Blaž Stajnko, bass-baritone and Jelena Pejić, violin, Chiara Kaufam, cello

Blaž Stajnko, born in Maribor, is a master’s student of voice at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana and the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz under Prof. Matjaž Robavs, Ing Kerkhof and Gerrit Prießnitz. He began his music career as a pianist at the Maribor Conservatory of Music and Ballet, and later devoted himself to singing. He has won several prizes at the TEMSIG competition (gold plaque in 2022 and 2025, first prize in 2025) and has also received a Grand Prix award at the International Opera Course of the festival Oper Oder Spree in Beeskow (Germany), 2025. As a soloist, he has performed with the Friuli Venezia Giulia Symphony Orchestra, the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, and the orchestras of the SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana and the SNG Maribor. He participates in festivals, competitions, and international projects in Slovenia, Italy, Austria, and Germany. He regularly performs with ensembles, such as the Hugo Wolf Chamber Choir and the Virilis vocal group. He tackles a wide repertoire ranging from art song to oratorio and opera. He is actively involved in academic productions and projects of the Slovenian Chamber Musical Theatre. He is especially active in the field of art song, appearing regularly in recitals in Slovenia and abroad, attending masterclasses and developing a distinctive artistic profile as a young Slovenian singer.

Andreja Kosmač is a pianist that graduated with distinction from the Ljubljana Academy of Music under Dubravka Tomšič Srebotnjak. She then continued her training with Siavush Gadjiev and Martyn van den Hoek in Vienna, as well as at numerous masterclasses. She has won several first prizes at national and international competitions, and the Student Prešeren Award. As a soloist and chamber musician, she has performed with Slovenian orchestras and distinguished artists, and has recorded for RTV Slovenia and Italian RAI. She teaches at the Conservatory of Music and Ballet Ljubljana and also works as an associate at the Ljubljana Academy of Music.

The Serbian violinist Jelena Pejić began her doctoral studies at the University of Ljubljana Academy of Music in October 2024 under the mentorship of Vasilij Meljnikov, having completed her master’s programme with distinction at the same institution in June that year. As a soloist, she has performed with the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, and the SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana Orchestra, where she played violin concertos by Johannes Brahms and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. In January 2024, she gave a solo recital at the Ljubljana Festival, and in December 2023 she received the Academy of Music Prešeren Award for her interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto. She performs actively at festivals in both Slovenia and abroad, in various chamber ensembles, and as a concertmaster. She has collaborated with Ensemble Dissonance, the Slovenian String Sextet, Trio Setsuna, the Dissonance Quartet, the Astra Piano Quintet and the Academy of Music String Sextet. She has further honed her skills in masterclasses with Nikita Boriso-Glebsky, Wonji Kim-Ozim, Aiman Mussakhajayeva, Dan Zhu, Janez Podlesek, Volodja Balzalorsky and others.

The Italian-American cellist Chiara Kaufman was born in 2004 in New York. After moving to Italy, she began her musical studies at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory of Music in Milan, where she graduated with distinction. She continued her training at the Pavia Cello Academy under Enrico Dindo, with whom she is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Lugano. Since 2024, she has also been studying at the Stauffer Academy in Cremona in the class of Antonio Meneses. She has attended masterclasses with Frans Helmerson, Asier Polo, Jens-Peter Maintz, Rocco Filippini, Enrico Bronzi and Mischa Maisky. As a soloist and chamber musician, she has performed at festivals and concert series, such as International Music Festival MITO SettembreMusica, Milano Classica, Società del Quartetto and Società dei Concerti, as well as in the Sala Verdi and Sala Puccini held by the Milan conservatory. In 2023 she received the Young Talents Award at the same institution, along with first prize in the internal competition in the strings category. She has collaborated with the Jerusalem Quartet, Donato Renzetti and Fabio Luisi. Together with her brother and sister she forms the Kaufman Trio, with which she gave the Italian premiere of Evgeny Kissin’s piano trio. She plays a cello crafted by the French master luthier Mathias Menanteau.