra Simfonica del Valles, the Moscow State Symphony Orchestras as well as the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Christian Zacharias.

In July 2009 she won 1st prize as well as additional prizes at the Cleveland Piano Competition. In the competition finals she performed the 2nd Piano concerto by Sergey Rachmaninov with the renowned Cleveland Orchestra.

Projects for 2009 and 2010 include touring Spain, Argentina and China, performances with Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Simfonica di Savona, the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, the Torino Philharmonic Orchestra, a performance with the Zagreb Philharmonic in the Big Hall of the Vienna Musikverein, recitals at Salle Cortot in Paris, Carnegie Hall in New York and the Berlin Konzerthaus as well as a debut recording for the “Naxos” label.