THE YOUNG ON THE MUSIC SCENE – DRAGON’S FUELKESTRA
THURSDAY, 8th November
Studio “M”, 3 Ignjata Pavlasa Str., 8 pm
THE YOUNG ON THE MUSIC SCENE
DRAGON’S FUELKESTRA
Vojislav Savkov, saxophone; Marko Čurčić, bass
Predrag Okiljević, saxophone; Ljubomir Turajlija, saxophone
Zsolt Argyelan, trumpet; Nemanja Mihailović, fagot, vocal
Miroslav Majstorović, violin; Igor Caro, piano;Boris Hložan, guitar
Lav Kovač, drums, percussions Dimitrije Jakovljević, sound engineer
VOJISLAV SAVKOV, saxophone
Born on 12th January 1962 in Novi Sad, Vojislav Savkov is a well-known and recognised musician in the domestic jazz circles. He has played with almost all of Novi Sad’s jazz musicians, with musicians from Serbia as well as from other European countries, always ready for cooperation and dedicated to discovering new musical knowledge. Voja Savkov has travelled all over the East and Latin America through the mind and the body of a spiritual traveller. He shares his experiences through words, music and meditative presence of his existence.
MARKO ČURČIĆ, bass
The Novi Sad bass guitar player well-known for his sophisticated taste for true values (old school), Marko Čurčić realised that music was the only thing he wanted to do in his life after graduating from the High School of Electric Engineering in Novi Sad and decided to continue his music education abroad, with his fellow musicians (Lav Kovač, Zsolt Argyelan, Ljubomir Turajlija and Igor Car). He graduated from the Prince Claus Conservatoire in Groningen, Jazz Bass Guitar Department. He is active in the Dutch band “3times7”, which released its first LP in the spring of 2017, entitled Squeeze the Lemon. Besides that, he is a proud member of the new label Horz, as well as the bands Dragon’s Fuel and Zemljani, which have released their debut albums under the afore mentioned label.
BORIS HLOŽAN, guitar
Matriculating from the High School “Svetozar Marković”, Boris Hložan enrolled in the Engineering and Graphic Design Department of the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad. He went to Music School “Isidor Bajić”, where he studied classical guitar, in class of Prof. Zoran Krajišnik. He has been active in rock and reggae music, but jazz is the major field of his musical activity. Boris Hložan is one of prominent young jazz instrumentalists, whose activity contributes to and continues the rich jazz tradition of the Novi Sad music scene.
Self-taught in the basics of jazz guitar performance, he advanced his knowledge in workshops and master classes organised by the Cultural Centre of Novi Sad (The Novi Sad Jazz Festival and The Summer Jazz Academy Novi Sad-Dortmund), etc., and with Professors Vanja Kevrešan, Ratko Zajča, Peter Herbolchaimer, Jerry Bergonzi, Uwe Plath, Antal Pusztai, among others.
He has performed at festivals in Germany, the Czech Republic, Serbia and the countries of the region. Boris is one of the founders of the Jazz Youth of Vojvodina, an association whose mission is education of young musicians and popularisation of jazz music in Serbia. He is currently playing with the Ivan Švager Band, Swingeraj Jazz Kombinat and as a member of the Milena Jančurić Quintet. Boris has is a student of the Faculty of Music in Belgrade (jazz department, guitar).
LAV KOVAČ, drums
Lav Kovač was born in 1991 in Novi Sad. His primary instrument is drums, and as of lately, piano as well. He graduated from the Jazz Department of the Prins Claus Conservatory in Groningen, Holland, in class of Steve Altenberg. His active performing career started in Western Europe, within the groups KUHN FU, Howling Owl, HAKOS trios and the Boris Kovač New Ritual Group, being the author of music in some of them. On the local scene the band he is most active with is Dragon’s Fuel, honing the idea of a live jazz band that regularly performs at the same club, but always with a different repertoire. He is one of the founders of the Horz label.
Active as a composer as well, Lave is interested in exploration and finding out potential of eclecticism in music. Stylistically diverse, yet not belonging to any of the established movements, he approaches both the instrument and the music authorship in the most intuitive and inclusive way, blending the unblendable in a search for freshness of musical expression.
NEMANJA MIHAILOVIĆ, fagot, vocal
A fagot player and singer, Nemanja Mihajlović was born in Kovin. He completed Secondary Music School “Mokranjac” in Belgrade in class of Prof. MA Mirko Isaeski and graduated from the Faculty of Music in Belgrade with the same professor. During his education he won a number of awards at national competitions and festivals of Serbian music schools. He is a founder of the chamber ensemble DAMS+, a wind trio at the Faculty of Music, and the wind quintet “Majstori duvači”. He has been a regular associate of the Artistic Ensemble “Stanislav Binički” as a solo fagot player, with which he has performed as a soloist as well. As a freelance artist, he has collaborated with the RTS Symphony Orchestra, Vojvodina Chamber Orchestra, Belgrade Philharmonics (an on-going collaboration), as well as the Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra on the position of the first fagot. As a member of festival ensembles, he has taken part in the festivals: Bemus, Nomus and KotorArt. He has also given several recitals in our country. Nemanja has attended the fagot master classes with Mauricio Paeza (Izrael), Knut Sanstevold (Sweden), Gilbert Audin (France), as well as for chamber music with Viola Mokrosch (Germany), Norbert Girlinger, Boštjan Lipovšek (Slovenia) and the French wind quintet “Le concert impromptu”. For three years from 2011, he took part in the projects of German-Scandinavian Youth Philharmonics giving concerts in the great and chamber halls of the Berlin Philharmonics and in Hamburg. He has performed at the Telavi International Music Festival in Georgia, whose patron is the famous Eliso Virsaladze. He has been a member of the orchestra Orfelin since 2008, as well as of the completely New Wind Quintet. He is currently on the position of a fagot soloist of the Serbian National Theatre’s Opera Orchestra and the Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra in Novi Sad.
Prompted by friends, who pleaded with him to stop singing only in the shower, he took up singing in 2012. He has performed in jazz and alternative bands and collaborated with different musicians from Novi Sad belonging to the jazz and fusion scene at concerts and club sessions in major Serbian cities and towns. He is the founder of the Nemanja Mihajlović Quintet, which was later renamed into Jazz Kombinat. He was the conductor of the Vojvodina Jazz Youth Big Band for two years, collaborating with them as a vocal soloist as well. Among the notable performances are: the great concert at Novi Sad’s Studio “M”, which was recoded and kept in the Radio Vojvodina archives, as well as a concert at Mixer House, Belgrade, concerts in Zrenjanin, Vršac, Ruma and the Cultural Centre of Novi Sad. In 2016, together with Vojislav Savkov, Marko Čurčić, Boris Hložan, and many other musicians, he formed the group Čičini čvorci.
LJUBOMIR TURAJLIJA, saxophone
In his hometown of Novi Sad, Ljubomir went to primary Music School “Josip Slavenski” and secondary Music School “Isidor Bajić” where, thanks to the bass player Igor Molnar, his teacher from the Jazz Department, he developed an interest in jazz music.
He went on to graduate from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in Holland, in class of renowned Dutch jazz saxophone player and Professor Ferdinand Povel.
He currently lives in Berlin, and works with a number of musicians from Amsterdam, Berlin and Novi Sad.
MIROSLAV MAJSTOROVIĆ, violin
Born in Novi Sad on 12th June 1990, Miroslav went to primary school “Ivo Lola Ribar” while studying the violin at the Music School “Isidor Bajić” in class of Prof. Mirjana Hajduković. He went on to study in the instrumental section of the high Music School “Isidor Bajić”, also in class of Prof. Hajduković. As the school student he took part in local competitions both as a soloist and as a member of the string orchestra of Music School “Isidor Bajić”, winning several prizes. He started studying at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad in 2009, where he is currently on the final year of violin studies, in class of Prof. Mihalo Budinski. Since 2011 he has been a member of several orchestras among which are the Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra and the KotorArt Festival Orchestra, which appears within the programme of Don Branko’s Days of Music, the vocal-instrumental group Orfelin, led by Prof. Tamara Petijević, as well as different groups formed for the needs of specific projects, such as the Nomus Festival Orchestra. He is an occasional member of the chamber ensemble Camerata Academica, as well as a guest member of the Banja Luka Philharmonics. Besides this, he is active in other music styles and is a member of the band Lepi Jova, which is mainly based on Balkan ethno music, as well as the band Drunkards, which hones the sounds of traditional Irish music. Moreover, he regularly performs in traditional music orchestras, among which are those of the Cultural-Artistic Society “Železničar” and Academic Cultural-Artistic Society “Sonja Marinković” from Novi Sad, as well as the “Novosadski narodni orkestar” (Novi Sad Folk Orchestra), to name a few.
ZSOLT ARGYELÁN, trumpet
Born in 1990 in Novi Sad, Zsolt went to his secondary education at Music School “Isidor Bajić”, where his interest in jazz music was born. In 2009 he continued his education in Budapest, at the jazz and pop music higher school “Kőbányai Zenei Stúdió” in class of Fekete-Kovács Kornéla.
During the 4 years of studying in Budapest he played with a number of bands of the Hungarian jazz, pop, ska and rock scene, as well as at different festivals and within international projects.
Upon graduation from the school in Budapest, he enrolled at the “Prince Claus” jazz conservatory in Groningen, where he completed 4 years of graduate studies and is currently at the Master programme.
In Holland, he has had an opportunity to study trumpet, composition and improvisation with the local Dutch and American musicians such as Kurt Weiss, Michael Moore, Jasper Soffers, Tineke Postma, etc., as well as with a number of renowned jazz musicians from New York such as Michael Mossman, Adam Nussbaum, Don Braden, David Binney, Spike Wilner, David Berkman, Alex Sipiagin, among others.
In June 2018, with the ensemble Frenkiez Experiment he won the first prize at the international jazz competition/festival “Jazz In the Park” in Cluj-Napoca (Romania).
Zsolt presently plays in different international projects performing regularly in Holland, Germany, Hungary, Romania, etc.
IGOR CARO, piano
Born on 23rd February 1991 in Novi Sad, Igor started his musical journey at the age of 8, enrolling at Music School “Josip Slavenski”, classical piano department, and his interest in jazz was sparked in Music High School “Isidor Bajić”. He studied jazz piano at the “Prince Claus” conservatory in Groningen, and he now lives and studies a Master programme in Italy, at the “Francesco Morlacchi” conservatory in Perugia. Among his professors are: Irena Jovanović, Jasper Soffers, Marc van Roon, Alessandro Bravo, and he has attended a number of workshops and master classes of renowned international musicians. As a singer, he is a member of several choirs, and plays the bass guitar as well, so, besides his piano activities, he has taken part in various projects and bands in Serbia and abroad in these fields.
PREDRAG OKILJEVIĆ, tenor saxophone
Born in 1987 in Zaječar, Predrag received his elementary music education in his hometown. He continued his musical journey moving to Novi Sad. He graduated from the Law Faculty of the University in Novi Sad. He lives and works in Novi Sad, and since 2010 he has been active on the music scene, first of all as a member of the bands NOIZAC and Rab l Khali, and independently in various collaborations with artists from the region. He is an active member of the bands Dragon’s Fuel and Deep Steady, both from Novi Sad, which have released albums in 2018. Together with Lav Kovač and Marko Čurčić, he is one of the founders of the Horz label from Novi Sad.
DIMITRIJE JAKOVLJEVIĆ, sound engineer
Dimitrije Jakovljević from Novi Sad is active as a music producer, sound engineer, guitar player and a composer. He is presently closely tied with the Horz label, having produced five albums for it. He leads Novi Sad based rock group Gerecki, plays with the impro trio Lavlji Dani Dima, and is a frequent guest in various post-rock, free impro and lounge bands from the local scene.
