» Jelena Milojevic Concert - 2011-12 Desjardins Concert
Instrument: Accordion
Jelena Milojevic is one of today’s foremost female accordion performers. Born and raised in Croatia, she began studying classical accordion at Ivan Matetic-Ronjgov Music School, and later furthered her studies at the Music Academy in Pula. But destiny, and her Serbian roots, led her to one of the most famous accordion centres in the world: the city of Kragujevac (Serbia). It was there that she received her Bachelor and Master degrees in Accordion Performance and Education. While a student at the Music Academy, she collaborated with some of the world’s leading accordion pedagogues and performers, including: Alexander Skliarov, Yuri Shishkin, Peter Soave, James Crabb, Denis Modrusan, Owen Murray, Mika Väyrynen, and Radomir Tomic.
As a versatile musician with an extensive performance history, she has appeared on concert stages in Europe (Germany, France, Italy, UK, Ukraine, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Serbia), Canada, and the USA. Her debut concert at Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall) was the first solo accordion recital in the last 30 years in this prestigious venue. Her performances have been acclaimed as “an explosion of cosmic sensuality,” and she has been praised for her “brilliant virtuosity.”
While studying, she won 9 international accordion competitions as a soloist and chamber musician, including highly acclaimed contests in Pula (Croatia) and Castelfidardo (Italy). Her greatest success was winning one of the biggest international competitions for accordion artists, the 2003 Trophée Mondial de l’Accordéon, in Italy.
In the summer of 2007, Jelena and her family moved to Vancouver, Canada. While there, she taught at Vancouver Community College, and performed around the West Coast to promote the accordion. It was during this time that she discovered the amazing accordion community in beautiful Victoria, BC, where she currently lives. Jelena teaches accordion at Camosun College in Victoria and strives to put the accordion on the map as a recognized classical instrument. Jelena Milojevic has just released her debut CD The Art of Accordion, which honours some of the world’s most recognized accordion composers.