Biography - Đurđević-Ilić Marija

Biography - Marija Đurđević Ilić is a full professor of flute at the Music Academy of the University of Montenegro. She has been the principal flute of the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra since 2007 till  2024. She completed her masters and undergraduate studies in flute with the highest honors at the Music Academy in Cetinje. She has been awarded for her outstanding contribution to the development of artistic-research work and the international positioning of the University of Montenegro in 2021, as well as receiving awards for exceptional achievements in the field of arts from the city of Podgorica and the Ministry of Culture. As a professor and flute lecturer, she has conducted numerous masterclasses and seminars both nationally and internationally, catering to students from elementary and high schools, as well as students from music conservatories. She has served as chairperson or jury member at several domestic and international flute competitions across various categories, both nationally and regionally. She has participated in numerous events such as the Brandenburg Concertos at the Grad Theater Budva Festival with a group of international soloists, the Music on Water project produced by Ars-industria, and has made multiple appearances at festivals like A Tempo, Barski Summer Chronicle, Podgorica Cultural Summer, the International Montenegro Music Festival (ICA), KotorArt, FIAT, Tivat World Music Festival, the "Purgatorije" Festival in Tivat, Herceg Novi Music Festivities, Kragujevac Cultural Summer "Breath of Culture," among others. She has emerged victorious and received laurels from all flute festivals in the region including Belgrade, Valjevo, Požarevac, Podgorica, Kotor, among others. At the international Petar Konjović competition in Belgrade, she won a new instrument as a laureate. In her solo career, she has achieved high artistic results, placing her at the forefront of flute performance in the former Yugoslav territories. She has attended numerous courses by leading world flutists such as M. Kofler (Austria), M. Adorjan (Hungary), J. Balint (Hungary), A. Nikole (Austria), I. Grafenauer (Austria), V. Lukas (France), M. Debost (USA), K. Čestin (USA), Eje Kaufeld (Sweden), Gunila von Bahr (Sweden), Felix Renggli (Switzerland), Dejan Gavrić (Germany). In addition to her appearances on the Montenegrin scene - in Podgorica, Bar, Tivat, Budva, Cetinje, Kotor, Herceg Novi at venues such as the Montenegrin Music Center, Contemporary Art Gallery, Church of St. Spirit, King Nikolas Palace, Perjanički Dom, she has performed multiple times in international halls across different countries and cities such as Belgrade, Kragujevac, Novi Sad, Niš, Zrenjanin, Kraljevo - at renowned venues - Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Gallery, Great Hall and Gallery of I. Kolarac Endowment, Progres Gallery, Kombank Hall, Belgrade Philharmonic Hall, the Ceremonial Hall of the First Kragujevac Gymnasium, Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as well as concerts in Bucharest, Zagreb, Umag, Skopje, Brussels, Ankara, Venice, Verona… As a music educator, she has made an exceptional contribution. Students of this outstanding artist have won numerous awards at international, national, and regional competitions. She encourages students to actively participate in various competitions and festivals, where her class regularly represents the University of Montenegro and the Music Academy both nationally and internationally. She has performed over 350 concerts with the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra during 16 years of active musical work, and has appeared multiple times as a soloist with this orchestra both nationally and internationally. As a soloist, she has performed some of the most challenging concertos written for solo flute accompanied by an orchestra - W.A. Mozarts Concerto for Flute and Orchestra K.313 in G major, B. Martinus Concerto for Flute, Violin, and Orchestra, and C. Reineckes Concerto for Flute and Orchestra Op.283. She is an active member of the wind quintet of the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra and the Kotor-Art quintet. She has played several times with the Symphony Orchestra of Radio Television of Serbia. Throughout her artistic career, she has had the opportunity to perform with leading conductors and musicians of today, some of whom are Günther Pichler, Uroš Lajovic, Ronald Zolman, Marc Korovic, Iker Sanchez Silva, Holly Choe, Mladen Tarbuk, Adrian Liper, Bojan Suđić, Srboljub Srba Dinić, Roman Simović, Simon Trpčeski, Ivo Pogorelić, Stefan Milenković, Miša Mayski, Maja Bogdanović, Thomas Hampson… She was born in 1978 in Kragujevac, Serbia, where she attended elementary and high music school in the class of Snežana Kovačević.