Alexander Djordjevic
Alexander Djordjevic Plays Scarlatti - Beethoven - Chopin - Rachmaninov - Liebermann
Characterized by elegant, expressive, yet powerful and electrifying playing when the music requires it, pianist Alexander Djordjevic's CD includes some of the great classical piano music gems from the 1700's to the present.
Born in Chicago, Alexander Djordjevic began his piano studies at age three. His primary teacher before college was the late Sally Bauer of Glen Ellyn. Under her guidance, he earned prizes in area piano competitions, performed Beethoven's Second Piano Concerto at age twelve with the New Philharmonic (Glen Ellyn) and Mendelssohn's Capriccio Brillante with the DuPage Symphony at age fifteen. As a senior in high school he was the First Prize winner of both the Illinois and Regional United States (Midwest) divisions of the Music Teachers National Association Piano Competitions.
As a recipient of a full tuition scholarship at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), Djordjevic began studying piano with Joel Shapiro. During his undergraduate years, Djordjevic was a semi-finalist in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions (New York, 1990) and won First Prizes in the Chicago Artists Association Competition (1990), the Grace Welsh Prize for Piano (1991), the Fern and John Armstrong Award for the Outstanding Undergraduate Performance (University of Illinois, 1991), and the Clara Rolland Piano Competition (University of Illinois, 1992).
Alexander Djordjevic was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship in 1992. As a Fulbright Scholar, he became a student of the Russian pianist and pedagogue Vitaly Margulis at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany. There, he was awarded the Aufbaustudium Diploma "With Distinction" in just one year and performed recitals in that country.
After returning to the United States the following year, Djordjevic pursued graduate studies at the University of Illinois where he received his Master's degree and completed the coursework for the Doctor of Music degree. During this time, he received graduate teaching and accompanying assistantships, which helped further develop his love for these two disciplines. Other competition prizes won during this time include the Union League Civic and Arts Foundation (Chicago, 1995), Nena Wideman Piano Competition (Shreveport, Louisiana, 1998), First Prize in the University of Illinois Piano Concerto Competition (December, 2001), First Prize in the Kankakee Valley Symphony Orchestra's Young Artists Piano Competition (March, 2002), and Semifinalist in the New Orleans International Piano Competition (July 2002).
Alexander Djordjevic's recital performances have included: the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts (2006), Schubertiade Chicago 2006 at PianoForte Chicago, the Phillips Collection (Washington DC, 2003, 2001 and 2000), the Steinway Society Recital Series, Duo-piano concerts with Dr. Mayumi Kikuchi and master class at University of Akron, Ohio, The 19th Century Club (Lake Forest), Wheaton-Fox Concert Series, Musica Viva Recital Series (Joliet Junior College), Arlington Heights Memorial Library Sunday Musicale Series, Academy of Arts and Sciences (Belgrade, Yugoslavia), and the Harold Washington Library.
Other concerto performances have included: Grieg's Concerto in A minor with the Central Oregon Symphony; DeFalla's "Nights in the Gardens of Spain" with the DuPage Symphony; Liszt Concerto No. 1, Brahms Concerto No. 2 and Prokofiev Concerto No. 3 with the New Philharmonic (Glen Ellyn); DeFalla's "Nights in the Gardens of Spain" with the Danville Symphony, Liszt Concerto No. 1 with the Kankakee Valley Symphony Orchestra, and Liszt Concerto No. 1 with the University of Illinois Symphony.
Besides performing concerts, Djordjevic is highly regarded as a piano teacher. He currently teaches at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. His own teachers have included Gustavo Romero, Joel Shapiro, Vitaly Margulis, William Heiles, John Wustman (accompanying), Ann Schein (Aspen Music Festival), Sally Bauer, and Gellert Modos.
Classical: Keyboard Music