Jelena C.

Piano

Dr. Jelena C. attended the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada where she achieved grade 10 piano, and participated in various courses in piano pedagogy, history and music theory.

In 2001 she completed her BA in Piano Performance at The University of Toronto where she was a student of Dr. Boris Lysenko and Boyanna Toyich. Jelena was a very active performer, teacher and accompanist in recitals and performances in the GTA area. During her studies at The University of Toronto, Jelena was a prize winners in various music festivals, such as: Kiwanis, Davenport, and Peel.

Following her University years, Jelena spent two summers at the world class Chautauqua Institution (NY) where she was a full and partial scholarship winner. She participated in master classes and private lessons held by Rebecca Penneys, a renowned piano professor at Eastman School of Music.

In addition to Canadian and American, Jelena also has European performing experience, which involved spending two summers in Rome, Italy performing in concerts with TIP “Monster” ensemble of 10 piano’s 20 pianists. In 2006 Jelena also appeared as a soloist at Omni television in Toronto.

In the winter of 2003, Jelena continued her musical education at The University of Toledo in Ohio, where in only one and a half years she received her MA in Piano Performance, and was a student of Dr. Michael Boyd. During her years in Toledo, she held a full accompanying assistanship, and won third prizes at small ensemble as well as piano concerto competitions. She as also the recipient of Way Library Scholarship, and held a solo concert there.

Jelena recently completed her DMA in Piano Performance, with a minor in organ performance at The University of Utah School of Music in Salt Lake City. During her time at U of Utah she was the recipient of many scholarships, such as : two times Dean’s travel grant winner, European Scholarship, U of Utah teaching assistanship, and others. Her piano professor at The University of Utah was Dr. Vedrana Subotic, who is a highly valued pedagogue and performer all over the world.

Jelena’s performances in 2013 included master classes for concert pianist Nicholas Angelich, and cellist Steven Doane, Tesla Quartet, and Benowitz Quartet. She also participated in a lobby fest recital with a violinist in Abravanel Hall in SLC in February 2013; She was also a participant in the Monster Concert at the University of Utah in Libby Gardner Hall for many years.

In the summer of 2014 Jelena attended the Summer Chamber Music Workshop in SLC, as well as the Interharmony Music Festival in Arcidosso, Tuscany, that presently has pianist Alfred Brendl on their faculty. The following summer of 2015 Jelena was a participant and performer in the Prague piano workshop. In the summer of 2016, along with Zoltan Csiskos (cello) Jelena gave a chamber music recital at the World Piano Teacher’s Conference in Novi Sad, Serbia. She also gave a solo recital for the Davis Arts Council in Layton, where the performers lineup for 2016 included artists such as the world famous The Beach Boys, Amy Grant, and The Gentry.

Since her move to the NYC area two years ago, Jelena has worked at Columbia University and AMDA as an accompanist and vocal coach. She has played concerts at St. John’s in the Village, Off-Broadway and Town Hall: “The Last boy”, St. Ignatus Loyola, annual St. George’s church for easter, as well as various groupmuses. She is a substitute organist and a freelance pianist in the NYC/NJ area.  Recently Jelena accompanied various students at Gershwin International Competition in NYC, most of whom went on to the finals . She is a recipient of numerous scholarships, competitions, and prizes.