Relja Lukic, cello


DISCOGRAPHY:

Trio Magritte
Autori vari
Camerismo Sinfonico

BIOGRAPHY:

Relja Lukic was born in 1970 in Belgrade, where he began studying cello, first with his grandfather Valerio Olgiati, and later at the S. Mkranjac Conservatory with Relja Cetkovic. He continued his studies from 1984 to 1987 with Michael Flaksman and Daniil Shafran. In 1985 he won first place in the 15th Annual National Cello Competition in Novi Sad, in the former Yugoslavia. Thanks to an artistic merit scholarship from the Governor of the Republic of Serbia in 1986, he moved to Italy to study at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan with Rocco Filippini. During his studies he won the the 1989 Samuele Dragoni scholarship and the Humane Society scholarship in 1990. After graduating in 1990, he continued his training at the Stauffer Academy in Cremona with Filippini, where he participated in chamber music courses with Salvatore Accardo, Franco Petracchi, and Bruno Giuranna. In 1993 he began studying with Franco Rossi at the Romano Romanini Foundation in Brescia, and the next year he was invited to hold a chamber music internship at the Prague Mozart Academy, where he collaborated with artists Alexander Lonquich, Radovan Vlatkovic, and Gábor Takács-Nagy. In 1991 he won the Festival for Italian Conservatories in Teramo and the International Cello Competition in Murcia, Spain. He was invited back to the Murcia competition the following year as a judge. He won the Maria Canals International Cello Competition in Barcelona in 1991; the Max D. Jost International Cello Competition in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1994; the Gian Battista International Music Competition in Vercelli, Piedmont in 1993; and the Roberto Caruana International Cello Competition in Milan in 1996. He’s served as principal cellist in the Divertimento Ensemble since 1993, and has traveled on tours with them to France, Spain, the US, Greece, Mexico, and Japan. He’s performed both classical chamber music repertoire and the world premieres of contemporary composers with the Divertimento Ensemble. He recorded the world premieres of Respighi’s F Minor Quintet with the Piccola Sinfonica in Milan, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with the Italian Consort Orchestra, and in 1996, Bruno Maderna’s “Don Perlimplin.” He’s performed as a soloist with the RTV Orchestra in Belgrade, the RAI Orchestra in Milan, Orchestra Angelicum in Milan, Piccola Sinfonics in Milan, and the Guido Cantelli Orchestra in Milan. He currently serves as principal cellist of the Teatro Regio in Turin.