The Croatian pianist Javor Bračić was hailed by New York Concert Review for “deep, genuine musicianship and an outstanding technique” at his solo Carnegie Hall debut recital presented by New York Concert Artists. His CD album Tribute to Haydn was released by Labor Records, and his performance was broadcast on WQXR in the McGraw Hill Young Artists Showcase.
He is the first prize winner of international piano competitions Luigia Stramesi and Citta’ di Minerbio in Italy, Les Rencontres des Jeunes Pianistes in Belgium, Zlatko Grgošević in Croatia, and the New York Concert Artists’ Carnegie Recital Debut Audition.
Mr. Bračić was invited to perform at the Beijing International Music Festival & Academy, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Salzburg Summer Academy, Music Academy of the West in California, and other festivals in Russia, Norway and Hungary. He was invited as artist in residence to the Rushmore Music Festival and the Karwendel Music Festival. He performed with the Zagreb Soloists, the Zagreb Youth Chamber Orchestra under maestro Zlatan Srzic, and the Croatian Radio-Television Orchestra under maestro Hikaru Ebihara and maestro Vladimir Kranjcevic.
In New York City, Mr. Bračić gave solo recitals at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Steinway Hall, the Austrian Cultural Forum, the Polish Consulate and the Bohemian National Hall. As a member of New York Concert Artists, he performed at the Evenings of Piano Concerti under maestro Eduard Zilberkant. As a chamber musician he performed at Merkin Hall, New York Historical Society, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art where he performs regularly as part of the Ethel Foundation series.
Mr. Bračić has a passion for bringing music to audiences unable to visit concert halls as well as giving lecture-recitals for young people. He gave a series of concerts at hospitals and nursing homes in Austria as a member of the humanitarian organization Yehudi Menuhin's Live Music Now. In New York, he has given a series of lecture-recitals in form of conversations under the title The Art of Listening aimed at promoting the appreciation of classical music among young people. He was praised by the audience for his “contagious enthusiasm” and “unique ability to elucidate imagery both as a performer and teacher.”
Javor Bračić was born in 1985 in Zagreb, Croatia, where he took lessons from Jelica Kuzmin at the Pavao Markovac Music School. He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees at the University of Mozarteum Salzburg, in the class of Karl-Heinz Kämmerling. He received another Master’s Degree and a Professional Studies Diploma under full scholarship at Mannes College of Music in New York, studying with Pavlina Dokovska. In the fall of 2013 he was awarded the prestigious Graduate Center Fellowship to pursue a Doctorate of Musical Arts at the City University of New York as a student of Ursula Oppens, Richard Goode, and Norman Carey. He also benefitted from the inspiring teaching of Alexander Mullenbach, Eteri Andjaparidze, Jerome Lowenthal, Thomas Riebl, Irena Grafenauer, Cordelia Höfer-Teutsch, Laurie Smukler, Daniel Panner, Mark Shapiro, Marc Ponthus, Carl Schachter, Raymond Erickson, and members of the Hagen Quartet and the Orion Quartet.