String Quartet ATTACCA in Concert
Wednesday, November 26th from 7 pm: The quartet consists of Eva Bogoevska and Marija Trajkovska (violins), Ilza Baftiari (viola) and Maja Mihajlovska (cello)
The string quartet “Attacca” was formed in 2022 and in a short period of time has established itself as one of the most active young chamber ensembles on the Macedonian domestic scene. The quartet consists of Eva Bogoevska and Marija Trajkovska (violins), Ilza Baftiari (viola) and Maja Mihajlovska (cello) – musicians with significant experience as soloists and as members of various orchestras and chamber ensembles, with education acquired under the mentorship of renowned professors in the country and abroad.
Eva Bogoevska was born on 27.10.1999 in Skopje, Macedonia. She has started playing the violin at the age of seven in the class of prof. Anna Kondratenko. At the age of 16 she enrolled at the Faculty of Music Art in Skopje in the class of prof. Oleg Kondratenko and in the year 2020 she graduated with the highest GPA of 10,00. In 2021, she received an award for being the best student at the Faculty of Music in Skopje in the country. In 2022, she completed her master’s degree with the highest GPA of 10,00 in the class of the eminent pedagogue prof. Sergey Ostrovsky, who teaches at the prestigious university in Geneva, Switzerland. At the very beginning of her music career she won on the International Classical Music Festival Ohrid Pearls and was invited to participate in two concerts in Bratislava,Slovakia.She also won numerous Special first prizes in Macedonia.As a representative of our country, Eva Bogoevska has won numerous prestigious international awards, which most significantly include: first prize at the Sanremo Music Festival in Italy in 2012, Laureate of the highest degree at the renowned International Festival of Classical Music in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 2016, Eva represented our country and won the Grand Prix at the International Festival of Classical Art and Culture held in Jerusalem, Israel. In 2017 she won the First Prize at the largest International Competition for Classical Music RONDO based in New York where 200 competitors of the same category, from all the continents in the world took part.As the first prize winner in this competition, she received the award of a concert performance at Carnegie Hall, New York. Eva Bogoevska has performed as a soloist with the Macedonian National Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Orchestra of the Opera and Ballet in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, on several occasions. She has also had solo performances in Slovakia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Italy, Russia, France, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Portugal, America, Israel, Turkey, England, Malta, Slovenia, Spain and in our country. In 2019, in Berlin, Germany, Eva actively participated as a representative of our Musical Youth in the first conference on new performance methods for classical works organized by the International Musical Youth. Eva Bogoevska also actively participates in renowned domestic festivals such as Skopje Summer Festival, Ohrid Summer Festival, DMM (Days of Macedonian Music), Golden Lyre, and others. Eva is a member of the FAMES film music orchestra, with which she held concerts in Dubai and in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. In 2020, Eva became a regular member of the National Philharmonic Orchestra of North Macedonia as a first violin.
Marija Trajkovska (1992, Negotino) stands out as a soloist, orchestral musician and music educator. She studied the violin from the age of nine, and her music education is being shaped at DMBUC Ilija Nikolovski-Luj in Skopje and at the Faculty of Music Art, where she studied with prof. Michael Kufoyanakis. In 2013, she received a full scholarship to Lynn University in South Florida, majoring in the class of the renowned violinist and conductor Guiermo Figueroa. She performs as part of the university’s Philharmonic and Chamber Orchestra, playing with prominent soloists, including Joshua Bell. Graduated with Honors (cum laude) in 2017. Upon returning to Macedonia, she becomes part of the Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra and has been employed in the group of second violins since 2019. In addition to her orchestral activity, she is actively engaged in online music education.
Ilza Baftiari is a violist with expressed creativity and multidisciplinary approach, who begins her musical education with the violin and then devotes herself to the viola under the guidance of prof. Jovan Bicevski. As a soloist and chamber performer, she has performed with the Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra, DMBUC Chamber Orchestra Ilija Nikolovski-Luj and FMU Soloists, as well as several international orchestras including CEI Orchestra, Jugest Sinfonie Orchester and Manheimer Philharmoniker. Ilza performs at the most prestigious European halls, such as the ElbPhilharmony in Hamburg and the Queen Elizabeth Hall in Antwerp, with top soloists such as Martha Argerich. Ilza has been a long-term member of the Kosovo Philharmonic Orchestra, and since 2020 has been part of the Macedonian Philharmonic, also regularly participating in the recording of film music with the orchestra F.A.M.E.’S.She is a member of “Balkan Chamber Orchestra” in Japan. Since 2022, Ilza is the violist of the string quartet “Attacca”with which she contributes through numerous performances and recitals to the promotion and preservation of Macedonian musical creativity.
Maja Mihajlovska – cello. Maja Mihajlovska began studying the cello at the age of 12 in the class of Prof. Mare Kočareva, and continued her secondary education with Prof. Pascal Krapovski. She graduated Cum Laude from the Faculty of Music in Skopje, in the class of Prof. Živko Firfov. In 2012 she received the Frank Manning Award for best student of the generation, presented by the British foundation of the same name. In June 2015 she completed her master’s studies at the Faculty of Music in Skopje under the mentorship of renowned Czech cellist Michaela Kanka from Prague. Mihajlovska has taken part in several international orchestras, including the Junge Orchester Akademie–YSO in 2005/2006, performing on tours in Switzerland and the Balkans. In 2006/2007 and 2008/2009 she performed with the European orchestra CEIYO on tours in Italy, Austria, Slovenia, and Romania. In 2016 she played with the Scandinavian orchestra Orkester Norden on a tour of Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, under the baton of the acclaimed conductor Lawrence Foster. She has appeared as a soloist with the Macedonian Philharmonic in 2006, 2007 and 2008, as well as with the DMUCI Orchestra and ARCO. She is the recipient of numerous national awards and has given many concerts and recitals across the country, including within Skopje Summer and events organized by KIC. Mihajlovska regularly performs with her twin sister Marija as part of the cello duo Twins Cello, appearing in the Chamber Hall of the Macedonian Philharmonic, the foyer of the Opera and Ballet, KIC Skopje, as well as in Štip, Tetovo, and Bitola, promoting chamber repertoire for two cellos throughout the country. Since 2022, Maja has been a member of the Attacca Quartet, with which she contributes through numerous performances and recitals to the promotion and preservation of Macedonian musical creativity. She marked ten years as a permanent member of the Youth Music Orchestra within the Ohrid Summer Festival. She has spent six years participating in seminars with Prof. Astrit Selita from Tirana, and has also taken part in masterclasses with Imre Kalman, Alexander Kniazev, Ventsislav Nikolov, Marko Cupé, Detlef Mielke and Johannes Moser. Upon invitation from the artistic selector of the Ohrid Summer Festival, Josifovska-Nedelkovska, Mihajlovska took part in the festival’s closing event in 2012, performing alongside renowned cellist Enrico Dindo. She has been a member of the Macedonian Philharmonic since 2015 and regularly records with the FAMES film orchestra. Maja feels equally at home in traditional classical repertoire, yet boldly steps outside the boundaries of the classical musician, appearing also in the crossover scene as a member of the Bulgarian quartet Destiny, with whom she has been performing throughout Bulgaria and Europe since 2019
