Lucija Pejkovic

Biography

After graduating high school with the highest grades, she successfully passed the entrance exam at the Vienna Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität and the Academy of Music, University of Zagreb, where she studied with professor Valter Dešpalj up until his retirement, and continued her studies with professor Branimir Pustički. During her studies, she’s been very passionate about chamber music and received tutoring from renowned professors such as Julija Gubajdulina, Danijel Detoni, Vlatka Peljhan, Pavle Zajcev and Laura Vadjon.
During her high school and academy years, she participated in many competitions and won several prizes, including the first prize at the international Petar Konjović competition in Belgrade, several first prizes at Croatian national competitions and the third prize at the Boris Papandopulo competition. She performed at several Croatian festivals, ranging from baroque to contemporary music (Varaždin Baroque Evenings, Franjo Krežma festival, Zadar Musical Evenings, Music Biennale Zagreb...) and had her solo debut with The Zagreb Soloists in 2020. For her success during the years at the Academy, she has been awarded special prizes by both the Dean of the Academy and of the Zagreb University.
She attended several masterclasses held by respectable professors such as Monika Leskovar, Orfeo Mandozzi, Yevgeny Xaviereff, Heidi Litschauer, Silvia Sondeckiene, Laszlo Mezo, Julian Arp, Tobias Stosiek and many more. She regularly performs as a solo cellist of the Academy orchestra and has gained additional experience by enrolling in orchestra programs such as the European Music Campus of the EUYO, the EUphony project and side-by-side programs with the Zagreb Philharmonic and the Concertgebouw Orchestra.
In addition to her music studies, this year she’ll be gaining her bachelor degree in Comparative Literature studies.