Ivan Vihor Krsnik Cohar (born 22 January 1997), known also as only Ivan Vihor, is a Croatian classical pianist and

chess player This list of chess players includes people who are primarily known as chess players and have an article on the English Wikipedia. A * Jacob Aagaard (Denmark, Scotland, born 1973) * Manuel Aaron (India, born 1935) * Nijat Abasov (Azerbaijan, bor ...

. He is the winner of the 2017 "Premio delle Arti", the most important Italian piano competition.

Early life

Vihor was born on 22 January 1997 in

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. At the age of six he started studying

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

at the Ivan Matetic Ronjgov music school,

, with professor Ana Drazul. He won his first piano

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...

s at a very early age (Rijeka State Competition and Istria and Kvarner Competition) and made his debut with orchestra at the age of 10, playing Bach Concerto in f minor BWV 1056 with Orchestra Sinfonica di Chioggia under the baton of conductor Pietro Perini.

Career

After he completed his piano graduation exam with Honors, he enrolled in the Conservatory Gaetano Donizetti,

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...

, into the class of Professor Marco Giovanetti with whom he completed his Bachelor of Music Degree and Master of Music Degree with the highest honors. Vihor's numerous National and International Piano Competition Awards include the EPTA Piano Competition, Zlatko Grgosevic Zagreb, Major National Competition in Dubrovnik (2009, 2013), Festival Musica in Laguna Chioggia (2009, 2010, 2015.), "Daleki akordi" (2010.) etc. During the 2014,2015 and 2016, Vihor participated in several competitions in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and won numerous prestigious awards such as "Premio Lino Barbisotti", "Rotary Scholarship for the Best Conservatory Student", "Bettinelli Competition Treviglio" and special prize for the youngest competitor in the finals of "Concorso pianistico Citta San Dona di Piave". He has performed in concert throughout

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

including numerous prestigious halls such as the Historic Museum (Rijeka), "MD Vatroslav Lisinski" (

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

), Euphrasian Basilica ( Porec), Casa Natale di

Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...

, Salone Riccardi di

Teatro Donizetti The Teatro Donizetti is an opera house in Bergamo, Italy. Built in the 1780s using a design by architect Giovanni Francesco Lucchini, the theatre was originally referred to as either the Teatro Nuovo or Teatro di Fiera. The first opera to be mo ...

, Auditorium Sant' Alessandro, Sala Piatti (Bergamo), Villa Tasso (Celadina), Auditorium San Niccolo ( Chioggia), Grattacielo Pirelli (

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

- famous "Societa dei Concerti" Milano), Teatro Astrolabio Villasanta, Castello Visconteo Pagazzano, Castello

Oldofredi The Oldofredi were a noble Italian family, related to Pandolfo III Malatesta, originally from Manerbio. In the thirteenth century it drew strength and luck in the area Franciacorta and Lake Iseo, where he also owned a castle in Peschiera Maraglio ...

Iseo Iseo may refer to: Acronyms * International Sustainable Energy Organization (ISEO) Places Italy * Iseo, Lombardy, a ''comune'' in the Province of Brescia * Lake Iseo, a lake in the Provinces of Bergamo and Brescia, Lombardy * Provaglio d'Iseo, ...

etc. He has also performed in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. In May 2015, he recorded a CD with works of Schumann,

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

and Liszt. In July 2017 Ivan Vihor won First Prize in the most prestigious Italian piano competition "Premio Nazionale delle Arti". In October 2017, Ivan Vihor was named Croatia's best young musician, having won the Papandopulo competition and Livadic competition weeks earlier.

Other interests

He also plays

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

where he holds a title of

FIDE master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating an ...

and frequently plays on

Lichess Lichess (; ) is a free and open-source Internet chess server run by a non-profit organization of the same name. Users of the site can play online chess anonymously and optionally register an account to play rated games. Lichess is ad-free and al ...

, under the pseudonym "EddieMarsalla".

Awards

*2013 EPTA Piano Competition

Osijek, Croatia Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

- 2nd Prize *2015 Bettinelli Competition Treviglio, Italy - 4th Prize and Special Prize *2016 Lino Barbisotti Competition - 1st Prize and Absolute winner *2017 Premio nazionale delle Arti

Pesaro, Italy Pesaro () is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Marche, capital of the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the Marche ...

- 1st Prize *2017 Papandopulo Competition Zagreb, Croatia - 1st Prize *2017 International Young musicians'competition "Ferdo Livadic"

Samobor, Croatia Samobor () is a city in Zagreb County, Croatia. It is part of the Zagreb metropolitan area. Administratively it is a part of Zagreb County. Geography Samobor is located west of Zagreb, between the eastern slopes of the Samobor hills ( hr, Samob ...

- 1st Prize and Special Prize of the Croatian composers' Society *2018 Svetislav Stančić International Piano Competition Zagreb, Croatia - 3rd Prize *2018 International Piano Competition Massarosa, Italy - 3rd Prize *2019 Best Young Talent of the year (Premio giovane talento dell'anno) issued by The International Piano Festival of Brescia and Bergamo *2020 "Ivo Drazinic Award" issued by the Laus Academy and

Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra The Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra ( hr, Dubrovački simfonijski orkestar) is a professional musical orchestra from the city of Dubrovnik, Croatia and the chief musical representative of the Dubrovnik region. In its work it carries on with the musica ...

Discography

* 2015 - ''Schumann,Beethoven and Liszt,'' solo piano album (MC Harmony) * 2020 - ''Contradanza,'' solo piano album (Vox Primus) * 2021 - ''Liszt Transcriptions, '' solo piano album (Vox Primus)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vihor, Ivan Living people 1997 births 21st-century classical pianists Musicians from Rijeka Bergamo Conservatory alumni Croatian classical pianists Chess FIDE Masters Croatian chess players Sportspeople from Rijeka