Stephen Milenkovich to Replace Elissa Lee Koljonen In Performance with Pacific Symphony Chamber Orchestra

Due to personal reasons, Elissa Lee Koljonen has withdrawn from the Sunday, April 5, 2020 concert with Pacific Symphony Chamber Orchestra. Replacing Koljonen will be acclaimed violinist Stefan Milenkovich. The original program is scheduled to be performed and includes Ticheli's Rest, for String Orchestra, a piece of fragile beauty and quiet dignity, and Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61, considered to be his most lyrical work, and the only concerto he wrote for one of the most popular instruments of his day: the violin.

Tickets are $45-85 and are now available online at performingarts.soka.edu at the Box Office at 1 University Drive in Aliso Viejo or by calling (949) 480-4ART (4287).

Soka Performing Arts Center is proud to be the home of the Pacific Symphony Chamber Orchestra.

Stefan Milenkovich, violin
Established as one of the great violinists of his generation, Stefan Milenkovich enjoys a prolific career as an internationally sought-after soloist and recitalist, with an extraordinary productivity, professionalism and creativity. Milenkovich's awards include "Serbia's Artist of the Century," "Most Humane Person," and "Brand Personality of the Year."

Milenkovich has appeared on multiple occasions in some of the world's most celebrated venues such as Carnegie Hall, New York City (USA), Kennedy Center, Washington (USA), Cadogan Hall, London (UK), Suntory Hall, Tokyo (Japan), as well as Italy's theatres La Fenice, Venice, San Carlo, Naples, and Petruzzelli, Bari. His numerous appearances with orchestra include Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Aspen Chamber Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of Radio-France, Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, National Orchestra of Belgium, Mexico State Symphony, Orquestra Sinfonica de Estado de Sao Paolo, and the Melbourne and Queensland Symphonies, and has performed under the baton of such conductors as Sir Neville Marriner, Lorin Maazel, Vladimir Fedoseyev, and Daniel Oren.

Milenkovich's 2019-20 season includes release of Beethoven and Bruch Violin Concertos, recorded with Slovenian Radio-Television Symphony Orchestra and conductor Vladimir Kulenovic, as well as performances with New Jersey Festival Orchestra (USA), Rockford Symphony (USA), Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano (Italy), Orchestra dei Pomeriggi Musicali (Italy), L'Orchestra della Fondazione Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi di Trieste (Italy), Orchestra Filarmonica del Teatro Comunale di Bologna (Italy), Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana (Italy), Orchestra Camera di Perugia (Italy), along with regular performances in recital with pianist Rohan De Silva and Vladimir Milosevic. Recent performances include collaboration with Utah Symphony Orchestra (USA), Prague Symphony Orchestra (Czech Republic), Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra (USA), Oklahoma City Symphony Orchestra (USA), Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi (Italy), and Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra (Slovenia). For 2020-21, Milenkovich also accepted the role of Artistic Director of "Nei Suoni dei Luoghi" music festival in Italy.

Milenkovich started his career at a very young age. He performed for U.S. President Ronald Reagan at a Christmas concert in Washington, DC, at age 10. The following year, he played for Mikhail Gorbachev in Belgrade, Serbia. At age 14, he played for Pope John Paul II and at age 16, Milenkovich gave his 1000th concert in Monterrey, Mexico. By age 17, he was the winner of The Young Concert Artists International Competition (USA), as well as a prizewinner in the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis (USA), the Queen Elisabeth Competition (Belgium), Hannover Violin Competition (Germany), Tibor Varga Competition (Switzerland), Rodolfo Lipizer Competition (Italy), Paganini Competition (Italy), Ludwig Spohr Competition (Germany), and the Yehudi Menuhin Competition (England).

Deeply committed to international humanitarian causes, in 2002 Milenkovich received the Lifting Up the World With Oneness Heart award for his humanitarian activities, handed to him personally by the guru Sri Chinmoy. He also participated in a number of gala concerts under the auspices of UNESCO in Paris with such artists as Placido Domingo, Lorin Maazel, Alexis Weissenberg, and Sir Yehudi Menuhin, and was active as the First Child Ambassador during the Balkan wars in early 1990s.

As a musician of broad stylistic interests, Milenkovich performed with five-time Grammy Award-nominated rock band Gorillaz in one of the world's most renowned venues - Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York City. The critically acclaimed performance was featured live on MTV. Recent collaborations include performances with Grammy Award nominated lutist Edin Karamazov, as well as a musical partnership with guitarist Vlatko Stefanovski and his trio, where Milenkovich explored the realm of improvisation and acoustic-electric violin. Milenkovich's discography includes four commercial releases of the Italian label Dynamic, featuring J. S. Bach Complete Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, Complete Music for Solo Violin - Nicolo Paganini 24 Capricci, N. Paganini Recital, and N. Paganini In cuor piu non mi sento. He also released numerous recordings for the Yugoslavian label, PGP. Milenkovich's recent CD release is Vittorio Giannini's Piano Quintet|Piano Trio from the Manchester Music Festival.

Firmly dedicated to pedagogical work, Milenkovich taught in collaboration with Itzhak Perlman at the Juilliard School in New York City, NY, and Perlman Music Program, before accepting his current position as an Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Milenkovich is still the youngest graduate of the Music Academy in Belgrade, Serbia, finishing his Masters' studies at 19 years of age, and has completed the Professional Studies program at the Juilliard School in New York City, NY under tutelage of Mrs. Dorothy DeLay.

Milenkovich plays the 1783 Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin.

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