ACCORDION D’ÉLITE continues with performance by Croatian accordionist IVAN SVERKO. Ivan Šverko (1985) was born in Pula, where he completed elementary and secondary music education under the mentorship of prof. Valter Bašić. Thanks to the long classical accordion tradition in his hometown, in parallel with regular classes, he started performing and attending the annual masterclasses early on, absorbing the influence of many of the most prominent international concert players and pedagogues. He graduated in classical accordion in 2009, at the Department of Music (nowadays called Academy of Music in Pula) of the Faculty of Philosophy in Pula. Soon after completing his studies (classes of D. Modrušan and B. Zagoranski), he enrolled at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki (Finland), where he studied in the class of one of the most prominent artists on the classical accordion, Mika Väyrynen. Ivan has participated in numerous national and international music competitions. Most notably, he was the winner of one of the most prestigious international classical accordion competitions (Arrasate Hiria, Spain), as well as the laureate of the Ferdo Livadić multi-instrumental competition (Samobor, Croatia). As an artist, in addition to numerous solo recitals, he is active as a member of various chamber ensembles and has collaborated with numerous notable instrumentalists, as well as with composers, conductors, and orchestras. He performed in Croatia and abroad (Serbia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Belarus, Russia, Italy, France, Spain, Finland, Norway, China, and the USA). As a soloist, he collaborated with the Cantus Ensemble, the Zeitfluss Ensemble, Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, Belarusian Philharmonic Orchestra, HRT Symphony Orchestra. From 2013 to 2014, he taught concert accordion at the P. I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Italy. Currently, he teaches classical accordion at the Academy of Music in Pula.

PROGRAM:

• REMIGIO: Minimal
• S. BACH: Prelude and Fugue in B minor, BWV 544

• GRIEG: From the Lyric pieces

Butterfly

Lonely wanderer

Little bird

Brooklet

• Arr. M. VӒYRYNEN: Three Finnish Folksongs

The sky is blue and white

Polska from Ostrobothnia

A little folksong

• KORPIJAAKKO: Sonata No. 1 “Ultra”

Allegro con fuoco

Lento ma non troppo

Presto