Kajana Packo

Kajana Packo

Young cellist Kajana Packo was born in Split in 1985 and is currently student of Clemens Hagen at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg. She started playing cello at the age of 9 and entered the Zagreb Music Academy when she was only 14 in the class of the renowned Croatian cellist Valter Despalj. From 2004-2008 Kajana studied at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler“ in Berlin also attending classes at the Music school of Pitea, Sweden, from 2006-2008. Kajana took part in masterclasses given by David Geringas, Frans Helmerson, Gary Hoffman and Jens Peter Maintz.

As an outstanding music student she has been awarded a "City of Zagreb scholarship", National's "Top student" scholarship, DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst), Rektor's price for the performance of the Rokoko variations by P.I. Tschaikowsky and many others. Kajana Packo won first prizes at several competitions in Croatia (1998 and 2000) as well as in Italy (Gorizia Marcosig Competition 2000, 2001 and 2003). She was chosen to represent Croatia in Moscow during the Vladimir Spivakov Foundation Concerts in 2002 and as well at the Eurovision Competition For Young Musicians in Luzern (2004).

She has performed with major orchestras and ensembles in Croatia such as Zagreb Soloists, Croatian Radiotelevision Symphony Orchestra, Split and Zadar Chamber Orchestras, Split Symphony Orchestra and Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra conducted by the leading Croatian conductors. Performances with orchestra include the cello concertos and works by Elgar, Schumann, Haydn, Tschaikowsky, Rossini and Boccherini. Except in solo performances Kajana is also very active in chamber music. She was a member of the cello ensemble "Cellomania" during her studying time in Croatia. In 2007 her performance of the Ravel's sonata for violin and cello, together with violinist Tristan Thery, got an outstanding rewiew in "The Independent" for the concert in London. In 2008, as a member of a piano trio, she played on a "Exzellenz-Konzert" in Berlin patronized by Daniel Barenboim. Apart from Croatia, Italy, Germany and Russia, she also performed in United Kingdom (London) and France.

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