The musical program of the 64th edition of the “Ohrid Summer” festival continues tonight at 9 PM in the church “Sveta Sofia” with a concert by the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mark Korovich. The soloist of the evening will be the renowned Macedonian pianist Nina Kostova.
The Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra made its debut on December 14, 2007, in Cetinje and soon became the center of musical life in Montenegro. With over 500 concerts held both domestically and internationally (in Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Russia, Turkey, Albania, and France), this orchestra has featured many distinguished soloists and conductors including Montserrat Caballé, Mischa Maisky, Ivo Pogorelić, Illya Gringolts, Roman Simović, Miloš Karadaglić, Denis Shapovalov, Simon Trpčeski, Stefan Milenković, Konstantin Lifschitz, and many others. Their repertoire spans from baroque to contemporary music, and they perform epochal works from the world’s musical treasury, marking historical moments in Montenegrin musical life. They also regularly include works by Montenegrin composers like Ivan Brkanović, Ilija Lakešić, Borislav Tamindžić, Žarko Mirković, Nina Perović, Aleksandar Perunović, and Senad Gačević.
Mark Korovich, the chief conductor of the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra since the 2023/24 season, was born in 1987 and graduated in choral and orchestral conducting from the “Sorbonne” in Paris. He also studied orchestral conducting at the Conservatory of Music in Paris and completed his master’s degree in choral conducting at the Geneva University of Music. Since 2014, Korovich has regularly worked with the Choir of French Radio and the “Accentus” Choir, performing on tours and recordings. Outside France, he has collaborated with the Croatian Radio Choir, vocal ensembles in Stuttgart and Munich, the ensemble English Voices, the Madrid City Choir, and the Spanish RTV Choir. He has worked with ensembles such as Concerto Köln, the Croatian Baroque Orchestra, The Hague Chamber Orchestra, the HRT Symphony Orchestra, and the Montpellier National Orchestra. His opera engagements include work at the operas in Rouen and Montpellier, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and the Vienna Theater.
Pianist Nina Kostova received her musical education in Skopje, studying under the renowned professors Lyudmila and Boris Romanov. Throughout her education, she won numerous awards and frequently performed on European stages in the UK, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Turkey, and more. She graduated and completed her master’s degree with special honors, cum laude, and finished her doctoral studies in 2014. Kostova has performed multiple times as a soloist with the National Philharmonic, the Youth Symphony Orchestra “Dobrin Petkov” from Plovdiv, the Chamber Orchestra “St. George,” the Chamber Orchestra “Moskovia,” and the Symphony Orchestra of FMU. She has collaborated with significant conductors from Macedonia and abroad, including Sasha Nikolovski, Aleksandar Lekovski, Borjan Canev, Leonid Nikolaev, Eduard Grach, Plamen Parvanov, Janko Kostelic, and others. Kostova also performs in numerous chamber ensembles and duos, with notable performances in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Italy, France, and the USA, including her performance at “Ohrid Summer” with the Henschel Quartet from Germany. Currently, she works as an associate professor at the Faculty of Music Arts in Skopje. Her students have achieved significant success, evidenced by two recognitions from Carnegie Hall for special contributions at the “American Talents” competition and a recognition from the “Spivakov” Foundation for special contributions at the “Moscow Meets Friends” festival in 2013.
Since 2018, Nina Kostova has been an honorary member of the “Tomislav Zografski” Foundation.
