Branko Simic Gives Swiss Premiere of Internationally Commissioned Violin Sonata

Violinist Branko Simic recently gave the premiere of an internationally commissioned violin sonata Nostrorbis at a recital on June 23rd in Winterthur.

Ann Arbor, United States – July 8, 2017 /PressCable/ —

World Sonata Project Dedicated to Suzuki Violin Pedagogue John Kendall Will Have Performances in nearly 40 Countries in 2017/2018

Violinist Branko Simic just gave the Switzerland premiere of composer Stephanie Ann Boyd’s new solo sonata for violin as part of the World Sonata Project. Simic performed Nostrorbis at a recital on June 23rd in Winterthur, followed by a concert in Zurich on July 2nd. He has planned subsequent performances in Switzerland in the autumn. The World Sonata Project is a consortium commission involving violinists from nearly 40 countries, and is Part 2 of a two year project celebrating the life and work of John Kendall, a pedagogue who helped to bring the Suzuki teaching method to America.

Born in Belgrade in 1985, Branko Simic began playing the violin when he was nine. From 2000 to 2004, he was a junior student of Dora Schwarzberg at the University of Music and Performing Arts (MDW), Vienna, where he also completed his Bachelor’s degree (2005 to 2009) under Klaus Mätzel. His studies in Vienna also focussed, in addition to the violin, on the viola. For his Master’s at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) under Prof. Rudolf Koelman, he chose the diploma in concerto violin as his specialization, with a subsidiary in baroque violin. From 2014 to 2016, Branko Simic taught as a relief lecturer at the Winterthur Conservatory and currently has a permanent teaching allocation at the Wittenbach School of Music, Sankt Gallen.

Recently, Simic is acquiring further orchestral experience with the South-west German Philharmonic Orchestra, in Konstanz, Germany, the Liechtenstein Symphony Orchestra (SOL) and with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, in Poughkeepsie, NY. “Working with Stephanie Ann Boyd is an absolute musical breeze”, Simic said. “Her music speaks to me on many levels, but most importantly it is the absolute honesty and naivety one finds in her music that leaves the listener as well as the performer dazzled and content.” Branko is a resident concertmaster with the Ars Viva Orchestra in Westchester, and also with Concentus rivensis, in Walenstadt, Sankt Gallen. “It’s an honor to get to work with Branko on this sonata”, Boyd noted. “His ferocious artistry and innovative mind have already brought so much to the project.”

New York City-based Boyd, who recently graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts with a masters degree in composition, studied violin with Kendall while in high school in Michigan in the US. Stephanie’s 2015/2016 season included commissions for a cello concerto for Alan Toda-Ambaras and the Eureka Orchestra, new works for Washington Square Winds in New York City and Cincinnati Soundbox in Ohio, and a co-commission involving 50 violinists across America. Other recent highlights involved co-directing the Tuesday Night New Music concert series, winning New England Conservatory’s Donald Martino Prize for Excellence in Composition, and having her violin concerto premiered in Jordan Hall by recent Michael Hill International Competition prize-winner Eunae Koh under the baton of Australian conductor Nathan Aspinall.

More information on violinist Branko Simic can be found at http://www.brankosimicviolin.com/main-eng

More about the World Sonata Project can be found at http://www.stephanieannboyd.com/worldsonataproject-1/

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