Petar Pejčić
Kronberg Academy Professional Studies with Frans Helmerson, funded by the Angela Winkler patronage
“A wonderful musician with a compelling sense of storytelling” (Le Soir)
As Prizewinner and youngest Finalist of the 2nd International Queen Elisabeth Competition, Petar Pejčić proves to be one of the most promising artists of his generation.
Born in 2002 in Serbia into a musical family, he received his first cello lessons at the age of four. After his musical beginnings in Belgrade, he moved to Germany to continue his education at the University of Music and Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig with Prof. Peter Bruns.
Petar has won several prizes at international competitions, including the Paulo Cello Competition (Finland), Queen Elisabeth Competition (Belgium), Pablo Casals Competition (Spain), Anna Kull Competition (Austria), and Felix Mendelssohn Competition (Germany). He has also received the "Frans Helmerson Prize" at the Kronberg Academy Festival 2022, the "Most Promising Young Musician Prize" from ArtLink Société Générale, and other awards from the Alexander Glazunov Competition, Liezen Competition, Heran Competition, and the Serbian State Competition.
As a soloist, he has performed with orchestras such as Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Graz Philharmonic, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, BKO Ljubica Marić, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, Styriarte Festival Orchestra, under the baton of prominent conductors including Stephane Denève, Rumon Gamba, Michael Hofstetter, Vahan Mardirossian, Corinna Niemeyer, Rade Pejčić, Andreas Stoehr, Bojan Sudjić and many others.
He has participated in master classes with renowned cellists such as David Geringas, Jens Peter Maintz, Ivan Monighetti, István Várdai, and Jan Vogler. He has also received important musical impulses from Mischa Maisky and Wen-Sinn Yang, among others. As a chamber musician, he has performed with well-known artists such as Friedemann Eichhorn, Pauline Sachse, Antti Siirala, Florian Uhlig, and Mira Wang.
Out of great passion to broaden his musical horizons came the special collaboration with the choreographer Jacopo Godani and the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company. The resulting works - "BACH OFF!" as well as “Premonitions of a Larger Plan”, show a new perspective on the relationship between musicians and dancers.
In 2020, Petar assumed the role of an ambassador of the Pablo Casals Foundation. He is a scholarship holder of the International Music Academy in Liechtenstein, the Freunde Junger Musiker Foundation, and the Dr. Hübner Foundation. Since 2021, he has been receiving the Günter Henle Scholarship of the Peter Klöckner-Foundation (in the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben).
As the winner of the 2021 Martin Stadtfeld Prize, Petar recorded his first CD entitled "Intima poetica", which was published by the Freunde Junger Musiker Mainz-Wiesbaden e.V. Foundation.
He plays an instrument by Giuseppe Guarneri ‘filius Andreae’ (1694, Cremona), generously on loan through the Beare’s International Violin Society, as well as a cello by Stephan von Baehr (Paris 2012), on loan from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.
Since 2023, Petar Pejčić has been studying at Kronberg Academy with Frans Helmerson, funded by the Angela Winkler patronage. In the academic year 2023/24, he is additionally supported by the J & A Beare Bursary of J & A Beare Ltd.