Stefan Milenkovich

Established as one of the foremost violinists of his generation, Stefan Milenkovich enjoys a prolific career as an internationally sought-after soloist and recitalist, with an extraordinary productive longevity, professionalism, and creativity.
He appeared on multiple occasions in some of the world’s most celebrated venues such as Carnegie Hall, New York City (USA), Kennedy Center, Washington (USA), Cadogan Hall, London (UK), Suntory Hall, Tokyo (Japan), as well as Italy’s theaters La Fenice, Venice, San Carlo, Naples, and Petruzzelli, Bari. His numerous appearances with orchestra include Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Aspen Chamber Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of Radio-France, Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, National Orchestra of Belgium, Mexico State Symphony, Orquestra Sinfonica de Estado de Sao Paolo, and the Melbourne and Queensland Symphonies, and has performed under the baton of such conductors as Sir Neville Marriner, Lorin Maazel, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Daniel Oren, Oksana Lyniv, Erina Yashima, Aziz Shokhakimov, En Shao, Mei-Ann Chen, Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Lera Auerbach, and Jessica Cotis.
Milenkovich’s 2024 – 2025 season includes performances with Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale RAI (Italy) Orchestra dei Pomeriggi Musicali (Italy), Orchestra of Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi di Trieste (Italy), Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana (Italy), Orchestra Sinfonica Abruzzese (Italy), Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra (Croatia), Oltenia Philharmonic Orchestra (Romania), Orchestra Sinfonica di San Remo (Italy), Profundis Chamber Orchestra (North Macedonia), Zadar Chamber Orchestra (Croatia), Belgrade Chamber Orchestra (Serbia), Muzikon Chamber Orchestra (Serbia) and Camerata Novi Sad (Serbia). This season also includes appearances at Thessaloniki Concert Season (Greece), Blisko! Chamber Music Festival (Serbia), Round Top Music Festival (USA), Jupiter Chamber Series (NYC), Hvar Summer Festival (Croatia), Krk Summer Festival (Croatia), Amadeo Scene (Croatia) as well as recitals with pianist Marta Aznavoorian at Brookings Series (USA) and Cosmos Club (USA).
Recent performances include collaboration with Utah Symphony Orchestra (USA), Prague Symphony Orchestra (Czech Republic), Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra (USA), OklahomaLipizer Competition (Italy), Paganini Competition (Italy), Ludwig Spohr Competition (Germany), and the Yehudi Menuhin Competition (England). 
Deeply committed to international humanitarian causes, in 2002 Milenkovich received the Lifting Up the World with Oneness Heart award for his humanitarian activities, handed to him personally by the guru Sri Chinmoy. He also participated in a number of gala concerts under the auspices of UNESCO in Paris with such artists as Placido Domingo, Lorin Maazel, Alexis Weissenberg, and Sir Yehudi Menuhin, and was active as the First Child Ambassador in early 90’.
As a musician of broad stylistic interests, Milenkovich performed with five-time Grammy Nominee rock band Gorillaz in one of the world's most renowned venues - Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York City. The critically acclaimed performance was featured live on MTV. Other collaborations include performances with Grammy Award Nominee lutist Edin Karamazov, as well as a musical partnership with guitarist Vlatko Stefanovski and his trio, where Milenkovich explored the realm of improvisation and acoustic-electric violin.
At Dubai EXPO 2022, Milenkovich presented two major projects: Serbian National String Team featuring some of the most promising young artists to represent Serbia at the EXPO, and Rock el Clasico, a musical collaboration with singer and author Nele Karajlic, launched at the Al Wasl Arena.
Milenkovich’s discography includes four commercial releases of the Italian label Dynamic, featuring J. S. Bach Complete Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, Complete Music for Solo Violin – Nicolo Paganini 24 Capricci, N. Paganini Recital, and N. Paganini In cuor piu non mi sento. He also released numerous recordings for the Yugoslavian label, PGP. Milenkovich’s recent CD release includes a First Recording disc with the Manchester Music Festival of Vittorio Giannini’s Piano Trio and Piano Quintet.
Firmly dedicated to pedagogical work for over two decades, Milenkovich taught in collaboration with Itzhak Perlman at the Juilliard School in New York City, NY, and Perlman Music Program, as well as held a position as an Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Milenkovich is still the youngest graduate of the Music Academy in Belgrade, Serbia,
 City Symphony Orchestra (USA), Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi (Italy), and Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra (Slovenia).
Milenkovich started his career at a very young age. He performed for U.S. President Ronald Reagan at a Christmas concert in Washington, DC, at age 10. The following year, he played for Mikhail Gorbachev in Belgrade, Serbia. At age 14, he played for Pope John Paul II and at age 16, Milenkovich gave his 1000th concert in Monterrey, Mexico. By age 17, he was the winner of The Young Concert Artists International Competition (USA), as well as a prizewinner in the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis (USA), the Queen Elisabeth Competition (Belgium), Hannover Violin Competition (Germany), Tibor Varga Competition (Switzerland), Rodolfo Lipizer Competition (Italy), Paganini Competition (Italy), Ludwig Spohr Competition (Germany), and the Yehudi Menuhin Competition (England). 
Deeply committed to international humanitarian causes, in 2002 Milenkovich received the Lifting Up the World with Oneness Heart award for his humanitarian activities, handed to him personally by the guru Sri Chinmoy. He also participated in a number of gala concerts under the auspices of UNESCO in Paris with such artists as Placido Domingo, Lorin Maazel, Alexis Weissenberg, and Sir Yehudi Menuhin, and was active as the First Child Ambassador in early 90’.
As a musician of broad stylistic interests, Milenkovich performed with five-time Grammy Nominee rock band Gorillaz in one of the world's most renowned venues - Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York City. The critically acclaimed performance was featured live on MTV. Other collaborations include performances with Grammy Award Nominee lutist Edin Karamazov, as well as a musical partnership with guitarist Vlatko Stefanovski and his trio, where Milenkovich explored the realm of improvisation and acoustic-electric violin.
At Dubai EXPO 2022, Milenkovich presented two major projects: Serbian National String Team featuring some of the most promising young artists to represent Serbia at the EXPO, and Rock el Clasico, a musical collaboration with singer and author Nele Karajlic, launched at the Al Wasl Arena.
Milenkovich’s discography includes four commercial releases of the Italian label Dynamic, featuring J. S. Bach Complete Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, Complete Music for Solo Violin – Nicolo Paganini 24 Capricci, N. Paganini Recital, and N. Paganini In cuor piu non mi sento. He also released numerous recordings for the Yugoslavian label, PGP. Milenkovich’s recent CD release includes a First Recording disc with the Manchester Music Festival of Vittorio Giannini’s Piano Trio and Piano Quintet.
Firmly dedicated to pedagogical work for over two decades, Milenkovich taught in collaboration with Itzhak Perlman at the Juilliard School in New York City, NY, and Perlman Music Program, as well as held a position as an Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Milenkovich is still the youngest graduate of the Music Academy in Belgrade, Serbia, finishing his Masters' studies at 19 years of age, and has completed the Professional Studies program at the Juilliard School in New York City, NY under tutelage of Mrs. Dorothy DeLay. Currently, Stefan Milenkovich is Artistic Director of the new concert hall in Novi Sad, Serbia, as well as Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Novi Sad.
Milenkovich plays a 1783 Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin.