Nenad Ivovic, pianist – The American dream

(Nenad Ivovic) Young pianist Nenad Ivovic (24) is traveling to the United States, where he is to continue his education through specializing at the renowned Yale University. He placed among the top 10 at the audition organized in late February, to which over 500 candidates from across the globe had applied.

He has been playing the piano from when he was four, when he entered the world of classical music alongside his older brother Hrvoje, also a pianist. He says that he has wanted to continue his studies outside of Serbia, for the second time, as he completed his master studies in Israel two years ago.

– I was admitted to Yale after a rather long and complicated entrance exam procedure. There's always the factor of luck, but luck accompanies hard work and effort. I am satisfied, as this is a good university, with a big budget, where I will have access to quality pianos. This is very important, as it is very hard to find an institution with quality instruments available at any moment anywhere in the world – Nenad Ivovic explains in his interview for eKapija.

He agrees that it feels good to be among the top 10 at such a university, but he claims that he doesn't dwell on the fact that he was among the two percent of those selected at the entrance exam. The only thing important to him is an opportunity for further development and the fact that he would be provided with good working conditions. His professor will be Boris Berman, head of the Piano Department at the Yale School of Music and, according to our interviewee, one of the most famous professors today – “a very strict and good pedagogue”.

First steps alongside older brother

Nenad says that he doesn't come from a music family, but that his parents both have an ear for music and that they were active in it, just not professionally. His mother, Merima, finished primary music school, whereas his father, Petar, used to play an accordion, mostly for his own pleasure. His brother, Hrvoje, five years his senior and also a pianist, was the first one to make a step towards classical music.

– Alongside him, I became interested in music very early and I practically started playing the piano when I was only four years old – our interviewee reminisces.

Ivovic has gone through all the steps of formal music education – primary and secondary Mokranjac Music School, undergraduate piano studies at the Faculty of Music Arts when he was twenty, followed by master studies at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Israel, in which he enrolled as the best student of his generation. He believes that he has been lucky throughout his education and career to have contact with good-natured people free of vanity.

– My primary and secondary music school professor, Milica Vasiljevic, has provided me with a good foundation, as she transferred her knowledge unconditionally and kept pushing me forward, following which I received the necessary advanced knowledge from Nevena Popovic at the academy, all of which I further perfected in Israel.

Local and international acknowledgments

Even as a pupil, Nenad was showing extraordinary musical skills, winning a range of first awards in local and international contests. As a student, he won the awards at the Belgrade Republic Competition and the 2010 Turin European Piano Competition, as well as at the Tel Aviv Arianne Katcz and New York Jacob Flier competitions, and he also performed on the occasion of such anniversaries as 200 years from the birth of Frederic Chopin and Robert Schumann in Belgrade and Banjaluka, as well as at representative concerts of the piano department in the grand hall of the Kolarac Endowment.

Furthermore, in 2012 and 2013, he had great success at the Tel-Hai International Piano Master Classes in Israel, following which he was invited to continue his studies at the Tel Aviv school named after Zubin Mehta in the class of renowned pianist and pedagogue Emanuel Krasovsky.

– That was the first time I stayed abroad for a longer period of time. I spent nearly three years in Israel, which was a great experience and a wonderful period for me, except that I'm only realizing this now, as the entire process was a great shock for me initially – I was in a foreign country with unfamiliar language and culture – eKapija's interviewee explains.

In January 2013, he held solo recitals in Cairo and Alexandria, the recording of which led to an invitation to an important international contest, “Steps Towards Mastery” in Saint Petersburg, in June 2013. He achieved great success there by winning first prize in the largest, three-stage category, by performing a Rachmaninoff concerto in the final, together with the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra.

– This is one of the larger competitions in the under-19 category. It was my first trip to a larger performance without being accompanied by professors or family members – Nenad says and recalls some interesting details from his trip to Russia:

– Half an hour before the performance in the third final round, I found myself without a passport, money, documents, since I had been robbed in the subway. Despite this traumatic experience, I persevered and played the concert, then explained to the organizers what had happened. They took me to a police station to give a statement, where I temporarily ended up in jail while trying to explain the situation. While in there, I was informed that I had won first prize at the competition, along with the money and everything else.

Aside from the main prize, he won the acknowledgment of the best performance of a Russian composer's piece and the awards of the European union of Music Competitions for Youth (EMCY).

In April 2013, he was awarded by the Olga Mihailovic fund as the most talented piano student at the Faculty of Music Arts in Belgrade, whereas, in March 2014, he placed in the semi-final at the Jeunesses Musicales competition and received several awards as the most successful competitor from Serbia. In April 2014, he was awarded by the Emil Hajek fund as the most promising young pianist at the Faculty of Music Arts in Belgrade.

Financial support

Nenad says that constant traveling is an important budget item, but that he used to save the money for the tickets himself, until the distances started increasing.

– Since my 17th year, I have been working as a professor at the Stankovic Music School, and there are also birthdays, the family... Still I was lucky to be able to find sponsors for the largest expenses, such as studying abroad, in most cases. These were not big corporations, but people who have enough money and are looking to help others – Nenad explains.

Six years ago, in the summer of 2011, Mira Adanja-Polak personally initiated a campaign aiming to purchase a new piano for Nenad. Previously, he used a rather poor instrument, which had been owned by the family for decades. When his brother sent an application for him, the famous journalist first made an inquest at the faculty as to whether he deserved such a gift. Once an affirmative answer was given, a high-quality upright piano was sent to his address. He has been using it since.

From Rachmaninoff to Monty Python

After returning from Israel, he began, by sheer accident, to be active in musicals. Nenad's brother, Hrvoje, took part in the Spamalot project, following which conductor Vesna Souc invited him to come over to the Terazije Theater. Nenad thereby entered the Broadway spectacle.

– Finally, I ended up in the Terazije Theater myself – eKapija's interviewee says through laughter and adds that musicals are the only genre aside from classical music that he's active in, and then only when he finds time.

Nenad considers musicals such as Spamalot very good, as they manage to illicit honest laughs from the audience, whereas the music is palatable enough to stick to the listeners' ears days after the performance. He emphasizes that, in essence, there are lots of details there that the audience doesn't even have time to grasp.

– By the way, in addition to classical music, I listen to all good music, which for me means music that is evocative of honest emotions, whether it's folk, jazz, musicals, rock or heavy metal...

Classical and commercial music

As someone who deals with classical music professionally, our interviewee rates the state of the music scene in Serbia quite poorly, which, according to him, is best shown by the portion of the state budget meant for culture, which measures in parts per thousand. He believes that money is the number one problem, but also concedes that those who say that the lack of will is the problem probably have a point.

Nenad believes that commercialization is certainly present in classical music as well, although he is mostly against it. He cites Nemanja Radulovic as an example.

– He's a great violinist, but it seems like most people attend his concerts not because he is a Deutsche Grammophon artist, a member of the most famous production house, but because he wears leather pants and puts on makeup. Nemanja is indeed excellent, but he manages to sell out Kolarac or the Students' Park, because people see something else beside classical music in these performances. At my age, I am currently active in music on the art-for-art principle, rather than art-for-money. Through this approach, I want to be open to new knowledge, become a better musician and try to perform a piece as close to what the composer's intention was as possible.

There are many Serbian artists he rates highly, but he highlights Roman Simovic of the London Symphony Orchestra, pianist Vladimir Milosevic, Aleksandar Madzar, Aleksandar Serdar. Among his influences, he highlights pianist Grigory Sokolov and says he's an incredible artist who plays the piano for the art of it.

Richard Gere in the frame

Nenad has experienced many interesting things during his numerous travels and performances, and one of his most vivid memories is tied to an anecdote from New York, where he was in the audience, along with his colleague Sava Vemic, for their mutual friend David Bizic, a resident member of the Metropolitan Opera. While they were standing in the backstage, he saw a very familiar-looking man waiting to take a photograph with the opera singer. It was Richard Gere.

Nenad used to practice table tennis, and was even a member of the Partizan club, but he couldn't find enough time to continue this career, because, as he says, being active in both music and sports professionally was not possible.

– My free time comes down to holidays in Arandjelovac in a family house, and I generally live like a much older person. According to an amusing survey I filled out a couple of days ago, I'm 57, since I listen to classical music and am not familiar with Lady Gaga's music. I am truly not a prototype of today's youth – I don't like going out, don't like to get drunk, I'm mostly self-oriented and occupied with new pieces I need to learn.

He is satisfied with his career so far and says that he is leaving for America in quite a happy mood, as he is going to a place where he will have good working conditions, but he says that he is sad at the same time because he hasn't had a lot of opportunity to perform in his home country and because the key people active in classical music here have not been very accommodating to talented young people with potential, which is a paradox.

– Why would I stay here if I have no opportunity to play and practically perform only once a year? My desire is to fully develop my potential and talent, since I am very aware of what I do and do not know and I try to be realistic. That's the only way to realize what your potentials are, and you can always do much more than you think.

Nenad says that artists are not provided with ideal conditions anywhere in the world, as art as such doesn't bring large profits. However, artists' earnings in Serbia are such that it is impossible to live on them.

– After I complete the specialization, my plan is to continue with the PhD studies. I believe that good conditions and frequent performance opportunities would allow me to progress considerably and become a better musician. I would certainly like to return to my country one day and, given the opportunity, transfer my knowledge to new young musicians looking to develop their skills – Nenad Ivovic concludes.

Marko Andrejic

Muzička škola Mokranjac Beograd

Fakultet muzičke umetnosti Beograd

Nenad Ivovic

Nenad Ivovic biography

pianist

piano

classical music

Yale University

Boris Berman

Hrvoje Ivovic

Mokranjac Music School

Stankovic Music School

Buchmann Mehta School of Music Israel

Milica Vasiljevic

Nevena Popovic

Turin European Piano Competition

Arianne Katcz Tel Aviv competition

Jacob Flier New York competition

Tel Hai International Piano Master Classes Israel

Emanuel Krasovsky

Steps Towards Mastery competition Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra

EMCY

Jeunesses Musicales competition

Mira Adanja Polak

Spamalot musical

Terazije Theater

Vesna Souc

Nemanja Radulovic

Roman Simovic

Grigory Sokolov