Marija Kovacevic
Violin, Viola
“My mission is to provide students with the tools needed to progress steadily toward their goal while enjoying the process of making music. I tailor the lessons toward the individual goals, skill level and learning style of each student while developing the fundamentals of technique, musicianship and effective practice.”
Born in Serbia, Marija began playing violin when she was seven years old, and has continued her love affair with music ever since. From the age of 10 she started training, under the tutelage of Georgy Zazrovic, at The School for Musically Gifted Children in Cuprija, one of three institutes in Europe exclusively devoted to the teaching of stringed instruments. During these years, and before moving on to university, she traveled throughout Europe, competing and winning multiple summa cum laude musical festival awards for solo and ensemble playing. She also attended master classes in Salzburg at Mozarteum with Tomas Hagen, and in Serbia with Yuri Bashmet and Gordan Nikolic.
Marija earned her master's degree and graduated in 2010 from the University for Music Arts in Belgrade, where she studied with Fern Raskovic, who was a student of David Oistrakh, and with Maria Spangler. During her college years, she took masterclasses of chamber music: "Sommeracademie Prague-Vienna- Budapest" with members of Prague Quartet, Artist Quartet, Bartok Quartet and Petersen Quartet; and "Virserum Musikdagar" in Sweden held by Michael Ude.
Marija began developing an interest beyond classical music and started working with "Dah Theater" which took her on a tour through Serbia with a play called "In/Visible City." Just months after graduation, she moved to New York City, where she continues to reside, and which opened the doors for her to not only expand her music horizons even more, but to also further pursue her love of theater.
She joined and continues to be part of “The Talking Band” company – pioneers of downtown avant-garde and experimental theater in New York since the 1970s. The current work in progress that she collaborates on has resulted in a show called “The Goldent Toad” at LaMama Theater. Marija more recently became a member of another theater group called "The Million Underscores" performing at MoMa, The Museum of Modern Art. The work in this company encouraged her to improvise on both violin and viola, and she has started adding electronics (pedals) to music that she creates and now records on soundtracks.
Marija’s affair with tango music began after meeting Emilio Solla, through whom she met a number of tango musicians and eventually became a member of "Astoria Tango Orchestra" the only "Orquestra Tipica" in USA led by Maestro Daniel Binelli (who played with Astor Piazzolla in his famous "New Tango Sextet”). They played at Lincoln Center in the summer of 2016, among other places. She also became a member of "The Aces Of Rhythm," a Tango Sextet led by Pablo Aslan - playing at Lincoln Center in the summer of 2017. Marija has performed in many other ensembles playing all kinds of music (Willie Colon, Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin, Marie Christine Katz, Ibo Cooper, Freddy McGregor, Ken Boothe, Hamish Kilgour to name a few) – performing with some of these musicians in venues in front of 20,000+ people.
Along with exploring and expanding her repertoire, Marija privately teaches violin to students of all skill levels.