Milica Lawrence
Pianist and Harpsichordist
Founder, Director, CEO at Malta Piano Academy
Founder, Director, CEO at Malta International Piano Festival
Milica Lawrence completed her piano and harpsichord studies at the Faculty of Music Arts in Belgrade, former Yugoslavia. Here, Milica specialized in chamber music and received her Doctor of Musical Arts Degree (DMA) at the same Faculty. She attended piano and harpsichord masterclasses with many distinguished Serbian and international artists such as Sergei Dorensky, JegorChugaev, Pavel Nersessian, Huguette Dreyfus, Egon Mihajlovic, Olivera Djurdjevic, Yuri Kot, Maria Luisa Baldassari, etc. Milica has won numerous prizes for solo and ensemble performances at domestic and international competitions. She has also held a great number of solo recitals and chamber music concerts both in the country and abroad (Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Hungary, Montenegro, Macedonia, Libya, etc.). Notably, her recital at the Italian Cultural Centre in Tripoli is noted as the first concert by a Serbian pianist in Africa. She has participated in reviews of modern classical music as well as in festivals BEMUS, OKTOH, Cello Fest, Basomanija, and many more. Milica has taken part as an orchestra member in the Faculty of Music Arts Orchestra in Belgrade, and as a guest member in the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, Dusan Skovran String Orchestra, Schlesinger Orchestra, Mokranjac Chamber Orchestra, Zemun Chamber Orchestra. Throughout her career she has collaborated with many renowned artists - Sreten Krstic, Uros Lajovic, Dmitry and Alexander Sitkovetsky, Charles Zachary Bornstein, Milos Petrović. With the Chamber Orchestra Mokranjac, the FILUM Orchestra, and the Schlesinger Orchestra Milica performed as a soloist. She has also recorded for radio and TV. At the First International Competition Beogradski Pobednik in 2005, she was the only pianist who received recognition by the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Serbia and Montenegro for special artistic participation - 'Ruski dom u Beogradu'. Milica has worked for fifteen years as an independent artistic collaborator at the String Department at the Faculty of Philology and Arts in Kragujevac, Serbia. ln 2019 she becomes resident of Malta and opens Malta Piano Academy in Mosta and Gozo while maintaining an actlve soloist career at the same time. From 2019 to 2022 she also worked at Mikiel Anton Vassalli College as a piano teacher and accompanist. ln August 2022. Milica organised the first ever Malta International Piano Festival held in Gozo. She is currently working on her very first digital and printed magazine "Pianist.mt".
Kellyann Spiteri
Assistant Piano Professor
Kellyann Spiteri is a pianist and accompanist. She started playing the piano at age 9 and completed the performance grades within four years.
She then proceeded to read for the London College of Music's Diploma, Dip. LCM, with Distinction in 2021. At age 14, she read for the London College of Music Associate Diploma, ALCM, being awarded full marks. Kellyann attended the Malta Visual and Performing Arts school where her major was Music, while also attending the Malta School of Music. In 2023, she was supported by Arts Council Malta to study at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, UK, as well as being selected by the Malta School of Music to go on an Erasmus exchange in Wales. Kellyann has performed locally and abroad in prestigious venues, including the Manoel Theatre and The Stoller Hall, and in various events, such as the Victoria International Arts Festival, the Malta Spring Festival, and the Toi Toi Youth Talent Gala, among others. She also won prizes in numerous competitions, including New Names Malta, the Malta International Piano Competition, Charles Camilleri National Music Competition, the Valletta International Piano Competition, the Malta International Music Competition, and the Maltese Islands Festival, to mention a few. Besides studying to further her career in musicianship and being the Malta Youth Orchestra's pianist, Kellyann also teaches at the Malta Piano Academy.
Christine Muscat
Assistant Piano Professor
Christine Muscat was born in Malta on the 28th of June 2006. She started her piano studies at the age of 10 and is currently being tutored by Ms. Irina Fedcenko Carbonaro (Masters in Piano Pedagogy and Art of Performance). At the age of 14, Christine obtained a high distinction in the Grade 8 practical examination of the Trinity College of Music London. During these years, Christine has participated in various piano concerts and competitions both in Malta and abroad. She was a second prize winner in the Charles Camilleri National Music Festival in 2018, first prize winner in the Maltese Islands Festival 2018 solo piano category, first prize winner in chamber music category of the Maltese Islands Festival 2019, first prize winner in the Gozo International Piano Competition 2022, second prize winner in the Citta’ di Minerbio Piano Competition 2022 in Italy, first prize winner in the 1st Tomas Juzeliūnas contemporary piano music competition 2023 in Lithuania, was invited to perform her own composition in the prestigious Vilnius Town Hall and was awarded a special prize for the best own composition which was then published in a book. She has also participated in various online international competitions during the pandemic, organised in Malta, Russia, Italy, England, Lithuania, and Ukraine, where she obtained very high ratings.
Goran Milosev
Piano, Theory & Solfeggio Professor
Goran Milosev's journey in the world of music and education is marked by a rich and diverse experience. He began his academic pursuit by completing Theory of Arts studies at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, Serbia. Later, he specialized in ethnomusicology and obtained a Master's degree from the same institution. During his academic years, Goran also took on the role of a music teacher in several Cultural Artistic Societies in Vojvodina. After his studies, he worked as a music teacher at the Petar Konjovic Music School in Sombor. In 2014, he established "Dolce Piano," a music school in Belgrade, where he focused on teaching piano.In 2016, Goran's journey led him to China, where he worked as a piano and solfeggio teacher in a music school. Upon returning to Serbia, his career took a different turn as he transitioned into the role of a music teacher at the Social Service Center of Novi Sad, while also embarking on studies in Integrative Art Psychotherapy. Goran Milosev's dedication to music and education has taken him on a unique and diverse path that spans different countries and experiences. Currently residing in Malta, he continues exploring new opportunities for personal and professional growth, adding depth to his remarkable journey.
Dejana Denda
Piano Professor
Dejana Denda was born in Belgrade in 1969. In the early childhood she discovered her passion for piano, music and ballet. She completed primary music education in the Music School ‘’Kosta Manojlović" in Zemun, (Serbia), in the class of Prof. Blagorodna Radak, and graduated secondary music school in the same school in 1987, in the class of Prof. Vojin Milanović. She had a lot of solo concerts and performances as a pianist. Since then she was working as a piano teacher. Also, she was the soprano of the best Serbian Choir “Ivo Lola RibarRibar’’ from Belgrade, Serbia, for 10 years.
Slavica Azzopardi
Piano Professor
Slavica Stojanova Azzopardi was born in Republic of North Macedonia in 1990. She comes from a musically talented family. In the very early childhood she found herself in the world of music. Slavica started her primary music education at the music school “Stevan Mokranjac” in her hometown Kocani in the class of Mr. Marija Lazarova, learning piano. She later continued her studies at the Secondary music high school “Sergej Mihajlov” in the city of Shtip and graduated in singing and music theory in the class of Prof. Olga Panajotova. She continued her studies at the Academy of Music Arts, graduating in music theory and pedagogy. After that she studied jazz piano for two more years in the class of the famous Professor Vasil Hadzimanov. During her carier, she has participated in many piano, choir and singing competitions. She also collaborated with many professional soloists and had concerts troughout Macedonia. Before she left Macedonia and moved to Malta she was piano teacher at the primary music school where she started her studies. From August 2023 Slavica is regular piano professor at Malta Piano Academy.
Sandra Cupic
Theory and Solfeggio Professor
Sandra Cupic was born in 1994. She graduated in 2017 with Honors from the Music Academy in Nis, Serbia. Her main studies included Music Pedagogy, Harmony with Harmonic analysis, Piano, Music theory, and Solfeggio. During her studies, she was privileged to be the Ambassador of Culture in Serbia. She has a gift and love for teaching, passing on her passion for music to her students and tailoring their lessons to meet their needs and goals. Her teaching approach is tailored to suit each student's individual needs. Sandra is regularly invited to adjudicate at numerous International Festivals in Finland, Italy, North Macedonia, Spain, Serbia, Germany, Japan, Sydney, Cyprus, etc. She is also one of the Rock School and Trinity College London certified Vocal instructor based in Malta. Her students are winners of many local and international competitions. Currently, she works from her own studio MusicLand mentoring several upcoming vocal artists.
Sandra Stojanovic
Visiting Piano Professor
Sandra Stojanovic was born in Belgrade in a family of professional musicians. At five, she discovered her passion for piano and cultivated it in primary and secondary music schools. She graduated from the University of Music in Novi Sad (ex Yugoslavia) in 1987 under the guidance of Professor Arbo Valdma. In the following year she studied in the class of Professor Grigorij L. Sokolov during her period in Russia at the Conservatory of Music Rimskij-Korsakov of St. Petersburg. In 1992 she moved to Italy where she currently lives. Here, she broadened her knowledge in chamber music, at first by taking part in a specialized course offered by the Accademia G. Marziali di Seveso (Milan) with Professor Conrad Klemm, and then by achieving a Master degree cum laude in 2011 at the Conservatory of Music F.A. Bonporti (Trento) with Professor Giancarlo Guarino. Until then, her focused was almost entirely on classical music, but her love for music brought her to experiment with different genres. Guided by these feelings, she attended Pop classes at the Conservatory of Music F. A. Bonporti (Trento) from 2015 to 2017. These were really prolific years in which not only had she the opportunity to study under some well-known names of the Italian pop and jazz scene such as Alfredo Biondo, Stefano Pisetta, Danilo Minotti, Riccardo Ballerini, Francesco Martinelli but she cultivated her passion for orchestra conducting. In 2016 Sandra attended lessons with Maestro Jorge Lazzeri and in 2022 with Maestro Giancarlo Guarino. Over the same years, while achieving different academic titles, she also worked in several places. Her first jobs were in ex Yugoslavia. She worked in different secondary music schools as a piano teacher (K.Stanković, Belgrade), chamber music teacher (K. Stanković, Belgrade) and piano accompanist (K. Manoijlović, Zemun; School for young talents, Ćuprija). In 1992 she moved to Catania (Italy) and took part in many pedagogical activities and concerts. She worked as a piano accompanist at the Teatro Massimo in Catania, collaborating with the baritone Giuseppe Taddei, her teaching years at Dante Alighieri middle school in Catania and at the Accademia Mediterranea in Augusta. She also became a Member of the Teatro Miela Reina in Trieste and of the Horus Association of Siracusa for which she regularly gave master classes in piano and chamber music and she collaborated as a piano accompanist for the courses of Professor Conrad Klemm and Mathias Ziegler. She served the role of vice president of Phoné Association of Catania which promoted contemporary music and collaborated with the Fenice Association of Catania and the Group of Research and Experimentation of Viterbo. In 2008 she started working as a Professor for complementary piano at the Conservatory of Music F.A. Bonporti in Trento where she finally moved in 2011. From that moment till 2017, she performed under a contract with Liceo Musicale e Coreutico F.A. Bonporti covering different roles. In particular, she worked as a piano accompanist for dance, as a Professor of musical theory and practice for dancers and as a Professor for complementary piano. At present, her collaboration with the Conservatory of Music F.A. Bonporti is ongoing considering her job as a piano accompanist for all instruments and singers. In relation to her artistic performances, she has played as a soloist, with orchestra (Symphony Orchestra and Philharmonic Orchestra of Belgrade, Academy Orchestra of St. Petersburg…) and in various chamber ensembles in different countries (Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, France, Russia, USA, Vietnam). In 2006 she performed for the United Nations in New York together with the American cello player Scott Terzaghi. In May and June 2016. they invited Sandra to perform a series of concerts in Vietnam with the violinists Daniele and Marika Anderle for the 70th anniversary of the Italian Republic by President S. Mattarella. She also held a Master class in Vietnam at the College of Art in Hanoi. Over the years, Sandra has won several national and international awards, taking part in different competitions as a jury member and appeared on radio and television.
Jasna Djurovic
Visiting Piano Professor
Jasna Đurović was born in Banja Luka, where she completed primary music education in the class of Prof. Branka Kuzmanović, and secondary music school in Zemun, in the music school "Kosta Manojlović", in the class of Prof. Tanja Jablanović. She graduated from the Academy of Arts in Banja Luka. In 2002, in the class of Prof. Nevena Popović. She was a scholarship holder of the "Petar Kočić" Fund, which is awarded to students with the highest grade point average. She performed as a soloist in chamber ensembles during her studies. She held a solo concert at the National Theater of Republika Srpska (2002), as well as a concert of the piano duo with her colleague Dijana Zrnić in the Banski dvor City Hall in 1999. During her studies, she recorded works by Edvard Grieg and Sergei Rachmaninoff for the needs of the Radio Television of Republika Srpska. She is a semifinalist of the international piano competition Grand Concerteum in Athens in 2000 in the discipline of the piano duo. However, she shows the greatest affinities for piano pedagogy, as evidenced by the numerous successes of her students, both in the country and abroad. She was also a member of the jury at many competitions, in Sabac, Belgrade, Kragujevac, Smederevo, Bijeljina, Banja Luka and Prijedor. Her students were awarded by the home school "Vlado Milosevic" as the most successful. She was trained at numerous masterclasses with eminent piano pedagogues and pianists such as Nevena Popović, Aleksandar Serdar, Nataša Veljković, Maria Nemcova, Vladimir Milošević, Arbo Valdma. She also worked as a demonstrator accompanist at the Academy of Arts, Department of Dramatic Arts. She also collaborated with the National Theater of Republika Srpska in the play "How to make your master laugh", directed by our famous director Kokan Mladenović, where she played musicians permeated the entire play.She is the co-founder and the idea holder of the first piano competition in BiH, the "Banja Luka Biennale". She held a master piano course for students of the elementary school "Marcos Portugal" in Doboj in 2006. as well as the music workshop "Viva la muzika", for students of primary and secondary music schools, 2019 and 2020, which was supported by the Cultural Center Banski dvor. She has 26 years of work experience in piano pedagogy behind her. She collaborates with the Belgrade pianist Borko Milojković, with whom she founded the piano duo "The Wolves". She returned to the music scene with a solo performance at the concert of the professor of the music school "Vlado Milosevic" in December 2020. She also performed as a guest at the concert of pianist Borko Milojković in Belgrade, in the Artget Gallery of the Cultural Center Belgrade, where she performed with him in a piano duo. She was a guest on Radio Television of Republika Srpska, ELTA TV and Alternative Tv. Borko Milojković recital at the Banski dvor in February 2021 (piano duo).The goal of her work is to nurture and direct young talents and promising young artists to engage in art music and to preserve its traditional values through public performances, concerts, piano competitions. Recently, she is active in the field of concert activities. She is currently employed at a music school. "Vlado Milošević" as a piano teacher in primary and secondary music school.
Eric Bugeja
Violinist, Guest Professor
In 2017 Eric Bugeja graduated with a B.A (Hons) in violin performance from the University of Malta under the direction of Ms. Natalia Filipenko, Mr. Mario Bisazza, and Prof. Michael Laus. Following the degree he have studied privately under the direction of Prof. Remus Azoitei (Royal Academy of Music), Mr. Carmine Lauri (Co-Leader @ London Symphony Orchestra) and Ms. Agnieska Kuzma. Throughout the past years he have participated in violin masterclasses conducted by: Prof. Pierre Amoyal, Prof. Gottfried Schneider, Prof. Adrian Butterfield, Mr. Yuri Zhislin, Prof. David Watkin. Eric Bugeja participated with the Bisyoc Intercultural Youth Orchestra in 2016, this summer course was held in Ludlow, Moor Park, and am currently leading the St Paul Metropolitan Orchestra in Malta. Other ensembles and orchestras which he performed with include the Malta Youth Orchestra and Collegium Musicum Orchestra Malta. During the past two years he has been appointed as a violin tutor in the following musical institutions: Malta School of Music, Malta Visual and Performing Arts School, Gozo Visual and Performing Arts School, Malta Society of arts, Malta Piano Academy and he is also a visiting tutor at the Limerick School of Music and Galway Youth Orchestra.